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Washington, D.C.—In the face of an anti-worker administration, the only real chance federal employees have of making significant positive changes in their work environment “is a change in administration,” the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal workers told a rally of some 300 New England federal workers at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall.

President Colleen M. Kelley of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the federal workforce today finds itself “in one of the most destructive environments for federal employees that I have witnessed in many years”—including attacks on their job security, pay and workplace rights.

Kelley led a rally of several hundred NTEU and other union members from throughout New England to protest the Bush administration’s policies toward federal workers and to push for the election as president of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

In addition to supporting Sen. Kerry, rally participants focused on the political attacks directed toward federal employees for much of the past three years. These issues include the administration’s drive to contract to the private sector one out of every two federal jobs; its efforts to privatize tax collection; its failure to provide adequate funding for federal agencies; its attacks on workers’ collective bargaining rights; and its repeated proposals for inadequate pay raises for federal employees.

President Kelley warned that the administration’s “relentless attack” on the rights of federal workers “has only just begun,” emphasizing that other federal agencies are lining up “seeking the same unilateral management control over their employees” as is being sought by both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Defense (DoD).

The NTEU leader was joined at the rally by a number of pro-federal employee members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, including Reps. Michael Capuano, Barney Frank, Martin Meehan, John Tierney, Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch.

Rep. Capuano captured the essence of the rally when he declared that “it is more important than ever to protect the rights of all workers,” with many families struggling to make ends meet and with many people searching to find jobs in a difficult economy. “In this critical election year,” he said, “we must make sure that our voices are heard, today and in November.”

His colleague, Rep. Frank, said he is proud to stand with NTEU “in the fight for hard-working federal servants to be treated fairly—and against the Bush administration’s continuing anti-worker, anti-union campaign.” And Rep. Markey took a swipe at President Bush for being “so out of touch with everyday Americans that he tells us the economy is ‘turning a corner.’”

How can that be, Rep. Markey said, when federal employees see their health insurance premiums “go through the roof” and when millions of Americans are denied overtime pay for extra work or lose their jobs because of outsourcing?

President Kelley used the rally to introduce a new NTEU video supporting Sen. Kerry’s presidential bid. In it, Sen. Kerry expresses both his appreciation for NTEU’s February endorsement of his candidacy and his support for federal employees and the work they perform for the nation.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments.