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Washington, D.C. - Employees of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) voted yesterday to name the nation's largest independent federal employees union their exclusive representative in the workplace. By a vote of 132 to 9 the employees of the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) became the newest addition to the National Treasury Employees Union.

NTEU National President Robert M. Tobias welcomed the additional 419 bargaining unit employees of the agency responsible for administering prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programs for substance abuse and mental illnesses.

"We welcome the opportunity to work with SAMHSA employees to create a better workplace. The election results are a recognition of the value of becoming a part of the NTEU family. Moreover, it is a result of the energy, enthusiasm and ability of the SAMHSA employees who worked very hard to make this possible," said Tobias.

The lack of dignity and respect in the workplace is among the key issues cited by many SAMHSA employees who voted to be represented by NTEU.

Writer/Editor Charlott Gordon, currently detailed to SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services, said that employees did not have a vehicle to protect them against abuses in the workplace. She said NTEU is "a means to an end" to address poor employee-management relations and assist people in the workplace. She said the work done by NTEU to increase pay and benefits for federal employees was a real plus in the union winning acceptance at SAMHSA.

Grants Technical Assistant Debbie Dunn said that SAMHSA employees and management "aren't seeing a compromise position" at the expense of employees. "We need someone to represent us fairly. Someone who understands what employees are going through," said Dunn.

Public Health Advisor/Project Officer Jean Donaldson said with NTEU "management would really benefit from exposure to different management techniques." She said particularly valued is NTEU's commitment to creating a work environment that assists employees in balancing their jobs with their lives and responsibilities at home. NTEU's dedication to fighting for adequate agency funding was also a real plus, particularly at SAMHSA where copy machines go without toner and Project Officers are prevented from traveling due to lack of funds. "It makes it quite difficult to oversee projects from a desk a thousand miles away," said Donaldson.