April 16, 2004
GILES FILES
By
Duncan Giles
President
NTEU Chapter 49
On this & that.
As I’m sure most (if not all) of you saw, our Chief Steward Karen McKibben
will be retiring in a couple of months. LMSB RA Brian Kosteck will
be stepping up to fill her big shoes as chief steward (figuratively speaking).
It’s that time of year again. Spring is in the air. Tax returns
are due. The Survey is upon us once again. What? Ah yes,
I can hear the collective groan from here. I will never claim the Survey
is perfect but it is the best tool that employees have to register what they
think is going right, or, more often, what is going wrong with the Service.
If you are fed up with things and don’t take the Survey, your disdain will
not be registered. I urge all to take the Survey and let the Service
know how you feel – good or bad.
We’ve had a couple of incidents lately with employees not being treated with
courtesy and respect. If your manager doesn’t treat you in a dignified manner,
let your favorite Chapter 49 steward or officer know immediately. All employees
are entitled to a working environment free of harassment. If you believe
you have been subjected to harassment, Chapter 49 needs to know. Managers
demand that employees treat them with respect, and employees are entitled
to be treated with respect by managers as well. Chapter 49 is not hesitant
to roll out grievances when we detect undignified behavior.
Interested in making sure your job isn’t outsourced? Interested in
being paid what you should be paid? Then visit the Chapter 49 Web site and
see what steps you can take to fight for your own rights. The job you
save may be your own.
Recently got a request from W&I Field Assistance to reopen our security
clause that says if there aren’t 2 employees in a POD, the office should
be closed. Chapter 49 will be sitting down with management on this in the
next couple of weeks. I understand this has made things more difficult
for management but as always our concern (and I would hope IRS’ concern)
for the safety of employees is paramount. It’s too early to say how this
will turn out, but Chapter 49 will do everything in our power to make sure
Indiana employees work in as safe an atmosphere as possible. More on
this as it develops.
That’s it for now.
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FLEXIPLACE DENIAL CHALLENGED
by
Karen McKibben
Chapter 49 filed a mass grievance representing employees in the Insolvency
Unit who have been denied their right to work Flexiplace. These are
employees that have participated in the Flexiplace program for several years
and have met the requirements to work Flexiplace as stated in the National
Agreement in Article 50. I am handling the grievance as chief steward.
Chapter 1 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has filed the same grievance for their
employees meeting the same criteria. The same Territory Manager and Area
Director are over both groups of employees.
The third step meeting was held Monday, April 12th by teleconference.
We should have the response within 10 workdays of the third step meeting
date. If NTEU determines the response to be unfavorable, we are prepared
to forward the case to our attorneys. They will decide whether to invoke
our right to arbitration (having the case decided by a neutral
third party).
NTEU will keep you apprised of how this grievance develops. Our efforts
are aimed at protecting our qualified employees’ right to participate in
the Flexiplace program.
PAY PARITY
BATTLE WON:
STRUGGLE NOT OVER
YET
The vote wasn’t close – 299-126. The House of Representatives has resoundingly
backed the concept of “pay parity,” which links civilian federal pay raises
with the average wage increase for the military. This is important
to us because President Bush has proposed a 3.5% average pay hike for the
armed forces, while asking for a 1.5% increase in our 2005 pay. If the Congress
doesn’t continue to embrace the concept of pay parity, we could be handed
a much lower raise next year.
We asked you to contact your local members of Congress on this vote, and
we know a number of you did. We thank you.Even though this vote is
a major victory for us, we have many more battles ahead. This vote
deals with the budget process, which sets the overall plan for 2005 outlays.
The appropriations process is next, which approves the details of government
spending plans. NTEU will be watching developments closely on the 2005 pay
raise. We will keep you up to date through this newsletter and on our
Web site – www.nteu49.org
Meanwhile, one well-known government official weighed-in on the 2005
pay raise. IRS Commissioner Mark Everson told a Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee that pay parity would hamper his effort to ramp-up IRS compliance.
However, The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Pamela Gardiner
told the same Senate panel that pay parity was not a major problem with IRS
budget shortfalls. Also, Congressman Tom Davis, a Republican from Virginia,
was critical of Commissioner Everson’s comments on pay parity, arguing that
paying IRS employees adequately is a big part of a successful compliance
program.
2005 IRS BUDGET
The 1998 IRS Restructuring Act created the IRS Oversight Board. One
major task of that group is to evaluate the annual budget request for IRS.
In the 2005 budget cycle, the board is breaking with the administration and
pushing for a larger agency budget. The White House is proposing a 4.6% budget
hike, while the Oversight Board is asking for a 10% increase in spending.
The board argues that IRS cannot do its job without more resources.
NTEU agrees. It’s now up to Congress to decide how much IRS will have
to spend in fiscal year 2005 (which begins on October 1, 2004). We
will keep you informed on the progress of the IRS budget bill.
Check www.nteu49.org and find out how signing up new
Chapter 49 members can put money in your pocket.