May 30, 2003
GILES FILES
By
Duncan Giles
President
NTEU Chapter 49
On this and that…..
The last 2 weeks have been interesting. I have been in an Accounts
Management National Partnership meeting and NTEU national training.
Here is what I have learned.
First, we are going to continue to defend our rights to bargain issues locally.
The Service wants all issues to be done nationally but they don’t seen to
realize that the cookie-cutter approach won’t work. What might work
in Manhattan won’t work in LA or Indiana. Conversely, the IRS wants
to bargain issues at the division level. Talk about opening a Pandora’s
box. Rest assured Chapter 49 will continue to fight for the rights
of employees in Indiana.
Many of you had briefings on the new phone monitoring system (TAT).
Please be aware that NTEU at the national level filed an Unfair Labor Practice
with the Federal Labor Relations Authority on the rollout of this
unagreed-upon piece of work.
Other issues that are still being worked through the national grievance process
are items such as awards (both current year and 2002), travel issues relating
to mandatory use of government credit cards, seasonal furloughs that are
being done incorrectly in many parts of the country and issues relating to
official time and number of stewards a chapter may appoint.
In addition, NTEU has recently filed a Prohibited Personnel Practice allegation
against IRS for the illegal policy of hiring only within their own division.
We are asking the Office of Special Counsel to discipline management for
this practice.
I also learned that Exam re-engineering will be re-opened this summer.
Hopefully, we will be able to get this program back on a sane track.
Collection re-engineering will also receive the same treatment later.
Speaking of Collection, Chapter 49 Vice President Susan Wright and I had
an interesting discussion with the NTEU chapter president from San Diego.
He is on a team talking with IRS about Collection inventory levels.
Apparently the Service’s position is we need to INCREASE levels since they
think ROs do better with a higher inventory. Of course, they have no
data to back up such a ridiculous position. This will be a very tough
fight but I know 3 of the Chapter Presidents on this team very well and I
can assure our ROs that they will do everything they can to make IRS management
see that a decrease in inventory is the way to go in maximizing employees’
ability to do quality work.
On Office Audit, the see-saw continues. The latest word is the Tax
Compliance Officers (TCOs) will be continuing as a position and they be increasing
in their ranks. I’ll believe that piece of common sense when I see
it.
In Accounts Management, we’ve agreed that on the job training (OJT) should
not be cut short for unexpected phone needs. We are also in the process
of re-working training to make it more modern and to be responsive to employees’
needs. Betsy Kitner (the head of Accounts Management) to her credit
has been very receptive to these new ideas. We are going to try and
tweak CPE for this year but that might be tight due to timing.
Another issue We’ve been pushing is a computer software version of the Probe
and Response Guide that is interactive. We have one online but it needs
to have pop-up info based on a TP’s response which would greatly improve
accuracy.
Lastly, I want to discuss something that affects everyone in some way.
We had a very good briefing at national training on Competitive Sourcing.
Make no mistake about it—the jobs of federal employees are being targeted.
We just dodged a bullet when a Congressional Conference Report didn’t include
outsourcing of some Collection work in its final version (but it’s proponents
are still trying). Today it’s the mailroom and MITS work they are looking
at and tomorrow it could be your job. NTEU at the national level and
Chapter 49 are doing everything in our power to protect IRS jobs but the
attacks are almost constant. We need everyone’s help. If you
are not an NTEU member, remember that NTEU is the only institution working
to help save your job. So get a Form 1187 and join the fight for your
livelihood. If you are a member and would be interested in assisting
NTEU, let any steward or officer know. We are always looking for good
help.
That’s it for now.
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IRS SAYS NO TO NATIONAL
GRIEVANCE OVER
ACCOUNTING COURSES
IRS has turned down NTEU's national grievance over accounting courses required
of certain employees.
Taxpayer Resolution Representatives (TRR), Tax Specialists (TS) and Tax Compliance
Officers (TCOs) had accounting courses they were required to complete on
government time. Since time to complete these courses was not provided
as IRS had promised, NTEU filed the grievance asking for back pay (overtime)
since employees had to complete this course work on their own time. NTEU
also sought reimbursement for tuition and materials. In denying the
grievance, IRS contends that it had no national policy of denying employees
official time for classes and homework during the 2002 filing season, as
NTEU has alleged.
NTEU is not giving up on this. Since we believe this time was in fact
denied, TRRs, TSs & TCOs will soon be receiving a survey from NTEU asking
for information related to these mandatory accounting classes. Once
that information has been collected, NTEU can assess the scope of the problem
and see if we can continue to press the issue.
LATEST ON FSAs
Federal employees will soon have a fringe benefit that has been around for
private sector employees for a long time - Flexible Spending Accounts.
These accounts allow you to put money away for medical costs and dependent
care in a tax-advantaged manner. There is good news and bad news concerning
these accounts.
First, the bad news. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently
announced that federal workers would be charged fees to have these accounts
(something not usually done in the private sector).
Now the good news. As a result of NTEU's work to correct this, there
is now a bill in Congress to do away with those fees.
FSA sign-up begins soon, so try to educate yourself on this benefit so you
may decide whether an FSA is right for you. The sign-up period was
to start May 19th, but has been delayed due to the controversy over the fees.
Find links to complete and timely information on the status of this issue
at www.nteu49.org.
DOD PROPOSED CHANGES
BEAR WATCHING
NTEU does not represent employees in the Department of Defense (DOD).
But changes in the civilian employee personnel policies under consideration
in Congress could eventually impact all federal workers. There are
some people in the Congress that want to make major changes in the working
conditions of DOD civilian workers. They want to curtail the ability
of unions to collectively bargain, not allow any employee appeals of disciplinary
actions, and abolish the step increase system with pay banding where you
only get a pay raise if your supervisor decides you deserve a pay increase.
If certain people in Congress and the White House are successful in enacting
this legislation, it won’t be long before they will want all of the federal
work force under such a system. NTEU is in the middle of this fight.
We’ll keep you posted in this newsletter and at www.nteu49.org.
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