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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees has encouraged members of the House and Senate committees that will consider possible financial regulatory changes to include the perspectives of frontline employees in their deliberations.

“These employees do this work every day and understand far better than anyone how to best accomplish this work,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) in a letter to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) Sen. Dodd is chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Rep. Frank heads the House Committee on Financial Services.

NTEU represents thousands of employees in several crucial federal financial regulatory agencies, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Credit Union Administration.

In her letter, President Kelley noted that the administration, in advancing proposals for changes to financial regulatory structures, failed to consult frontline employees at those agencies while engaging in such consultations with industry and policymakers. “This is a serious oversight, to say the least,” she wrote.

She took particular note of the longstanding concerns of both Sen. Dodd and Rep. Frank in ensuring protection for consumers, depositors and investors from unfair practices and also, “for the respect you have always shown for the men and women who work at the financial regulatory agencies.”

The NTEU leader added: “I am confident that as this proposal is considered by Congress, we will see under your leadership a broader consultation including consumers and agency employees.”

NTEU, she said, “is ready to work with both of you, as well as other members of your committees, both in the majority and the minority, to bring in the perspective of frontline employees.”

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.