August 24, 2010
NTEU Wins Faster Investigations of Weapon Removals
CBP has finally agreed to conduct firearm carriage authority investigations expeditiously, an important victory for employee rights that comes after eight years of NTEU litigation and a round of contract bargaining.
Under the agreement, the Office of Internal Affairs must conduct firearms carriage authority investigations "in an expeditious manner" on a priority basis over other investigations. NTEU also secured a provision requiring the Office of Field Operations (OFO) to review all cases where an officer's firearm has been removed every three months and provide an estimated timeframe for completion. Once the investigation is done and an officer's carriage authority is reinstated, OFO must return the officer's firearm within 10 days.
"Previously, anyone with a grudge against a CBP Officer could make an unsubstantiated allegation and the employee's weapon could be removed without due process," said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. "The agreement will ensure that investigations do not languish for months or even years. This is harmful both to the employee and CBP, which loses a trained, experienced officer on the line until an investigation is completed."
NTEU Welcomes
New Members
NTEU is welcoming Telecommunications Specialists and Information Security Specialists into the bargaining unit. These employees will now have the rights, benefits and protections of an NTEU contract.
Certain specialists who are managers or supervisors, or have access to classified information are excluded.
Specialists are encouraged to visit their NTEU chapter for more information.
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More Resources for Southwest Border Security
The president has signed a fiscal 2010 supplemental funding measure that will allow CBP to add some 250 officers along the southwest border and maintain 270 other officers stationed at border ports of entry.
NTEU had advocated for the boost in staffing and will continue to press for more resources for CBP in fiscal 2011.
CBP Adopts Guidance for Laboratory Staff
After bargaining with NTEU, CBP has adopted guiding principles for managers, forensic scientists and laboratory staff working in the Office of Information and Technology.
Outlined by the National Science and Technology Committee, the guidance is recommended for all federal agencies with criminal laboratories and forensic scientists. Under NTEU's agreement, CBP will conduct meetings to explain the reasons for the principles and give employees a chance to ask questions about them. Employees with additional questions or concerns will have an opportunity to meet with NTEU after the formal meetings.
The principles are designed to provide a framework for describing ethical and professional responsibilities in the forensic lab community and to increase public confidence in the quality of lab services.
CBP Officers Get Limited Off-Duty Firearm Storage
After a long fight that ended in a bargaining impasse,
NTEU has secured limited off-duty firearms storage facilities for CBP Officers.
NTEU had initially proposed that CBP permit off-duty firearm storage for any employee who requests it. CBP refused and the issue went to the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP), which recently issued its decision. The FSIP ordered CBP to give priority consideration for off-duty firearm storage to employees with hardships, with the remaining storage capacity filled on the basis of seniority. CBP must also provide off-duty firearm storage for at least 25 percent of officers at new or retrofitted facilities.
NTEU will work to ensure that CBP is complying with the decision and may reopen the issue in one year.
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