June 11, 2004
GILES FILES
By
Duncan Giles
President
NTEU Chapter 49
On this & that......
Well, the hits just keep on coming. IRS has just sent RIF notices for almost
800 employees without talking to NTEU first to see if we can soften the blow.
In Indiana, we are relatively lucky. It looks like we have only 5 of
our folks affected, all in MITS. One just got a new position and at
least 2 out of the 5 are eligible to take buyouts (gleefully, I might add)
and another person might also take the buyout. So it looks like we
in Indiana are left with 1 or 2 employees hurt by this IRS action. That’s
not good. But in Martinsburg, West Virginia, I saw 7 pages of employees with
livelihoods on the line.
NTEU will, of course, do everything we can to try and save these jobs, but
the atmosphere is not promising. Under former IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti,
the method was to talk with NTEU first to see what can be done to minimize
disruptions to employees, and the RIF was the last resort. Under our current
Commissioner Mark Everson, it’s the issuing of RIF notices first, then let’s
see what we can do. This method does not help the morale of the employees
and seems to be counterproductive.
Now, let’s turn to e-mail. I want everyone on the same page. Please
remember that you have NO expectation of privacy when you send an e-mail
out on the IRS system. It seems we’ve had some employees who believe
they can send an e-mail to a friend or loved one on their break or lunch
and no one at the IRS is allowed to question the content. That is not correct.
We need to keep in mind that there are two separate issues here – one is
having permission to use the IRS system and the second is keeping our e-mails
sent on the IRS system private. Here’s the bottom line – the vast majority
of employees use e-mail properly and those folks have no problems.
For those of you using the IRS e-mail system improperly, please watch yourselves.
Our Chapter 49 stewards don’t need any new business.
Lastly, our Chief Steward Karen McKibben officially retired June 2nd.
She was a tireless worker for employees in defending their rights and she
will be missed. I wish her all the best in retirement.
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IRS CONTINUES
UNILATERAL MOVES
In our last newsletter, we told you about IRS management’s decision to move
ahead with the new Embedded Quality system at the telephone call sites before
bargaining had been completed with NTEU. As a result, NTEU filed a national
grievance because management failed to follow the law and contracts governing
labor-management relations. That grievance is currently pending.
Now, we are seeing a similar move by those managing the IRS Field Assistance
operations (formerly known as the walk-in offices).
On May 10, IRS began to train selected Taxpayer Resolution Representatives
(TRRs) with the expectation that these employees would be working a collection
case inventory as early as this month. Bargaining over this program between
IRS and NTEU had been ongoing nationally since February.
Since management chose to unilaterally rollout this program before bargaining
was completed, NTEU filed a national grievance on May 24. We allege
that management has violated a number of laws and contract provisions.
This is yet another signal that IRS not only does not want NTEU involved
in the early stages of decision-making, but IRS also doesn’t even appear
interested in following the law and contract provisions. We at Chapter
49 find this a sad development. We believe there is an easy way to
solve problems and there is a hard way to solve problems. IRS management
has lately been choosing the hard road. We know how to fight these
battles the hard way and are prepared to do so if IRS so chooses. In the
meantime, many employees and their IRS careers could be damaged in the process.
That’s the saddest part of all.
MAILROOM
LAWSUIT
We have written extensively in this newsletter about continuing pressures
to contract-out federal employee jobs to the private sector. A recent
move by the IRS appears so extreme NTEU has been forced to file a lawsuit
on behalf of mailroom employees.
These jobs were contracted-out with no opportunity for the mailroom employees
to compete for their own jobs. NTEU is arguing in our legal action
that the IRS action is contrary to the fiscal year 2004 appropriations bill
funding the agency. NTEU was successful in inserting a provision that prohibits
using 2004 funds to directly convert federal employee jobs to the private
sector without a competition.
Even though the private contractor employs people with disabilities, IRS
has failed to note that many of the 50 IRS workers facing a RIF are themselves
disabled.
“”It is especially discouraging that IRS has refused to allow a group of
employees that includes a large percentage with severe disabilities a chance
to compete for their jobs,” NTEU National President Colleen Kelley said.
ODDS AND ENDS
NTEU is calling a recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report on
savings the government has realized as a result of contracting-out federal
jobs a work of fiction. “There is no way that federal agencies, relying
on guidance that OMB provided on preparing these reports, can accurately
define their costs related to contracting out,” said NTEU National President
Colleen Kelley. The OMB report says savings claimed are only “projected
estimates” and that no actual savings were documented. NTEU repeated
our call for a truly independent study on the issue of whether contracting-out
federal jobs to the private sector saves taxpayer money or actually increases
government expenses.
NTEU has commissioned a national study to gauge our members’ attitudes and
priorities on a number of issues. This survey will be conducted by
phone. If you are contacted by phone and agree to participate in the
survey, it should take only about 15 minutes to complete. This will
be done by a sampling technique, so only small number of members will be
contacted.
Stay in touch with all the issues important to you by checking our
Chapter 49 Web site at
www.nteu49.org