Home Media Center News Releases

Washington, D.C.—The head of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees today offered a set of five recommendations dealing with contracting out of government services that she said would help ensure the delivery of such services to taxpayers in “the most reliable, most efficient and most cost-effective manner.”

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) also said the NTEU recommendations “would help resolve the human capital crisis” facing the federal government.

Kelley offered the recommendations in response to a request for comments in the Federal Register and on the day of the initial meeting of the 12-member Commercial Activities Panel (CAP), a body created by Congress to review the government’s contracting out processes and procedures. Kelley is a member of CAP.

The NTEU recommendations call for:

-

Greater accountability in contracting, including reporting and oversight systems that track the true costs of contracting out governmental services;

-

Pre-decisional employee involvement in agency decisions on how best to deliver government services to the American taxpayers;

-

Fair public-private competition for the work, once a decision has been made to consider work for privatization;

-

Federal employee appeal rights, in much the same way that private sector entities can appeal agency contracting decisions; and

-

Post-decisional oversight, including broader agency authority to bring work back in-house if contractors do not meet their promises.

“American taxpayers want to be sure that there are systems in place to trace whether contracting out is saving money or improving government services,” she said. CAP “has an excellent opportunity to make changes that are in the best interests of the taxpayers,” Kelley added, urging the body’s support for the NTEU recommendations.

The NTEU president noted the importance of keeping skilled and experienced employees in federal agencies, particularly in light of the eligibility of substantial numbers of such workers for retirement over the next few years. “We need to do all we can to keep our knowledge and skills base on behalf of the taxpayers,” she said.

NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments. Kelley has been among the most vocal advocates for greater accountability and oversight in government contracting practices.