November 10,
2008
Union Notices
Interim Agreement Signed by Acting Comptroller
General Gene Dodaro
Discussions on Race Coming Up; You’re
Encouraged to Attend and Share Your Feedback
Join the Union by Nov. 21 to be Eligible to Vote for
2008 Union Officers
How Do I Join the Union?
Union’s Official Address for
Confidential Mail
Interim Agreement Signed by Acting Comptroller
General Gene Dodaro
The Interim Agreement between the Union and GAO
management was signed by Acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro
on Friday, November 7, 2008, and has now become effective. The
agreement, which was ratified by the bargaining unit on October
21, 2008, addresses certain significant rights for GAO employees
and the operations of our Union. A brief description of each article of the
agreement is provided at this Web link, and the copy of the Interim Agreement is
available at this Web link.
Discussions on Race Coming Up; You’re
Encouraged to Attend and Share Your Feedback
The Facilitated Discussions on Race have been
scheduled and several pilot sessions have been held. The Union encourages
bargaining unit members to attend these sessions; however, if
the session you are scheduled to attend does not work for you,
GAO management has agreed to work with staff to reschedule for a
time more appropriate to meet your needs and will even consider
providing some travel funds if needed. The Union would also be interested in hearing
any feedback you have once you complete your sessions. We
anticipate using your feedback as we monitor the development of
the upcoming diversity training. Please provide your comments to Jackie Harpp
(harppj@gao.gov) or
Nancy Zearfoss (zearfossn@gao.gov).
Join the Union by Nov. 21 to be Eligible to Vote
for 2008 Union Officers
A critical vote that is coming up over the next few
weeks is the election for the permanent officers, even though
many of us may have election fatigue. As you may have seen from the flyers around
GAO, the deadline for joining the union—if you want the
opportunity to nominate, run, or vote for
officers—is Friday, November 21. This gives us time to
process and verify membership status for the ballots. To join the Union, just
fill out a membership form and give the form to an Interim
Council representative.
You can also email the membership form to gaounionmembership@ifpte.org. If you chose to have dues deducted automatically,
you need to fill out an additional form (GAO Form 676), which
you can email to workforcerelations@gao.gov or give to an Interim Council representative. Field office staff can
email or pouch the dues deduction form to Workforce Relations or
give to an Interim Council representative. Information on the
membership application and payment options and applicable forms
are available on the GAO Union website at http://www.gaoanalysts.org. If
you have any questions please feel free to contact Chris
Langford (langfordc@gao.gov
or 202-512-6535), Chair of the Membership Committee.
Union’s Official
Address for Confidential Mail
Did you know that you can mail items to
the union without going through GAO? The union now has a U.S. Post Office box for
anyone who wants to be sure of confidentiality when sending mail
to the union—for example, checks for payment of union
dues. Please send
mail to the following address:
GAO Employees Organization
P.O. Box 50236
Washington, DC 20091-0236
If you are sending in checks, please
also put “Attention: Treasurer” on the
envelope.
Please Give Us Your Feedback
and Contributions
Although the regular
Communiqué is now a bi-weekly, the Communications
Committee would still 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, November 20, 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
normally meets each Wednesday at 3:30 PM ET in room 2T59,
however no meeting is scheduled for this week, Nov 12. The next meeting will be
held on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
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.
