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The National Federation of Federal
Employees/IAM
Chris FeutrierPresident Local 1521
National Federation of Federal Employees/I.A.M.
President Warren G. Harding and the NFFE Executive Council on the White House lawn in 1921
Affiliation with the Machinists I.A.M.A.W
• NFFE/IAM is a large (750,000 members) and diverse (over 1,000 different industries and sectors) modern labor organization.
• Provides Incredible Training Opportunities free to union officers and staff
• Strong lobbying power with our Non-partisan political action committee
What Employees and Management Should Know
about NFFE/IAM• We don’t want to manage• We are the voice of the people and
potentially a voice for management• We respect management • We want to promote good
management• As elected representatives we have to
answer to our own constituency• The union isn’t perfect, but you have
the opportunity to make it better by getting involved.
What Employees and Managers Should Know About
We View Change • Change is a natural and necessary force
of an agency’s evolution.• Change occurs best through
collaboration and bargaining with input from the ground and mid level employee.
• Agency enforced change should include effective monitoring procedures to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the new changed condition.
• The current change the agency is going through is NOT making us more efficient or being monitored properly.
What has NFFE/IAM ever done for me?
• Since 1917, the National Federation of Federal Employees has worked with the Forest Service to mutual benefit and has effectively lobbied and negotiated many of the working conditions we take for granted today.
• Retirement annuities• Health benefits • Cost of living pay increases• Per-diem• Transfer of Station• Maxi-flex system• Holiday pay• Wellness plan• Within grade pay increases • Over-time pay• Hazard pay• Sick leave
How does NFFE/IAM represent employees today?
•Direct Representation–As a personal representative for employees in variety of forums
•Indirect Representation
–Master Agreement–Partnership Council–Leadership Team–Lobbying and Legislative efforts
Direct Representation
• The unions have exclusive access to the labor relations system.
• The Law: 5 U.S.C., Chapter 71– Defines the appropriate units that the
Union represents. – Mandates union participation and
bargaining as a part of doing business.– Establishes time lines to raise issues
Direct Representation
• The Forums–FLRA . . .A forum to address reprisals.
–Arbitration . . .A cost effective forum for individual disputes.
–EEOC, OWCP, MSPB . . . A forum for individual disputes.
Indirect Representation
• The Master Agreement• Negotiated contract between
management and the union at the national level.
• Governs almost all aspects of employer/employee relationship.
• You can find a copy of this Agreement on your local union website.
• Training– M.A. Training CD-ROM– Yearly training opportunities
Weingarten RightAs a bargaining unit employee represented by a labor organization, you have the right to request representation from the labor organization (i.e. Union) at any investigative examination/interview where you reasonably believe the examination may result in disciplinary action being taken against you. You may make this request at any time prior to or during the interview. If requested, the agency may opt to: suspend questioning and grant your request then resume the interview; discontinue the interview; or offer you the choice to proceed with the interview without a Union representative or to forego the interview.
Indirect Representation• Partnership Council
– To involve Management and Union representatives as full partners in the identification of problems as well as the development and implementation of solutions, in order to better accomplish the mission of the Forest Service.
– To promote the use of interest-based bargaining in lieu of position-based bargaining when conducting negotiations.
– To openly share information and afford bargaining unit employees the opportunity for involvement at the earliest predecisional stage regarding personnel policies, practices, and conditions of employment on the Forest.
Indirect Representation• The Leadership Team
– As the union we have a seat as a full voting member of the leadership team.
– Add items to the agenda that are important to the employees.
– Vote on behalf of the employees in ways that are consistent with the perspective from the ground.
– Emphasis on employee development, fairness, and the critical importance of field going positions.
Indirect Representation• Lobbying and Legislative Efforts
– Congress operates by applied pressure.– Through solidarity and the sheer numbers
of our union members we can apply significant pressure affecting and writing legislation.
– Feedback loop to Congress of what is really happening on the ground.
– With congress calling the shots, any good thing that comes our way one year can be discontinued the next absent the applied pressure and voice of your federal union.
– This includes your benefits and pay raises.
Employee Concerns
Competitive Sourcing~Or, will my job still be here tomorrow?
Competitive Sourcing Threat
• President’s Management Agenda is ramping up.
• USDA/Forest Service Green Plan FY 2005-FY 2009 Competitive Sourcing
• In accordance with current direction, the agency plans to conduct feasibility studies on 21,310 FTE’s from 2005-2009.
• Competitions may occur as a result of these feasibility studies in accordance with current USDA direction.
Competitive Sourcing Threat
The Union’s Response• Level playing field with contractors.• Inform congress of how money appropriated for
natural resource management is actually being spent.
• Work with congress to enforce spending caps on competitive sourcing program with true cost accounting of C.S. program.
• Work with congress to request audit of competitive sourcing audit by G.A.O.
• Track true costs vs. supposed savings.
Track True Costs to Agency• "I know we can show paper savings in IT
due to reducing workforce by something like 600 FTEs. However, I believe it's relatively easy to show that burden shift, lost productivity, and real dollars spent, offset any paper savings (and of course this does not include all the money spent on the competitive sourcing study--a big sunk cost to start with). Regarding the impacts of shifting to ISO, if the average employee is now spending just 2% more time dealing with IT-related work (and I think 2% is probably conservative), the apparent FTE saving is offset by burden shift (2% x 30,000 Forest Service total FTE's=600FTEs).”
» Forest Supervisor From Region 5
What do we show congress?Exhibit A
• Chief Bosworth was asked to identify the FY ’06 preparedness funding for each of the 10 regions.
• His answer totaled $561,333,000. • Yet, Congress appropriated $
676,000,000 for fire preparedness... • Where did the other $114,667,000 end
up & who approved it?• How will this reduced firefighting
capability affect firefighter/public safety?
• How will this affect resource & community protection?
C.S. Union Victories Level Playing Field
• Union lobbied successfully to include fair-play language into 2006 Appropriations bill.
• In-house agency employees can form a “most efficient organization” to compete against contractors.
• The provisions also require contractors to demonstrate a savings of at least 10% or $10 million.
C.S. Union Victories Spending Cap on C.S.
studies
• In 2006 the union successfully lobbied a $3 million dollar spending cap on C.S. studies.
• Hank Kashdan’s quote- “The current effort to present a revised “Green Plan” results from a request by USDA to develop a plan the agency is capable of implementing if the legislated restrictions contained in FY 2006 Appropriation Act did not exist.”
C.S. Union Victories G.A.O. Audit
1. Does the Forest Service have an effective and strategic process for selecting commercial activities for competition, and does that process properly consider the agency's long-term ability to effectively fulfill its essential missions, including wildfire management?
2. Does the Forest Service have an adequate infrastructure - including policies, people, and systems - in place to effectively manage its competitive sourcing program?
3. How does the Forest Service ensure that expected savings from competitive sourcing are actually achieved?
4. Does the Forest Service have procedures designed to ensure that all the costs of its competitive sourcing program- such as salaries, travel, training, oversight, and Support costs- are properly accounted for?
Competitive Sourcing 2007MORATORIUM CITY
• C.S. is broken and is not adding value to the Agency in terms of effectiveness nor is it financially beneficial or efficient to the tax-payers that we serve.
• The G.A.O. audit will bear this claim out.• Don’t waste any more taxpayer dollars on the
ideologically driven privatization of our Agency that isn’t saving any money.
• We are pushing hard with the Interior appropriations committees in congress to get a MORATORIUM on Competitive Sourcing in the USFS.
Fire and Liability• Work to amend PL 104-208 sec. 636 to allow
fire line supervisors to receive the same reimbursement privileges enjoyed by supervisors and law enforcement officers for liability insurance.
• Work to clarify PL 107-203 to reflect that the independent investigations are conducted to obtain lessons learned and are separate from appropriate administrative and criminal investigations.
• Work towards the implementation of protocols in accident investigations to help firefighters have the confidence to provide complete and candid information
Other Legislative Issues• Retirement Buy-Back of seasonal time
– Adjustment to the 1989 buy back date. – Facilitating additional options to the way that you
can buy back that time.• Sick leave and FERS
– Allow FERS employees the ability to buy back their sick leave.
• Recreation Issues– Campgrounds are closing or underserviced– Recreation employees are being rapidly
downsized.– YET the public is recreating and using Forest
Service roads, trails and campgrounds in record numbers.
Regionally Negotiated MOU’s
• Positive work environment
• Regional Pre-wraps
• Fire issues (compensatory lunch/space-blankets/etc.)
• Wellness plans
• ADR toolkit
LOCALLY Negotiated MOU’s
• Local Pre-Wraps Plan
• Bunkhouse Agreement
• Local Space policy
• Local Wellness plan
• Standby-vs-on-call
• Fire issues
What does NFFE/IAM do for me?
• Ability to address adverse impact of agency actions.• Advance notice of changes in working conditions.• Ability to grieve certain personnel actions .• Provides a legitimate alternative to the agency’s
interpretations of law, rule, and regulation.• Ability to challenge “reform” through the courts.• A unified voice on the Hill.• A unified voice in the Media. • A unified voice to influence public opinion.
Local 1521Steward and Officers
• President-Chris Feutrier• Vice-president-Kim Beaver• Secretary Treasurer-Debbie Cuyle• S.O. Steward-Denise Pengeroth• Townsend Steward-Tracy Schilling• Helena Steward-Archie Harper• Lewis & Clark Chief Steward-Carol Hatsfield• Communicator-Alisha Knaub
Conclusion
With our union, the federal employee has a legitimate voice in the workplace and
an opportunity to be catalysts for positive
change.
