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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today welcomed approval by the House of Representatives of an amendment to a major spending bill that could ensure that government agencies use a fair public-private process when considering whether to privatize federal jobs.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley welcomed bipartisan approval by the House last night of an amendment to the fiscal 2005 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations Bill offered by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) that would prohibit the use of funds to implement massive contractor-friendly revisions made in 2003 to federal contracting rules. The amendment passed by a 210-187 vote.

Kelley called House approval “important recognition of the impact” government contracting rules are having on federal workers. “The Van Hollen amendment would force the Office of Management and Budget [OMB] to go back to the drawing board to develop a contracting out process that is fair to federal employees and a better deal for taxpayers,” she said.

The NTEU leader, who thanked Rep. Van Hollen for his continuing strong leadership on this important issue, added: “This amendment will not prevent agencies from contracting out. However, we

believe it will go a long way to ensuring a fair public-private competition process that spends taxpayer dollars wisely.”

Previously, the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a bipartisan vote, adopted a similar provision on an amendment offered by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). The full Senate has yet to take up its version of the Transportation-Treasury funding bill.

While federal employees have been winning a substantial number of public-private job competitions under OMB rules, President Kelley emphasized that these victories inevitably come at a considerable cost to federal employees.

For example, she said, even as Internal Revenue Service employees last month won such competitions for work in two agency functions, some 500 federal jobs were lost as a result of those ‘victories.’

NTEU has been leading the fight against ongoing administration efforts to contract an increasing number of federal jobs to the private sector.

The administration has targeted thousands of federal positions for competition from private companies despite the continuing lack of accountability to taxpayers from the growing army of federal contractors—and despite the lack of any clear evidence that contracting saves money or provides better service to the public.

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