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Washington, D.C.-As the new administration reviews presidential executive orders issued in the last administration, National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley is urging President Bush to keep in place the executive order on partnership in federal labor-management relations.

"Working in partnership provides agency management and federal employees the opportunity to work together to identify and solve problems that interfere with the timely delivery of quality work to the American public," said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. "NTEU and its agency partners have had much success, following the tenets of the partnership executive order, in improving service to taxpayers throughout the federal government."

Over the years, there has been a recognition, both in the public and private sectors, that the involvement of front-line employees is critical to an organization's success in carrying out its mission, Kelley said. "This is what is at the heart of partnership."

In 1991, the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that federal labor-management relations were "too adversarial, and bogged down by litigation over procedural issues and minutiae." After seven years of partnership, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) concluded that there "has been a sizable shift toward labor-management cooperation and away from the mutually destructive, adversarial relationships common in the past."

"NTEU is eager to continue the positive progress we have made in labor-management relations in the federal government," Kelley said. "The accomplishments of the last seven years are directly tied to the pre-decisional involvement of front-line employees."

A shining example of a partnership success story is the reorganization and modernization of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Since Congress, in 1998, called for the agency to undergo the largest reorganization of a federal agency in our nation's history, the ability for all employees to have pre-decisional involvement in reorganization decisions has led to the smoothest transition on record. In the midst of this massive reorganization, American taxpayers have experienced increased customer service throughout two filing seasons.

"The benefits of employees having pre-decisional involvement are well-documented at the IRS," Kelley said. "President Bush should heed this evidence and continue the cooperative and positive nature that marks federal employee-management relations."

NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 25 federal agencies and departments.