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Washington, D.C.---The leader of the union whose members would form a key part of the new Department of Homeland Security today applauded action by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in turning back a Republican-led effort to strip assurances that employees would retain their collective bargaining rights.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents some 12,000 employees of the Customs Service, said the 10-7 bipartisan vote to reject a proposal by Republican Sen. Fred Thompson (TN) “is an important step forward in preserving the rights” of the men and women of Customs.

Under legislation being considered by the committee, and advanced by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), most employees transferred to the new department would retain their collective bargaining rights.

Since the debate began over creation of a new department, President Kelley has been vocal in stating her concerns about the administration’s intent with respect to preservation of the civil service rights of many of the 170,000 employees who would make up Homeland Security Department.

“I know the administration has been trying to say all the right things about preserving the same rights for homeland security employees that other federal workers enjoy,” the NTEU leader said, “but the legislation

put forward by the administration, and advanced by the House Select Committee, does nothing to guarantee these rights. Instead, the director of the new department, working with the head of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), clearly would have a free hand in determining what, if any, rights these employees would have. That is an unacceptable set of circumstances, particularly for people who risk their lives day in and day out in the service of our nation.”

She noted that the House Select Committee, on a party-line 5-4 vote, declined to include in the homeland security bill it moved forward an amendment agreed to by the House Government Reform Committee, on a bipartisan vote, that would have assured civil service protections, including collective bargaining rights, be retained by those employees who had them prior to their transfer to the new department.

“Rather than rhetoric,” President Kelley said, “that vote signaled the true intent of the administration.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.