NTEU Chapter 23

A labor union representing federal workers has asked the federal government to reinstate telework while gas prices remain high and members struggle to make ends meet.⁠ ⁠ Leaders for the National Treasury Employees Union say soaring gas prices are placing an especially hard burden on federal employees, because their pay has not kept up with rising costs — most got just a 1% pay increase in January. Telework among federal employees has fallen sharply since President Trump returned to office last year, as his administration canceled many flexible work arrangements, including those that had been in place before the COVID pandemic.⁠ ⁠ The union has asked the government to approve telework at least until gas prices fall back below $3/gallon.⁠ ⁠ Check out NPR News Now wherever you listen to podcasts for more of today’s news.

Trump administration proposes having all federal workers sign NDAs | CNN Politics The White House is preparing a government-wide nondisclosure agreement aimed at curtailing federal workers’ sharing of “confidential government information,” as it seeks to stop internal leaks to media organizations.

NTEU asks Trump administration to ease telework rules as gas prices spike The union also called for an increase in gas reimbursement rates as the president’s war against Iran continues to disrupt the world’s oil supply.

Like other Americans, federal employees are facing an affordability crisis. The administration can help by immediately reinstating telework and providing fair pay increases, NTEU told OPM: https://bit.ly/4dpNDcy

We are proud to represent the employees at SAMHSA who help save lives by overseeing the 988 su***de prevention hotline and managing billions of dollars in grants for mental health and addiction services—the backbone of behavioral health in our county.

Dems introduce bill to protect feds’ credit scores during shutdowns Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said he was inspired to draft the legislation after hearing from TSA workers whose inability to pay their bills during the 78-day partial government shutdown hurt their…

They’ve been working on the buy out packages for early retirements

Raising Buyout Amount to Half of Salary Would Get More Takers, Says CBO

The Congressional Budget Office projects that more federal employees would accept buyouts under a pending House bill to raise the maximum amount, although adding that there is “considerable uncertainty” regarding how many offers lie ahead and what share of employees would accept.

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The bill would set the maximum buyout—also called voluntary separation incentive payment—at half of an employee’s annual salary. In the large majority of cases that would be higher than the $25,000 maximum that has been in effect since the buyout program started during the Clinton administration. The bill cleared the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in February and could be brought to a floor vote at any time.

IRS lacks transparent plans to leverage tech in the face of staffing cuts, GAO and employees say Agency leaders are “shoving AI at us,” one IRS employee said, despite the fact that “they don’t have the right tools for us yet.”

This week, NTEU filed comments opposing a new, unlawful Federal Labor Relations Authority rule designed to eliminate nonpartisan review of representation matters and abolish appeal rights. This is the FLRA’s blatant attempt to allow politics to dictate basic collective bargaining rights, and NTEU’s formal comments are a critical first step toward challenging the unlawful rule: https://bit.ly/4mQ20Kr