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Washington, D.C.—The terrorist attacks of last September focused the attention of Americans on the vital question of who they trust to do the work of the public. And the jobs that were performed in the aftermath of those events have led increasing numbers of people to recognize the value and contributions of government workers, the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees said today.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) offered that message to more than 350 NTEU chapter leaders and activists from around the country at the start of the union’s three-day annual legislative conference.

“We saw this in the highly-public debate over whether airport security screeners should be federal employees,” Kelley said. “The voice of the public was heard, and these employees will be federal workers.”

President Kelley was the keynote speaker at the opening of the conference, which also featured remarks by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury and General Government.

Conference participants spent the afternoon meeting with their members of the House and Senate and presenting materials in support of NTEU’s 2002 legislative priorities, including fair pay and benefits; an end to

government contracting out; the need for adequate agency funding; changes in a law unfairly targeting only employees of the Internal Revenue Service; and on a variety of issues, including the need for more resources, affecting Customs Service employees.

Director James called OPM, federal employees and their unions “natural partners, sharing a common mission” to recognize and reward the contributions of federal workers. “The American people owe you a debt of gratitude,” she said, noting that her job as head of the nation’s federal service “is to protect (the civil service) and advocate on its behalf.”

Sen. Dorgan called public employment “a place of honor” and said that federal employees over the life of the nation have contributed much “to the goodness of our country.”

He took aim at the administration for its failure to significantly increase security on the northern border. “You can’t have security simply by saying you want security,” he said. “The government has an obligation to provide additional resources.”

The North Dakota Democrat was vocal on administration plans to contract out tens of thousands of federal jobs. “Contracting out, my eye,” he said. “Public employees are the foundation of this country. They have built things that have made this country better.”

President Kelley, who urged conference participants to impress upon their members of Congress the adverse impact on the nation of administration plans to “competitively source” to the private sector some 425,000 federal jobs deemed commercial in nature, will lead a Capitol Hill rally at noon tomorrow to show NTEU opposition to government contracting practices.

And on the matter of agency funding, she urged NTEU chapter leaders to encourage elected officials to take the lead role in determining agency funding levels. “If these decisions are left to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),” she said, the entire nation “will be in serious trouble.”