Attached is the draft, ratified NTEU CBA for EPA. Our members at all four of our EPA NTEU chapters ratified the Agreement. The date of ratification was September 4, 2015. The Agreement then underwent Agency Head Review, which includes a review by the EPA’s Office of General Counsel. Five minor points were identified and resolved between the Agency and NTEU. Since these changes are not included in the attachment, I am listing them below, so you know what they were.

Although the CBA has not yet been signed, the effective date is October 8, 2015, which is the date that the new CBA passed Agency Head Review. The final version, which will include the changes below may not be available for a few more weeks. We didn’t want you to have to wait that long to have a copy of the new, effective CBA. The attached version is accurate as to substance, but the pagination and minor details below mean that the final version will have some differences compared to the attached draft.

NTEU opened negotiations on the following articles:

• Article 5: Union Rights;
• Article 6: Union Representation and Official Time;
• Article 7: Use of Official Facilities;
• Article 9: Performance Appraisal and Recognition System (PARS);
• Article 14: Reassignments;
• Article 17: Hours of Work;
• Article 25: Awards; (closed without changes)
• Article 27: Dues Withholding;
• Article 54: Flexiplace; and
• Article 58: Student Loan Repayment.

The EPA (Management) opened negotiations on the following articles:

• Article 6: Union Representation and Official Time;
• Article 7: Use of Official Facilities;
• Article 11: Career Ladder Promotions; and
• Article 34: Negotiated Grievance Procedure.

The remaining Articles were not opened, and therefore are the same as in the 2003 CBA. They are included in the attachment, which, while considered the “new CBA” actually has changes only to articles 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 27, 34, 54, and 58. Article 25, the awards Article, is the only Article that was opened and then closed with no changes. The process of negotiation and mediation took about five years as NTEU continually fought to gain the best provisions that we could for our bargaining unit.

As a result, the new Telework Article permits our bargaining unit employees to telework up to five days a week pending management approval and based on portability of work. The new Hours of Work Article provides for a gliding flexible schedule which permits our bargaining unit employees to earn credit hours.

We will be scheduling briefing sessions on the new CBA at both Federal Triangle and Potomac Yard once we receive the final version of the CBA.

These are the minor issues identified during Agency Head Review, and are not included in the attachment, but will be included in the FINAL version of the new CBA.

As a result of Agency Head Review, NTEU and the Agency have agreed to the following with respect to the recently ratified NTEU-EPA CBA:

(1) In the Table of Contents, Article 54 “Flexiplace” shall be changed to Article 54 “Telework”;
(2) The following Telework forms shall be included at the end of the CBA as an Appendix:

a.  EPA-NTEU Telework Application;
b.  EPA-NTEU Telework Agreement;
c.  NTEU Employee Self-Certification Safety Checklist; and
d.  NTEU Notice of Termination of Telework Agreement.

(3) Page numbers shall be inserted;
(4) In Article 34, Section 3(2), the citation for “life insurance” shall read “5 CFR Sec. 870”; and
(5) A signature page shall be inserted.

Feel free to call/email me if you have questions concerning the new CBA.

Diane Lynne
President, NTEU Chapter 280
02 566 2786