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WASHINGTON – Colleen Kelley, a former National President of the National Treasury Employees Union, died Saturday, March 8. She was 73.

Kelley, a native of Pittsburgh, served four terms as president, from 1999 to 2015, leading the union through a period of membership growth and increased prominence in the federal sector.

“The NTEU family is in mourning. Colleen was beloved by NTEU members around the country for her tireless work ethic and deep understanding of the issues federal employees face, no matter their agency or position,” said NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald. “Colleen earned the respect of everyone she encountered, including union members, chapter leaders, agency heads and members of Congress, and the NTEU family will always be grateful for her groundbreaking leadership.”

Kelley was a certified public accountant and worked at the IRS as a revenue agent in Pittsburgh for 14 years. Injustices in the workplace inspired her to become a union steward in 1980 and she was elected president of NTEU Chapter 34 (IRS Pittsburgh) two years later. Kelley moved to NTEU’s Washington headquarters in 1988 to serve as the membership director and later became NTEU’s second in command before members elected her National President in 1999.

During her presidency, Kelley won support to create Flexible Spending Accounts for federal employees and fought to protect employees after cyberattacks at the Office of Personnel Management jeopardized their personnel records. At the IRS, she led the campaign to end the use of private debt collectors to collect unpaid tax debts, and she won enhanced law enforcement retirement benefits for Customs and Border Protection Officers. 

Overall, Kelley was instrumental in restoring labor-management collaboration at many federal agencies where NTEU represents frontline workers.

Services are scheduled for Saturday in Pittsburgh.

NTEU represents employees in 37 federal agencies and offices.