November 21, 2003

GILES FILES
By
Duncan Giles
President
NTEU Chapter 49

On this & that......

First, as I write this it looks good for an overall 4.1% federal employee raise.  All it is awaiting is final passage in both houses of Congress and the president’s signature.  Most of us in Indiana (depending on how locality pay is done) will see a raise between 3.75% and 3.9%.  Employees in Merrillville will probably see a little more due to being under the Chicago metro area for locality pay purposes.  The raise would show up in paychecks after the first of the year.

Also in this bill is some language to help level the playing field for federal employees when they are competing for their jobs against outside competition. This is something that NTEU has fought hard to have enacted.  We believe that all an employee group needs to win a competition is an even chance without the system tilting too much toward the contractors.  We will have more details on this and how it impacts employees in our next issue.

During this open season for health benefits, take a close look at Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).  This can now help you with over-the-counter medication purchases paid with tax-free dollars. Thanks to a big push from NTEU the fees on this are being born by the IRS, not by employees.      

These are just a few of the things NTEU is doing for you.  If you are a non-member, let me emphasize that the difference in pay between the president’s proposal and the raise NTEU fought to win for you would be more than your dues for a year.  Isn’t it time to join?

On awards for next year, a bargaining session was held recently in DC. Proposals from management were all over the board. They ranged from lowering the amount of the total award pool to possibly having just one pool nation-wide to having the top 55% in each group get awards.  Obviously, nothing was solved.  More meetings are scheduled for January.  We will keep you abreast of any developments.

Lastly, on the TIGTA-initiated employee tax audits, they are really looking hard at employees with losses on Schedule C. In some cases (including some here in Indiana) TIGTA is interviewing employees even before they are selected for audit to determine whether they actually have a business (as opposed to a hobby or a paper company to just offset income). I can’t emphasize this enough – if you are contacted either by letter or TIGTA on this, get in touch with NTEU immediately!  After all, it’s only your career we are talking about.

I wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

That’s it for now.      

==========================================================

LMSB R-MAIL DISPUTE
SETTLED

Chapter 49 was prepared to go to arbitration over an issue impacting four LMSB Revenue Agents. The four were not given the opportunity to work the R-Mail detail, resulting in the loss of potential overtime pay.  On the eve of the arbitration trial, a settlement was reached.  Congratulations to NTEU Field Rep Anne Dasovic for a job well done in settling this case. Congratulations to the four LMSB agents who will be receiving their money soon.

NATIONAL AWARDS:
FIXING THE PROBLEMS

Duncan Giles mentioned in his column that talks are already in progress for the next round of awards.  In the meantime, NTEU is trying to go back and fix the current program problems. 

Let's try to put this into perspective.  NTEU felt we had local agreements that were working very well.  But management insisted that IRS had to go to a national awards system.  Even though NTEU vehemently disagreed with that argument, we had to go along with it.  Management was so hell-bent on going forward with the national awards system that NTEU feared the Service would scrap the whole awards program if denied their system.

Well, we've finished the second round of this national awards system.  If you received your award on time and in the proper amount, then great, we're happy for you.  Consider yourself fortunate.  But even if you did receive your award on time, NTEU believes management did not fund the program as provided in the contract, so you could have been short-changed and don't even know it.

NTEU has had time to study this last round of national awards in some detail.  As a result, a national grievance has been filed.  Here are some of the main points we make in that grievance filing.  ("you" refers to IRS management)

You continue to pay out less money in awards than has been agreed.

You have incorrectly applied the formula for calculating awards.

You have improperly configured some pools.

You failed to pay employees who were properly due awards.

You have improperly calculated participation rates in some pools.

You paid some awards late thereby entitling the employees to interest on the overdue award.

You have charged the award funds for payments that should have been credited to prior years.

You have improperly paid time-off awards and QSI substitute awards.

As a remedy, NTEU is asking for retroactive payments of the correct awards and all other appropriate remedies allowed by law.

We'll keep you posted on the progress of this grievance.

ODDS AND ENDS

--IRS and NTEU have reached agreement on a Letter of Understanding on the Exam Reenginering project.  NTEU continues to have concerns about many aspects of the management program, but this most recent agreement is a step in the right direction.  For more details on this, go to our Web site at www.nteu49.org.

--Also on our Web site, you will find a link to CapWiz, an Internet resource that makes it easier to contact elected officials.

--The Federal Employee and Education Assistance Fund (FEEA) has established a special fund to help federal employees suffering because of the recent California fires.  Check our Web site for details on donating.