Home Media Center News Releases

Washington, D.C.—In light of two court decisions ruling against the new personnel system for employees of the Department of Homeland Security, DHS should sit down with the unions to work out a mutually-acceptable system, the head of the National Treasury Employees Union said in a letter presented to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff yesterday.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley cited the department’s insistence on pursuing personnel regulations that a federal court has twice enjoined as illegal as adding to the frustration of front-line employees who repeatedly have voiced their concerns over the new regulations. “It is clear that it will take some time to resolve, through the legal system, the issues raised in the lawsuit,” Kelley said. NTEU is lead counsel in the lawsuit.

“Your agreement to reengage in discussions over these issues will send a strong signal to employees that they are valued,” she said in the letter. “It would also provide the chance to reach agreement and avoid further litigation” on the new personnel rules. The rules DHS is seeking to impose severely impact employees’ collective bargaining, due process and appeal rights.

Kelley also detailed for Secretary Chertoff the negative repercussions of the “One Face at the Border” initiative. Intended to provide travelers with one person who could perform customs, immigration and agriculture inspections, rather than three, the policy has caused severe logistical and institutional weakness and is “leading to a loss of expertise in critical homeland security priorities,” Kelley said.

NTEU is calling for a detailed review of the “One Face” initiative and an immediate reinstitution of the specialization of inspection functions for all secondary inspections.

NTEU is further seeking the support of DHS on the issue of providing law enforcement officer (LEO) status to CBP officers. These employees are required to carry firearms and perform law enforcement duties, yet they are not considered law enforcement officers for purposes of eligibility for retirement benefits as are many of the officers with whom they work side-by-side.

These three issues—the personnel rules, LEO status and the ‘One Face’ initiative—were at the heart of a two-day lobbying effort last week on Capitol Hill by some 50 NTEU CBP chapter leaders, who met with the senators and representatives about the impact these policies have on the nation’s security and the resulting low morale among DHS employees.

The low morale is reflected in recent studies of DHS employees by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and outside groups. “Employees are frustrated with factors that interfere with their ability to do the jobs they know are critical to our nation’s security,” Kelley told Secretary Chertoff in the letter.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments, including some 14,000 in CBP.