-----Original Message-----

November 5, 2004

I am writing to provide an overview of what the National Treasury Employees Union has been doing to improve your working conditions and enforce your rights since the union began representing employees three months ago.

Our immediate goals upon being elected as your representative are to:

1)negotiate an agreement for NCUA employees that will provide provisions equivalent to those enjoyed by other  NTEU-represented agency groups;

2)examine workplace policies and rules to ensure they are compliant with existing federal laws and practices; 3)explore and analyze opportunities to improve working conditions and practices within the agency.

Contract Agreement

Within days of being certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) as your representative, we asked management to negotiate an agreement with us. NTEU submitted formal bargaining proposals to the agency in July. These include adding binding third-party arbitration as the final step of any employee grievance; expanding the present narrow, restrictive scope of matters subject to the grievance procedure; establishing ground rules for negotiation of all future agreements, including an agreement dealing with performance and promotion systems, leave rights, discipline procedures and reassignment rights; and installation of a system of local representatives with a process for representing employees in the workplace.

Attempts by NTEU to engage in bargaining have been met with strong resistance and stalling tactics. The agency has refused to bargain an agreement containing even basic rights for its employees. After a number of proposals and counterproposals and meetings, NTEU went to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for assistance. Still, no progress was made. NTEU was then forced to approach the Federal Service Impasses Panel and file an unfair labor practice charge (ULP).

The unfair labor practice charges that NCUA has violated its obligation not to interfere or restrain any employee in the exercise of any rights under Title 5 of the U.S. Code and that it not refuse to negotiate in good faith.

At the core of our proposals are our requests that employees be able to grieve far more issues than they can today and that an outside neutral arbitrator have the power to resolve any dispute between employees and management. This would permit employees to get a final and binding outside judgment on disagreements over compensation, reassignments, awards, discrimination and non-selection for promotion, among other things. It would mean that you are finally treated the same as employees at our other bargaining units.

By refusing to engage in meaningful bargaining, NCUA is violating federal law and thwarting the clear will of its employees, who voted for NTEU representation. NTEU will continue to work to ensure that NCUA employees are afforded the same rights and benefits of other NTEU-represented employees. It is our hope that these recent actions will move the agency toward an agreement.

Examination of Workplace Policies and Laws

We are also asking that management immediately implement additional flexibilities in work schedules as well as undertake statistical studies of their past practices to see if the law has been violated in any way.

While management has a proposal on the table, it would do nothing to improve working conditions now or in the near future. It is not surprising that NCUA management is finding it difficult to make the changes employees want; most management groups do. But, it is disappointing that they are dragging their feet on a quick resolution of this dispute.

NTEU is also addressing with NCUA changes that the agency made on the day of the election (June 30) to the policies and procedures surrounding hours of work for NCUA employees. This includes overtime, travel time and alternative work schedules.

Under the law, NCUA cannot implement any changes to working conditions prior to the completion of bargaining, through impasse resolution procedures, if necessary. We are concerned that these changes are confusing and it is unclear as to what work practices are being changed. Employees are concerned that these changes may affect travel payments, home office status and payment for work performed outside the normal work week. NTEU is attempting to negotiate these issues at the bargaining table as part of contract bargaining.

Subsequently, management proposed implementation of a new electronic time reporting form in association with the maxiflex gliding schedule. While employees liked the new schedule option and the union supported the idea, we did question the need for the reporting form as redundant and burdensome. It required time reporting in 15 minute increments. Management then chose not to implement the maxiflex, although from our point of view they could have implemented the schedule without the form. Indeed, management implemented the maxiflex for managers with a time reporting form using one-hour increments. Examiners and their supervisors are all professional employees -- there appears to be no need for examiners to use the more burdensome form.

Explore Opportunities for Improvement

NTEU is continuing to seek areas of opportunity for further improvement. Using the Freedom of Information Act, as well as our rights under the labor law, we have requested data on the distribution of awards, raises, promotions, and performance scores over that last few years which we will statistically analyze. For instance, we have asked for copies of position descriptions to see if any employees were entitled to overtime pay who did not receive it. We will continue to seek additional areas where working conditions or practices and policies can be improved.

NTEU will continue to work on your behalf and keep you informed as negotiations progress.

Colleen M. Kelley

NTEU National President