September 3, 2010
Agency Modifies
Restrictive Proposal
CBP has agreed to alter a proposal that would have severely limited employee movement into and out of highly-sought, specialized work units.
After using one-year assignment durations for the past two bid-and-rotation cycles, CBP initially proposed for 2011 to set a three-year duration in the Training, PERT/CTR, PAU/TAG work units and based upon the training that employees in these work units would have to attend.
NTEU-negotiated language sets a one-year assignment duration for all CBP units except when the assignment includes specialized training requiring significant investment of time or money.
Following NTEU objections, CBP instead agreed to set the durations for these three units at two years.
NTEU will be following this issue carefully to see whether the training promised by CBP actually takes place and whether it is as significant and specialized as represented by the agency.
|
|
NTEU, CBP Attend Initial
Labor-Management Forum
In an effort to improve communication and workplace collaboration, President Colleen M. Kelley and CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin recently convened the inaugural meeting of the CBP Labor-Management Forum. The first formal discussion on Aug. 18 was preceded by lengthy talks between President Kelley, Commissioner Bersin and CBP Deputy Commissioner David V. Aguilar.
In a joint message to managers and NTEU leaders released following the meeting, both parties highlighted their dedication to changing the nature of their relationship and building a strong foundation for future partnership.
“We have an opportunity to encourage constructive conversations and redefine the relationship between CBP and NTEU,” President Kelley and Commissioner Bersin said. “We are confident that by all of us working together, we can achieve this common goal.”
Among the topics discussed were building a structure for pre-decisional involvement between NTEU and CBP management, developing a charter for the national forum and creating local labor-management forums.
In addition to the joint statement, which highlighted “a strong commitment from both CBP and NTEU leadership to move into a new era of collaboration and creative problem solving,” President Kelley said that, “We want to take maximum advantage of this opportunity because we have a lot of work to do to.”
NTEU and CBP will appoint representatives to serve on local labor-management forums. Committee members will receive joint training. Read the minutes from the CBP Labor-Management Forum.
Home Visits by Internal Affairs to End
Internal Affairs (IA) will no longer conduct Periodic Re-investigation (PRI) interviews at CBP employees’ homes during non-duty hours.
Following NTEU complaints, CBP has agreed to abide by Article 22, Section 15 of the new term agreement, which states that, absent extenuating circumstances, IA interviews are to generally take place only at the work site, during duty hours.
If employees are ordered to participate in a PRI interview outside of normal work hours, or at a location other than their post of duty, they should contact their chapter leaders and their NTEU national field representative. If the requests continue, employees are advised to assert their right to overtime pay for the entire IA interview if the interview puts the employee in an overtime status.
In related news, NTEU has informed DHS that its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) should also not be contacting agency employees after hours or at their homes. NTEU and DHS are currently engaged in litigation over whether the agency’s OIG is covered by the procedures of the NTEU-CBP contract.
Be in the know.
If you have received the NTEU DHS Update
from a friend, sign up for your own
copy.
|
