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Washington, D.C.—Following the decision by the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP), that imposes reduced monetary foreign language awards for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) has filed a national grievance charging the agency with committing an unfair labor practice by engaging in unlawful “piecemeal bargaining” and bad faith bargaining.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said that the FSIP, or Panel, decision is illegal and disregards the value that foreign language proficiency brings to border security operations.

“CBP employees deal with thousands of travelers from all over the world on a daily basis,” said President Kelley, “and their skills in speaking the language of these travelers should be highly prized for contributing to the success of the agency and our border security.”

Last year, CBP proposed a reduction in foreign language awards for legacy Customs Officers that would match the reduced program the agency implemented for other legacy groups and new hires.

During bargaining, CBP pressed for deep cuts in awards payouts; NTEU refused. Subsequently, NTEU became the exclusive representative of the entire CBP bargaining unit and initiated term contract bargaining. NTEU argued that the Foreign Language Awards Program (FLAP) should be negotiated as part of the overall term contract. CBP management declared a bargaining impasse on FLAP and insisted that the FSIP resolve the parties’ impasse—a move NTEU protested. NTEU believes the Panel had no legal authority to issue the decision and impose management’s proposals. The union is refusing to sign the Panel order and is taking steps to negate the decision.

Kelley stated that the Panel’s current pro-management stance has made it easy for agencies—including CBP—to override real collective bargaining with unions on tough issues.

NTEU had to fight originally to get this program approved by Congress in 1996; get the Customs Service to negotiate and implement the program, and still must fight today to keep a win-win program in place.

The current FLAP provides legacy Customs officers with continuing cash awards ranging from three to five percent of their base salary if they demonstrate foreign language proficiency and use that language for at least 10 percent of their job duties. Since its implementation, the awards program has resulted in millions of dollars being paid to deserving employees.

“There is a major need for bilingual skills in the real world and it seems counter-productive for CBP to not adequately reward its officers for learning multiple languages,” Kelley said. “It is no wonder morale at CBP, and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, consistently ranks among the lowest in the federal government.”

“This program should be a model across government to encourage and reward foreign language proficiency, and CBP and the Panel are diminishing it,” Kelley said.