Home
Media Center
News Releases
Washington, D.C.—Legislative language won by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is directly responsible for action this week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to rescind its much-maligned effort to impose regressive personnel rules on all department employees, the leader of NTEU said today.
“Starting with NTEU’s aggressive efforts in Congress and in the courts and concluding with securing a funding prohibition in the continuing resolution for fiscal year 2009, NTEU has been leading the way in the fight against this regressive system, which actually would have harmed the nation’s security,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley.
She made her comments in the wake of a DHS memorandum to the unions representing its employees that it rescinded, effective with yesterday’s start of fiscal 2009, application of its new personnel regulations to all employees.
In recent years, NTEU also has been highly successful in winning legislative approval to reduce substantially the funding for implementation of the DHS personnel regulations.
President Kelley has testified before the House and Senate numerous times in opposition to the system, pointing out the flaws in DHS’s proposal and underscoring for lawmakers the negative impact the department’s efforts were having on the morale of the frontline employees charged with securing our country.
For fiscal year 2009, NTEU won language in the continuing resolution prohibiting DHS from spending money to operate its new personnel system, ensuring that frontline employees will not be moved to an unproven pay for performance system.
“The fact that Congress included this funding prohibition in the continuing resolution demonstrates that these proposed rules were a terrible idea for everyone—the agency, its employees and our nation,” said Kelley.
NTEU previously pursued successfully a federal court suit challenging the legality of efforts to change employees’ collective bargaining, due process and appeal rights.
This is the second of two critical victories for NTEU at DHS. NTEU recently won an enhanced retirement benefit for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers.
“DHS now has an opportunity to work with employees and their representatives to improve morale that is at or near the bottom among major federal agencies,” said President Kelley.