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Washington, D.C.-President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today said NTEU stands prepared to help President-elect George W. Bush "fully understand and appreciate" the contributions of federal workers to the nation.

In the wake of Mr. Bush's apparent victory in the closest presidential election in U.S. history, Kelley said NTEU "wishes him well in recognition of the tremendous responsibilities that await him as he takes over leadership of a clearly-divided nation".

As a wise first step, Kelley said, the President-elect must realize that "he can, and should, turn to the professional, stable federal work force that throughout the uncertain period that followed the election, and as it does through good times and bad, kept focused on doing the work of the American people."

At the same time, Kelley said the apparent Bush victory "does nothing to diminish the 24 years of outstanding service to our nation performed by Vice President Gore. He truly has an outstanding public record, and, more particularly, a record of supporting federal employees and the work they do."

The leader of the nation's largest independent union of federal employees said she hopes President-elect Bush will recognize and appreciate, as has Vice President Gore, that the federal workforce "is made up of men and women who not only are skilled and experienced, but dedicated to the service of their nation."

She noted that some Bush campaign rhetoric would "indicate a lack of understanding," adding that at NTEU, "we'll do as much as we can to help him understand and appreciate the contributions and needs of federal workers and their families."

For one thing, Kelley said she will urge the administration to close the gap between public and private sector pay. "There is no chance the government will be able to compete effectively for the skilled employees it needs unless pay is competitive," she said. "We need to develop a credible system to close the gap."

She noted that there is bipartisan understanding in Congress about the need for the government to be competitive as an employer, pointing to projections that as many as 900,000 federal employees will be eligible to leave government service over the next few years.

Kelley said NTEU will strongly encourage President-elect Bush not to pursue proposals floated during his campaign to contract out to private industry substantial segments of government work; that could result in a quarter-of-a-million fewer jobs at the federal level with no assurance of comparable cost-effective or quality work by the private sector.

In that regard, Kelley said NTEU will push for passage of legislation that would require agencies to track the cost of contracting out, conduct public-private competitions and take other steps to determine the impact on wages and benefits of contracting out. A bill to accomplish that-the Truthfulness, Responsibility and Accountability in Contracting Act (TRAC)-secured 204 House co-sponsors in the 106th Congress.

Kelley also said NTEU will press the administration to take steps to lower health care costs for federal workers, expand family-friendly initiatives and ensure that agencies have adequate and stable funding.