The GAO union will be represented at two upcoming Diversity Month activities. On June 4th, the union will participate in the headquarters' Diversity Fair, which will take place around lunch time (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) on the first floor of the GAO building in the main corridor. On June 17th, Interim Council member Jackie Harpp (Diversity - Black/African American) will participate in a moderated panel discussion on the Ivy Group's final report on disparities in performance appraisal scores between GAO's African American staff and Caucasian staff. The discussion will focus on the broader implications of the study's findings, including how other groups may be affected by proposed recommendations to address ratings disparities. Gene Dodaro will kick off the panel discussion with opening remarks. If you have a question or concern related to the Ivy Group findings, and would like to see this addressed in the panel discussion, please contact Jackie Harpp.

Constitution Committee Update

The Constitution Committee is establishing a process to get bargaining unit members input into the draft Constitution. The committee hopes to hold listening sessions starting early this summer for HQ and field offices. The constitution will among other things include a permanent union structure. Bargaining unit members will be notified once dates, times and locations of the listening session are established.

Volunteers Needed

Web Volunteers

We are looking for volunteers (HQ and Field Offices) to help improve our web presence. We need your help, even if you have not been involved in Union organizing to this point. The volunteers selected must be in the GAO bargaining unit and must be able to:

meet (on phone or in-person) with the other Web volunteers, using personal, non-work time, mostly during non-business hours;

work cooperatively to design and develop a high quality website;

deal appropriately with sensitive information; and

make timely progress on website goals.

We are still looking for volunteers to help develop and bring together the weekly Band Together COMMUNIQUÉ (originally announced in the May 12th Communique). If you are interested, please send a paragraph explaining your interest by Tuesday, May 27th at 6 p.m. (ET) to Lesia Mandzia (HC). Communique volunteers will serve at least until a permanent union structure is in place.

We Want Your Feedback

We would like your feedback regarding articles you'd like to see, questions you'd like answered, or any other suggestions. Do you have a question or concern that you think others in the bargaining unit might share? Do you have a perspective on union-management relations that you think might provide insight to others in the bargaining unit? Do you have an idea for a regular column? Do you know someone who should be receiving the newsletter, but isn't? This type of feedback will help to make the newsletter relevant and keep us from becoming just another "Delete" item in your mailbox! Please send your comments to Lesia Mandzia (HC) or Charlie Willson (EWIS).

Call for Communiqué Contributions

If you are scheduling a meeting or have an announcement that would be of interest to the bargaining unit, please forward the information to Lesia Mandzia (HC) or Lise Levie (EWIS) by 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 22nd, for inclusion in the next edition of the Communique.

Union Contacts

If you have questions or comments, or need assistance from the union, please email your Interim Council representative (listed below). You can also send questions and comments to ICquestions@gaoanalysts.org. Members of the bargaining unit are welcome to observe Interim Council meetings, either in person or by phone. In addition, members are invited to submit or share thoughts at the beginning of the meeting. Please contact your representative or another member of the IC for more details, including the call-in number for those who cannot attend in person. The Interim Council meets each Wednesday at 3:30 PM ET in room 2T59.

Atlanta	Scott Borre	borres@gao.gov
Boston	Nancy Barry	barryn@gao.gov
Chicago	Dan Meyer	meyerd@gao.gov
Dallas	Debra Conner	connerd@gao.gov
Dayton	Myra Watts Butler	butlermw@gao.gov
Denver	Sandy Davis	daviss@gao.gov
Huntsville	Beverly Breen	breenb@gao.gov
Los Angeles	Tim Fairbanks	fairbankst@gao.gov
Norfork	Gina Ruidera Hoffman	hoffmang@gao.gov
San Francisco	Leo Acosta	acostal@gao.gov
Seattle	Nathan Anderson	andersonn@gao.gov
ARM	Ron La Due Lake	laduelaker@gao.gov
ASM	Lorene Sarne	sarnel@gao.gov
DCM	Barbara A. Gannon	gannonb@gao.gov
EWIS	Lise Levie	leviel@gao.gov
FMA	Kristi Karls	karlsk@gao.gov
FMCI	Sonja Bensen	bensens@gao.gov
HC	Lesia Mandzia	mandzial@gao.gov
HSJ	Jonathan Tumin	tuminj@gao.gov
IAT	John F. (Jeff) Miller	millerjf@gao.gov
IT	Robert Kershaw	kershawr@gao.gov
HQ Staff Office Analysts	Carolyn McGowan	mcgowanc@gao.gov
NRE	John Johnson	johnsonjc@gao.gov
PI	Nancy Zearfoss	zearfossn@gao.gov
SI	Steven J. Berke	berkes@gao.gov
Band I	Daniel Kaneshiro	kaneshirod@gao.gov
Communications Analyst	Jennie Apter	apterj@gao.gov
PDP	Ethan Iczkovitz	iczkovitze@gao.gov
PDP	Christopher Langford	langfordc@gao.gov
PDP	Heather Rasmussen	rasmussenh@gao.gov
PDP	Mark Ryan	ryanma@gao.gov
PDP	Stephen Ulrich	ulrichs@gao.gov
Diversity, Asian/Pacific-Islander	Eddie W. Uyekawa	uyekawae@gao.gov
Diversity, Black/African American	Jacqueline Harpp	harppj@gao.gov
Diversity, Disability	Suzanne Rubins	rubinss@gao.gov
Diversity, Hispanic	Alfonso Garcia	garciaa@gao.gov
Diversity, Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity	Andrew Huddleston	huddlestona@gao.gov
Diversity, Non-Designated	Ken Stockbridge	stockbridgek@gao.gov
Diversity, Non-Designated	Henry Sutanto	sutantoh@gao.gov

Get Active Action Center - Give the IFPTE Feedback
As we get more volunteers, we have better ideas. To assist Analysts in advancing their rights and representation within GAO, IFPTE has developed an advocacy tool to allow Analysts to provide feedback to the union. GAO Analysts are encouraged to sign up for the Action Center if they haven't already done so at www.unionvoice.org/gaoanalysts/home.html.

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DISCLAIMER - Communications that are not sent directly from the IFPTE or the GAO union Interim Council, or communications posted anonymously on the Web, do not represent the views of IFPTE or the official position of the collective members of the GAO bargaining unit.

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