• Legislation that Would Provide Retroactive Pay Adjustments Moves Forward

• Legislative Committee Members Meet with Congresswoman Norton

• Union to Testify Before House Appropriations Subcommittee on May 7

• African American Performance Assessment Study Completed; Feedback Sought

• Union's Interim Council Elects Officers

• New Band I (non-PDP) Representative Selected

• Call for Communique Contributions

• Union Contacts

• Get Active Action Center - Give the IFPTE Feedback

• DISCLAIMER  

Legislation that Would Provide Retroactive Pay Adjustments Moves Forward

The Legislative Committee is excited to report that H.R. 5683, the Government Accountability Act of 2008, continues to move forward in the House.  On Thursday, May 1, 2008, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved H.R. 5683 by unanimous voice vote and the bill may now proceed to the full House for consideration. The legislation would provide retroactive pay adjustments for GAO employees who met or exceeded expectations in 2006 and 2007 but did not receive cost of living adjustments, and would set minimum requirements for future across-the-board pay adjustments. 

Legislative Committee Members Meet with Congresswoman Norton

Although an amendment to H.R 5683 that would have addressed the independence of the GAO Personnel Appeals Board was not included in the bill approved by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Congresswoman Norton is considering resubmitting the amendment. 

On May 1, Congresswoman Norton met with Union members, to get help in addressing concerns raised by Committee members during the mark-up process. The concerns raised by Committee members are related to how to ensure that GAO employees have a fair and impartial third party venue for addressing complaints, prohibited personnel practices, or unfair labor practices.

GAO union participants thanked Ms. Norton for her assistance in dealing with GAO personnel matters, and reiterated the union's pledge to assist her in finding options for ensuring the independence of GAO's Personnel Appeals Board.

Union to Testify Before House Appropriations Subcommittee on May 7

Ron La Due Lake is set to testify before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, on May 7, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. The testimony will focus on GAO's Fiscal Year 2009 budget request and other issues of concern to GAO employees. The Legislative Committee would like to thank all of the members of the Interim Council for their feedback during the development of the testimony.   

African American Performance Assessment Study (AAPAS) Completed; Feedback Sought

The study comparing the performance assessments of GAO's African American employees with those of GAO's Caucasian employees has been completed and the results were released on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. In addition to the 2 GAO-wide briefings on the results of the study, the Ivy Group provided a separate briefing to members of the Interim Council's AAPAS Committee.

The study resulted in 28 recommendations for improvement.  In his April 30, 2008 memorandum to all GAO employees, Acting Comptroller General, Gene Dodaro has outlined plans for beginning to address the issues identified in the study. (The memo and the study are attached to this e-mail.)

If you have questions, comments or concerns about the study or its findings, please contact Jackie Harpp (Diversity - African American/Black), AAPAS Committee Chair.

Interim Council Elects Officers

The Interim Council elected Ron La Due Lake (ARM) as Chair, Dan Meyer (Chicago) as Vice-Chair, Lise Levie (EWIS) as Secretary and Kristi Karls (FMA) as Treasurer.  Congratulations to all!

New Band I (non-PDP) Representative Selected

We are happy to welcome Dan Kaneshiro as the new Band I Interim Council Representative. Dan replaces Margit Willems-Whitaker who left GAO.  We wish Ms. Willems-Whitaker good luck and thank her for her service to her fellow employees.

Call for Communiqué Contributions

If you are scheduling a union-related meeting or have a union-related announcement and would like to ensure that the information is circulated throughout the bargaining unit, please forward the information to Lesia Mandzia (HC) or Lise Levie (EWIS) by 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 8, for inclusion in the next edition.