To:      All Employees Represented by the GAO Employees Organization, IFPTE

Re:      Ratification Vote on Recommended Interim Council Structure

The purpose of this communication is to provide GAO union represented employees the opportunity to indicate their concurrence or non-concurrence with a recommended Interim Council structure for the GAO Employees' Organization, IFPTE.    

Attached to this message you will find the Recommended Interim Council Structure and a BALLOT.

The responsibilities of the Interim Council will include:

(1) Drafting a Constitution and By-Laws for the GAO Employees Organization, which must be ratified by GAO union represented employees; and

(2) Representing GAO union represented employees in dealings with GAO management and Congress until permanent union officers and representatives can be elected pursuant to an employee-ratified Constitution and By-Laws.

Basis for Recommendation:  It is with these combined developmental, transitional, and representational responsibilities in mind that a volunteer group of GAO employees developed a recommended interim structure. The structure is composed of council positions based upon team/field assignments and PDP status, as well as at-large seats intended to provide a voice for work-related concerns that might not be fully addressed otherwise.  All GAO union represented employees were invited to participate in this volunteer effort.  Since the union election, dozens of GAO employees volunteered hundreds of hours of personal time to develop this recommendation.  IFPTE provided technical support and leadership for the volunteer group and strongly urges adoption of the recommendations as a starting place for employee self-governance of the GAO Employees Organization. 

• If the recommendations are adopted, elections will be conducted as quickly as possible to fill the Interim Council seats.  An election timetable and rules will be posted, and all union represented GAO employees will be eligible to run and vote for the Interim Council.  IFPTE will continue to provide technical support and guidance to the Interim Council.
   
• Should these recommendations be rejected, IFPTE will continue to support the volunteer effort to design a structure for self governance.  However, because the union has immediate and ongoing representational responsibilities to GAO employees, IFPTE would then need to designate by appointment GAO employees to serve as interim union representatives, until GAO employees can adopt a structure for self-governance and elect employee representatives.  

Attached to this message, you will find a ballot, which you can complete and attach to a reply to this message.  The ballot must be attached to a message sent from your GAO email account, no later than 10:00 PM Eastern Daylight time on Monday, October 29, 2007. 

If you have questions or concerns, please direct them to jclark@ifpte.org.