May 28, 2009
NTEU
Weighs in on CBP 2010 Budget
President Colleen M. Kelley earlier this month offered NTEU’s
perspective on fiscal 2010 funding needs for U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
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The FY 2010 Budget |
In testimony
submitted to Senate appropriators, Kelley praised
the administration’s request for an additional
$25 million to provide the final funding installment
for the NTEU-won enhanced retirement benefit for CBP
Officers.
President Kelley also urged the Senate Subcommittee
on Homeland Security Appropriations to fund CBP Officer staffing levels as specified in CBP’s own workforce staffing model, as well
as provide additional funding for staff needed to
expand southbound cargo inspections and address increasing
violence at the U.S.-Mexican border. The NTEU leader
also addressed the need for at least 500 new Agriculture
Specialists and enough trade compliance personnel
to ensure effective performance of customs revenue
functions.
“Each year, with trade and travel increasing
at astounding rates, CBP personnel have been asked
to do more work with fewer personnel, training and
resources,” said Kelley. “These men and
women are deserving of more resources and technology
to perform their jobs better and more efficiently.”
Bargaining over Use of Force Policy
Reaches Impasse
After a year of back and forth
over a new Use of Force Policy, NTEU has invoked the
assistance of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP)
to resolve several outstanding issues. The new policy
will replace the firearms policies of the separate
legacy agencies that were merged to create CBP.
The issues in dispute include how to address CBP’s
failure to reinstate an Officer’s authority
to carry a firearm in a timely fashion and whether
CBP is required to provide on-site weapons storage
for Officers who would rather not have their guns
at home.
NTEU has proposed that after an Officer’s authority
to carry a firearm has been removed, CBP conducts
the resulting investigation in an expeditious manner
on a priority basis. On the second issue, NTEU has
proposed that CBP provide secure overnight storage
facilities for employees upon request.
NTEU and CBP have agreed to maintain the 24-hour
carry policy and increase training and qualification
sessions from three to four times a year. In addition,
NTEU’s recent arbitration victory has forced
CBP to concede that it must allow employees to clean
their firearms during normal duty hours.
Swine Flu Fight Garners National
Media Attention
Online news sites have documented President Kelley’s
congressional testimony criticizing the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) for its failure to provide
a rational policy allowing frontline homeland security
employees to wear protective masks during the swine
flu scare.
A May 14 Washington
Post
article quoted President Kelley saying, “It
is unacceptable and shocking that more than three
weeks after the onset of the so-called swine flu and
despite repeated urging from NTEU and others, there
is still no comprehensive guidance in place to protect
the health of these frontline employees.”
A
GovExec article on May 14 reported that, “DHS’ current policy -- which requires workers who come
in close contact with an infected person to wear face
masks, but otherwise doesn't explicitly allow or prohibit
them -- has drawn the ire of the National Treasury
Employees Union ... which claims that thousands of
passenger screeners and others on the border have
been ordered to remove masks by their managers.”
A
May 15 article by the San Diego-based North
County Times, quoted President Kelley saying,
“Some of (the complaints) are disturbingly threatening,
and some include comments indicating the reason for
the prohibition was fear of alarming the public.”
For more news about NTEU’s fight against the swine
flu threat, visit www.nteu.org.
CBP Responds to NTEU Concerns about
FLETC,
Student Loan Repayment Program
CBP has responded to NTEU’s concerns
about the delayed implementation of the negotiated
Student Loan Repayment Program and living conditions
at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)
in South Carolina.
In a letter
to President Kelley, CBP replied that it is finalizing
internal procedures for rolling out the Student Loan
Repayment Program, which will focus on hard-to-fill
Agriculture Specialist positions.
Regarding health and safety conditions at FLETC,
CBP maintained that the center is adequately patrolled
and monitored by security personnel. In response to
NTEU’s concerns, sidewalks have been constructed
between facilities and street lights were adjusted
to turn on between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.
CBP also said that dormitories are treated for pest
control on a quarterly basis, clean linens and towels
are regularly provided, and heat and hot water complaints
are addressed on a case-by-case basis.
NTEU will continue to monitor the situation to ensure
that the concerns of trainees are addressed.
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