GAO ANALYSTS MESSAGING CENTER

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August 25, 2008 

 

Union Notices

 

Vital Issues Discussed in Constitution Listening Sessions - YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED

Interim Council Vacancies

Please Give Us Your Feedback and Contributions 

Union Contacts

DISCLAIMER

 

Vital Issues Discussed in Constitution Listening Sessions - YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED

Key decisions about the Union Constitution draft are being made NOW, and we need your input! The decisions include: 

  • Should SES, Band III's, retirees, APSS staff, or others participate in Union meetings and other activities as non-voting "associate members?"
  • How should the governing Assembly be structured?  For example, should the Assembly have 35 delegates to represent all teams and field offices, or be limited to fewer delegates (21) that would not directly represent all teams?
  • What voting rights, if any, should the five officers (President, VP for Grievances, VP for Field Ops, Treasurer, Secretary) have in the Assembly? 
  • What, if any, should be an appropriate "minimum threshold" of Union members for field offices and units to be represented by their own Delegate on the Assembly?

The Constitution Committee is using your listening session comments and other feedback to draft the Union Constitution.  An up-or-down vote will be held to approve the Constitution, which is tentatively planned to begin September 19, 2008 (happy Union ratification anniversary!).  The time to provide detailed feedback ends when the Constitution draft is completed before the vote.  To provide your feedback, you can

 

(1) attend an upcoming listening session:

   --  Boston: Tuesday, Aug. 26, at noon (Eastern);

   --  HQ Room 2T59: (202-512-2878), Thursday, Aug. 28, at noon (Eastern);

   --  Dallas: Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 11 a.m. (Central, noon Eastern), and

   --  Los Angeles and San Francisco: Thursday, Sept. 4, at noon (Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern).

 

(2) contact your Union representative, or

 

(3) send an e-mail to the Chair of the Constitution Committee, Stephen Ulrich, at ulrichs@gao.gov.

 

  

Interim Council Vacancies: Hispanic Diversity, Health Care, PDP, and Staff Office Analysts

There are currently four vacancies on the Interim Council.  The deadline for interested individuals to file for the most recent vacancies -- Hispanic Diversity Representative or Health Care Team Representative -- ends today at 8 p.m.   A PDP staff member volunteered on Tuesday, August 19 for the PDP seat that has been open for some time.  The election committee notified PDP staff by e-mail of the vacancy and a new deadline of Tuesday, August 26 at 8 p.m. for applications.   We also currently do not have a representative for the HQ Staff Office Analysts, any Bargaining Unit non-PDP employee assigned to a headquarters staff office can apply for this position.  Interested individuals should notify Elections Committee Chair Todd Anderson, andersontd@gao.gov.  

 

The procedures for replacing at large representatives differ from those for replacing team specific or PDP representatives.  If only one application is received for any one position, the applicant will become the representative at the next IC meeting.  If more than one application is received for the at-large hispanic diversity seat, the Interim Council will conduct a question and answer session with the applicants and the IC will select the representative.  If there is more than one candidate for the other seats, there will be a question and answer session scheduled for the bargaining unit members for the relevant seat which will be followed by an electronic ballot process open to bargaining unit members in the team or to PDP members, depending on the seat in question. 

 

 

Please Give Us Your Feedback and Contributions

The Communications Committee would like your feedback regarding articles you'd like to see, questions you'd like answered, or any other suggestions!  Please send your feedback to Charlie Willson (willsonc@gao.gov).  If you would like the next Communiqué to include a Union-related announcement or the time and place of a Union-related meeting, please forward the information to Lise Levie (leviel@gao.gov) by 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, August 28, to be considered for next week's Communiqué.

 

 

Union Contacts

If you have questions or comments, or need assistance from the Union, please email your Interim Council representative.   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 (except for this coming Wednesday, August 27, where there will be no meeting due to the holiday).

 

 

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.

 

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.