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New Bill Fixes Unfair Retirement Law A bipartisan bill introduced Thursday would reform a law that negatively impacts federal retiree benefits. The Government Pension Offset (GPO) Reform Act, introduced by Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and George Voinovich (R-OH), addresses an unfair penalty on federal retirees who are also eligible for Social Security based on a spouse’s work record. Under the current law, spousal Social Security benefits are cut by two-thirds of the amount of the government pension—in many cases entirely eliminating the Social Security benefit. To see if your senator is supporting this bill, click here or visit <http:// capwiz.com/nteu/ issues/bills/?billtype =S.&billnumb=1799& congress=109.

Congress Passes Bill To Keep
Government Running Though Nov. 18
Congress passed and President Bush signed a continuing resolution Friday to keep the federal government running through Nov. 18. The action allows agencies whose appropriations bills had not been passed by the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year to continue operating based on last year's funding.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley criticized Congress for failing to complete its work on time and not having appropriations bills for agencies in place. This proves harmful to agencies, Kelley said, because it inhibits the ability of employees to complete their agencies' missions. Still pending is the Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill that includes a 3.1 percent pay raise for federal employees. To learn how you can support pay parity, click here or visit <http://capwiz.
com/nteu/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7779826>.

NTEU Presses Case Against DHS Regs in Oral Argument
NTEU urged a federal court Wednesday to deny the Department of Homeland Security's request to move forward with part of its labor relations regulations despite major portions being declared illegal on Aug. 12. During extensive oral argument, NTEU attorneys argued that significant portions of the new rules fail to protect employee collective bargaining rights guaranteed by Congress. The court agreed that the regulations seem to give "DHS so much flexibility that there is no opportunity for collective bargaining."

A decision on the government's request is expected by Oct. 11. For the complete story, click here or visit <http://
cbpunion.org/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=745>.

Kelley To Speak Out Against Working For America Act
NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley will be back on Capitol Hill tomorrow to testify at a congressional hearing on the so-called Working For America Act (WFAA)—which strips federal employees of important rights and protections and replaces the General Schedule with an undefined pay system. At a hearing of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization, President Kelley will tell lawmakers that the proposed legislation to expand government-wide personnel rules, similar to those proposed for the Department of Homeland Security, is expensive and flawed. To learn more about how you can oppose the WFAA, click here or visit <http://capwiz.
com/nteu/issues/alert/?alertid=8077826&type=TA>.

Last week Kelley testified before a key Senate Subcommittee on the necessity of strong leadership, not new pay systems, for an agency's success.

NTEU Details Problems with IRS Survey in Open Letter to Managers
NTEU is continuing its fight against the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) annual employee survey by sending open letters to employees and first-line managers detailing the survey's serious flaws. In the letters, NTEU asserts that the survey is an ineffective vehicle for promoting positive change, a waste of resources and that changes the IRS unilaterally made to the process have weakened it.

An additional 30,000 IRS employees agreed and refused to take the survey, representing a 30 percent decline in participation as compared to previous years. Still, the IRS insists that its survey data is just as usable, with the exception of the approximately 2,300 working groups where not even four people responded.

And now, the IRS has scheduled meetings to discuss the survey data with employees despite the fact that NTEU is still negotiating over whether management is permitted to do so. To learn more about what happens next, click here or visit <http://images.nteu.org/
openletter.pdf>.

Headlines

'Telework' Concept Falls Short of Goals
Baltimore Sun, September 30, 2005
President Bush urged all of us - especially federal workers - to conserve. Turn off the computers, air-conditioning and lights at night, he said. Use mass transit, carpool or work closer to home.

But many federal workers didn't hear a call to action. Rather, they heard irony.

Despite years of efforts to encourage federal employees to work from home or suburban offices, to save fuel and help keep government running during disasters, more than half of managers disfavor so-called "telework" initiatives, according to a private-sector survey of almost 300 federal workers published this year. For the complete story, click here or visit <www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/balho.federal30sep30,1,7131060.column>.

NTEU President Blast DHS Regs, Pay-for-Performance on Online Chat
GovExec, September 28, 2005
Pay-for-performance and NTEU's fight against the DHS regulations were hot on the minds of federal employees during a GovExec.com online chat Wednesday featuring President Colleen M. Kelley as the guest. During the one-hour live discussion, President Kelley answered questions submitted by federal workers on a range of topics, including the proposal by House Republicans to cut federal retiree benefits and NTEU's efforts to secure law enforcement officer status for Customs and Border Protection employees. To read a transcript of the chat, click here or visit <www.govexec.com/gelive/archive/20050928. htm>.