November 22, 2002
GILES FILES
By
Duncan Giles
President
NTEU Chapter 49
On this and that....
I was in Dallas the week of 11/12 for the Accounts Management National Partnership
Council (of which I was recently named a member) and it seems that W &
I is more responsive to the needs of the folks on the phone than SB/SE ever
was so hopefully this will prove to be good for the Call Site.
I've heard that the Filing Season Support Agreement is close to getting
done between W & I Field Assistance and SB/SE Compliance. I've seen a
couple of different versions of this so lord knows what will be in the final
agreement. Rest assured that Chapter 49 has provided plenty of input
to National NTEU on this issue (hopefully with some success).
Speaking of input we've been talking extensively with the MITS folks in
DC on their reorganization. It is just a mess. The only saving grace is that
it would be much worse without National NTEU and Chapters like 49 telling
MITS honchos in DC the real world effect of things they are imposing on employees
in the field and having them moderate their decisions.
In LMSB, I'm encouraged to see them doing some hiring (even if it's only
in selected spots). Although not perfect, they seem to have a better
idea of what they are trying to accomplish and working with NTEU to do it
than the other divisions nationally.
Chapter 49 is looking for a Membership Coordinator to try and get the word
out to non members on why membership is a good idea and all the benefits that
NTEU has to offer. This would entail working almost all on your own time.
If you would like more information let your favorite Steward know or email
us at nteu49@aol.com.
Lastly, on membership, if anyone out there has doubts about why they should
belong ask the Customs folks who we are trying to make sure can't just be
moved willy nilly away from their families. Or the new goal of the administration
to try and make it easier for private companies to get Government jobs. NTEU
is on the frontline of issues like these everyday fighting for your rights
and the more who belong the better our odds are of keeping jobs (one of which
may be yours)!
That's it for now.
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Chapter 49 President To Be At
Call Site 11/26
NTEU Chapter 49 President Duncan Giles will be at the Indianapolis Call
Site Tuesday, November 26. He will be available to any Call Site employees
wishing to talk with him from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. President Giles has
been making himself available to Call Site workers at least once a month so
they may raise any issues that may need his attention. Feel free to
stop and see Duncan during your break or lunch time. He’s usually located
in the small conference room. If not, there will be a sign telling
you where to find him.
OMB Wants Big Changes in the Rules
Governing Contracting Out Our Jobs
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued proposed rules that would
bring dramatic changes in the process used to put our jobs out to bid to the
private sector. Let me give you just two major changes the administration
is proposing.
Currently, the entire process can take several years. OMB wants the
process to begin and end in less than 12 months.
Currently, the bidding process awards the work to the bidder with the lowest
cost to the government. OMB wants to award the contracts based on a
“best value” criteria.
NTEU National President Colleen Kelley says these new rules are “bad news”
for federal workers. We will keep you posted on this through this newsletter
and special desk drops as warranted. For the most up-to-date information
on this or any other subject NTEU deals with, check our Chapter Web site at
www.nteu49.org.
6% Instructor Bonus:
National Grievance Filed
One wonders just what is happening to the relationship between NTEU and
IRS management at the national level. Once again, the national union
has been forced to file a grievance over an issue that management clearly
agreed to implement per the language of the national agreement. In
what appears to be a clear contradiction of the signed contract, the 6% bonus
called for in Article 30, Section 6 of the national contract is not being
paid as promised. The reasons for the non-payment given by management
include instructors going home on the weekends or because there was leaving
or arrival time in a week the instructor did not spend a full 40 hours that
week at the training site. There have also been reports that IRS plans
to unilaterally issue a "policy" to supplement the national contract language,
which we believe would be a clear violation of the law. Based on what
we know now, it appears no one has been paid this 6% allowance provided in
the contract (although many appear to qualify for the payment).
The grievance calls for management to pay the bonuses due under the contract
provision with interest. We at Chapter 49 know there has been additional
interest among our members in accepting teaching assignments involving travel
primarily due to this new contract provision. Now it's up to management
to live up to its part of the bargain and honor the contract it has signed.
Contact Chapter 49 by calling us at 317-226-6841. Our e-mail address
is nteu49@aol.com.
Our Web site address is nteu49.org.
Talk to a Chapter 49 officer or steward if you’re not a member. There
are many benefits of membership. If you’re not a member, contact us
today!
National Awards Agreement:
National Grievance Filed
NTEU saw it coming. We knew it was going to happen. And it did.
On a massive scale. The national awards system was impossible to understand,
but it was largely management's idea. They threatened to end the whole
program if NTEU didn't go along with the management's national awards plan.
NTEU knew the plan was badly flawed, but did not want to get tied up in endless
arguments and litigation over a canceled program (which would rob employees
of awards money during that legal fight). Now that we've actually had
to endure a round of the management system, the flaws we at NTEU knew were
there all along are well documented. NTEU National President Colleen
Kelley has wasted no time in filing a national grievance over the long list
of troubles created by this strange system. The grievance filed October
21st cites management violations of the National Agreement, the separate National
Performance Awards Agreement (NPAA), The Quality Step Increase (QSI) Memorandum
of Understanding and the Equal Pay Act.
Here's a listing of violations discovered so far…
--improper awards pool configurations
--problems with award shares
--inequities concerning the qualifying appraisal scores
--improper payment of Quality Step Increase and Time Off Awards
--denial of awards to employees converting to bargaining unit positions
(leaving management to join the rank-and-file work force) during the qualifying
period
--employees throughout the Service who perform the same or similar work
failed to receive performance awards and appropriate promotion points in
violation of the Equal Pay Act
--awards pools were arbitrarily-determined with a lack of proper notice
to the employees of how much would be received (if any) as an award
-and-
--the total amount of money budgeted for rank-and-file employee awards was
not distributed within each division and function (for example, the Wage &
Investment operating division has thousands of dollars in unallocated award
money).
The national union has acted very quickly in an attempt to remedy the situation
so the next round of awards will (hopefully) be a much better experience for
us all.