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Washington, D.C.—More than 300 National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) members from around the country will gather here tomorrow for the start of the union’s annual three-day Legislative Conference, taking to Capitol Hill their message of the critical importance to the nation of the work performed by skilled, experienced federal employees.

Their lobbying efforts will include a call to rein in costly runaway federal contracting, as well as working to build congressional support for a fair federal pay raise and more affordable health care.

The conference will begin at 9 a.m. at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington with remarks by NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley and Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). It will conclude with a luncheon at the hotel at noon on Thursday.

“This week, NTEU members from across the federal workplace and from every section of our country will make their presence known on Capitol Hill as they spread their message about the key roles federal employees play in providing the programs and services the American people depend upon,” said President Kelley.

Among its other priority issues, NTEU is pressing for a 3.9 percent pay raise in 2009 despite the White House’s proposal of a 2.9 percent raise for federal civilian employees; the union also is seeking to put the brakes on the administration’s efforts to turn over to the private sector as much federal work as possible—even to the extent of using private tax collectors. These are NTEU’s other priority legislative issues for this year:

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More affordable health insurance through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), including an increase in the government’s share of the premium, extension to federal retirees of the use of pre-tax income to pay health insurance premiums, and elimination of health savings accounts from the FEHBP;

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Attention to a variety of Department of Homeland Security issues, where low employee morale is endangering the agency’s vital missions. These issues include upholding law enforcement officer status for Customs and Border Protection employees, opposition to anti-employee personnel rules, and an end to the misguided “One Face at the Border” initiative which has seriously eroded inspectional expertise;

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Repeal or substantial modification of the often-financially devastating Social Security offsets impacting federal retirees and their families; and

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Approval of legislation to renew labor-management partnership, a concept that served the parties well in the 1990s, but was dropped by this administration days after it took office.

“As important as each of these issues is in its own right, taken together they form just the starting point for an aggressive year-long legislative effort that includes NTEU chapters and members throughout the country,” President Kelley said. “We are looking to build on the highly successful legislative year we enjoyed in 2007.”

She added: “Every year, I welcome the increase we see in enthusiasm and involvement in legislative issues shown by our members. Such involvement truly is critical, given that so much of what impacts federal workers occurs in and through the legislative process.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.