The Next Monthly Chapter Meeting will be on April 24, 2024

When:    Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Noon Eastern Time 

Where:   Using Teams from Your Computer or Home/Work Phone

Call-in:   We will use TEAMS for this meeting.  Be sure to disconnect from VPN mode.  Then click on the link below.  See below for information on the call-in telephone option.  If you are unable to join the TEAMS meeting at Noon Eastern Time, don't worry, we will provide meeting notes.  Assuming that you are successful in joining the meeting, to avoid too much clutter on our screens, please turn off your camera.  Also please mute your microphone/telephone (if it is not muted already) unless you are speaking.  Please make use of the chat function.

Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 211 765 369 355
Passcode: btdEE7

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

Phone Conference ID: 264 607 161#

What's On the Agenda: 

*   Welcome and Opening Remarks  
*   The Union Wins Retaliation Case vs NPS - Nets $300,000 for WASO Employees – A Brief Report 
*   Unfair Labor Practice Publication – What Does it Mean? 
*  Union National President Meets with NPS Director – A Brief Report 
*   Proposed Telework Changes and the CBA – Which Prevails? 
*  Remote Work Issues – What the Union Wants to Know 
*   Space Consolidations – Relationship to Remote Work/Telework Policy Decisions 
*   Negotiating Our Next Contract -- A Status Report 
*   Reorganizations and Consolidations – The Union Role and What is Going On 
*.  WASO Communication Issues Post Consolidation – A Brief Discussion 
*   Issues From Meeting Attendees -- What Do You Want to Know About/Talk About? 
*   New Schedule F Protections – What Does it Mean?
*  Staff Departures - 'Park Flight' – What Do They Indicate? 
*   New Student Loan Debt Relief – A Brief Discussion 
*   Changes to Federal COVID Related Procedures – What's Left? 
*   Union Chapter 296 Election Results and Appreciations 
*   Spring Training Union Style – What Does That Mean? 
*   Actions That Benefit Both You and the Union. 
*   Other Topics

At the mid-point of the Union's brown lunch and learn meeting, we will ask for your issues, concerns or suggestions that are not covered by the agenda.  

Union members in NPS-WASO have access to speak with our talented NTEU labor lawyers.  Daniel Lechner, located in DC, (Daniel.Lechner@nteu.org) and Arathi Premkumar, located in Colorado (Arathi.Premkumar@nteu.org) - are available to advise you.  Daniel Lechner is planning to attend the meeting.

Since we last met, your Chapter 296 leaders have been busy on your behalf.  We have learned a lot.  We have represented your interests in several settings, and we have a lot to report to you on a wide range of issues.  This is true every month.  The Union always learns something during our monthly Labor Management Relations Committee (LMRC) meetings made possible by our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Many of the lunch and learn topics benefit from the LMRC meeting.

The Union Wins Retaliation Case vs NPS - Nets $300,000 for WASO Employees – A Brief Report -- At the meeting, we will describe what happened to the five employees and how the grievance and arbitration process under our CBA led to a successful result.

Unfair Labor Practice Publication – What Does it Mean? -- You may have read an April 15, 2024, email message from NPS Labor and Employee Relations about a "settlement agreement."  We will explain why NPS was required to send that notice.

Union National President Meets with NPS Director – A Brief Report -- We will report on the results of the meeting that NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald and the NTEU Chapter presidents representing WASO and NCR held with NPS Director Chuck Sams.

Proposed Telework Changes and the CBA – Which Prevails? -- In recent weeks, there have been some changes in telework policy that are contrary to the language in our CBA.  More proposals are on their way.  How will they apply to you, if at all?  We will let you know what this means to you as a WASO staff person.

Remote Work Issues – What the Union Wants to Know – Recently, the Union has heard a lot of stories about potential post pandemic changes to the remote work system.  At the meeting, we will discuss what we have heard, what we have learned officially, and what more we are trying to find out about.

Space Consolidations – Relationship to Remote Work/Telework Policy Decisions -- At the meeting, we will lead a discussion on how policy decisions related to space consolidation and policy decisions related to telework/remote work ought to be linked.

Negotiating Our Next Contract - A Brief Description of the Status -- The Union and NPS Management are negotiating to update and consolidate the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) for all of the NTEU Chapters in NPS.  This consolidation of CBAs does not mean that the Chapters will be consolidated.  At the Lunch and Learn meeting, we will explain where we are in the process, what happens next, and who can participate in this process and how.  We will also explain why the CBA matters to you.

Reorganizations and Consolidations – The Union Role and What is Going On -- We will explain how the system is supposed to work whenever Management proposes a change to your working environment.  We will use some recent examples to describe actions that have worked well and those that are missing or need some improvement.

WASO Communication Issues Post Consolidation – A Brief Discussion – There is more to a consolidation into WASO than just a change to organization charts and SF 50s. Management also should adjust communication channels.  We will explain what has not been happening in a timely fashion and what you can do about it.

New Schedule F Protections – What Does it Mean? -- We will explain what Schedule F means and describe recent protections for Federal workers.

Staff Departures - 'Park Flight - What Do They Indicate? -- There have been multiple instances recently in which numerous employees in a single office have left NPS WASO.  At the meeting, we will talk about how the Union has raised this issue with Congressional staff and NTEU National leadership.

New Student Loan Debt Relief – A Brief Discussion -- We will provide a brief discussion of the Administration's new debt relief plan for student loans.

Changes to Federal COVID Related Procedures – What's Left? -- Many pandemic-related directives and protections have now ended.  We will explain what is left.

Union Chapter 296 Election Results and Appreciations -- We will introduce our new Chapter 296 officers, give thanks to our departing officers, and explain how the nomination process results eliminated the need for any voting.

Spring Training Union Style -- What Does That Mean? – Every year, the national union provides free training to union chapter officers and stewards. We will describe how this works and why this is good time to become a steward.

Actions That Benefit Both You and the Union -- At the meeting, we will describe what you can do to simultaneously help yourself and the Union.

Other Topics -- If there is time, we discuss additional issues or anything else you want to raise.

All WASO staff members are welcome!  Please join us.  Enjoy lunch with your co-workers while you learn the latest news from Chapter 296.