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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) announced today that NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley will be retiring following the union’s 2015 National Convention in August.

In a memo sent to NTEU Chapter Presidents, President Kelley thanked the NTEU leaders saying she was “in awe every day” of the work they do against great odds. She wrote that she believes NTEU is well-positioned to make a transition this summer: “I am proud of my NTEU career and the state of our union today … as much as I love my role and our union, I will not be seeking re-election to a fifth term as NTEU National President.”

Kelley said she will be retiring to spend time with her family in Pittsburgh. An election will be held at the NTEU convention later this summer to replace her.

A passionate and vocal advocate for federal employees, the NTEU leader is known for the depth and breadth of her knowledge of federal employee issues.

A native of Pittsburgh where she worked as an IRS revenue agent for 14 years, Kelley rose through the ranks of the union, serving in various chapter leadership positions including chapter president of NTEU Chapter 34, IRS Pittsburgh. Kelley joined the staff of NTEU, served as the union’s National Executive Vice President and was elected National President in August 1999. She was overwhelmingly re-elected to a fourth four-year term in 2011.

In her time as the union’s top official, Kelley has led the union to a number of significant accomplishments including ending the IRS’ program to outsource the collection of tax debts to private collection agencies, citing the danger to taxpayers’ private information and the risk of taxpayer harassment. She fought to protect Department of Homeland Security employees’ collective bargaining rights by successfully leading a lawsuit against a revamped personnel system the agency tried to impose on its employees and won enhanced Law Enforcement Officer retirement benefits for Customs and Border Protection Officers. Kelley is visibly active across government in the fight to rein in government contracting and to return contracted work into the hands of trained and accountable federal employees. She also plays a leading role in the effort to restore labor-management collaboration to the federal sector.

She fought to protect employees during the 16-day government shutdown in 2013 and succeeded in securing retroactive pay for furloughed workers.

Under President Kelley’s leadership, NTEU has broken new ground in organizing and representing many agencies and occupations that traditionally have not been unionized. They include attorneys at the Securities and Exchange Commission, scientists at the Food and Drug Administration, financial regulatory employees at the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and many others.

The NTEU leader believes that employees have a lot of good ideas about how to do the work of the federal government better and works hard to ensure their voices are heard.

A staunch defender of federal workers and their rights, Kelley stresses the need for fair treatment and competitive pay and benefits for federal employees. Through her efforts, the Office of Personnel Management permitted federal employees to have Flexible Spending Accounts, a common private sector employee benefit. Kelley believes that expanding federal workplace benefits is critical to improving the government's ability to compete with the private sector for the recruitment of the best and brightest of the workforce.

NTEU, the nation’s largest independent federal-employee union, represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.