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Washington, D.C.—With conclusion of the 108th Congress, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is able to point to a number of positive legislative developments impacting the federal workforce, the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees said today.

One key development, said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley, was approval of a 3.5 percent pay raise for 2005, reflecting bipartisan support for the idea that the nation is best served by a federal workforce that is respected and valued. The administration had proposed a 1.5 percent raise.

The NTEU leader pointed to other legislative victories as well, including language providing federal workers with compensatory time off for the time spent in business travel outside their normal work hours; legislation providing an appropriate structure for overtime pay for employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and approval of language increasing the overtime cap for employees of DHS’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in fiscal 2005 to $35,000.

Often, she noted, legislative success can be defined in terms of unfavorable legislation not approved. Kelley pointed out that NTEU succeeded in having language removed from the intelligence reform bill that would have given the president the right to exclude federal employees from union representation; and noted the union’s success in mitigating the negative impacts of legislative language aimed at imposing harsh post-employment restrictions on federal bank examiners. “These are important developments for federal workers,” Kelley said.

There were disappointments during the session, however, she noted, including action to strip bipartisan language from the omnibus appropriations bill that would have helped provide a level playing field for federal workers in the public-private competition which determines who does the work of the federal government; and approval by Congress of a program of tax debt privatization that will put sensitive taxpayer information into the hands of private companies.

But even these disappointments provide ongoing opportunities, the NTEU leader said. “While we know this administration will continue its drive to contract out federal work to private companies, we are encouraged by the growing support among representatives and senators of both parties that the nation is best served when federal employees have a fair opportunity to prove that the work of the American people should be left in the hands of the federal workforce,” Kelley said.

The NTEU leader also cited growing bipartisan recognition in Congress of the dangers of privatizing tax collections. She said NTEU will continue its efforts on both of these important issues, including educating the public about dangers inherent in privatizing tax collection.

NTEU is looking forward to opening of the next session of Congress, Kelley said, to “work with members on both sides of the aisle” to produce positive legislation on issues affecting federal workers and their ability to serve the American people.

“One thing is clear from developments in the 108th Congress,” she said. “Federal employees are viewed as an important constituency by lawmakers and force to be reckoned with.”

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