04/27/09 Communique

Vote to Ratify 2009 PBC Pay Agreement
At a special meeting earlier this month, the GAO Union Assembly unanimously recommended that this 2009 PBC pay tentative agreement be provided to the Union membership for ratification. If you are a member of the GAO Union and haven’t already voted to ratify this agreement, please do so using the link to the online ballot you received on Thursday, April 23, with “[Union] Ballot to Ratify Tentative PBC Pay Agreement” in the subject line. If you are a Union member and did not receive this email, please contact Todd Anderson, Election Committee chairman, at andersonTD@gao.gov.

If ratified, this agreement provides a budget factor of 2.65% and will result in a larger increase for GAO employees on average than many other federal employees will receive this year. For example, many employees under the General Schedule (GS) system receive the federal across the board adjustment for their locality plus an estimated 2.0% salary increase on average. Last year, we attempted to achieve an overall pay raise equivalent to the GS across the board plus 2.0 % overall. This year, GAO employees already received an across the board adjustment equivalent for their GS locality as a permanent pay increase and will receive an additional 2.65% in compensation on average if this agreement is ratified.

This agreement would provide:

• A 2.65% budget factor used in determining the PBC salary increase for all staff except those in the PDP or CAPP programs,* who meet expectations or better. Any PBC earned in excess of the applicable salary caps will be provided as a cash payout;

• a new methodology for computing the PBC increase that does not exaggerate small differences in ratings;

• the removal of the Band IIB speed bump; and

• an effective date of January 4, 2009.

*Employees in the PDP and CAPP programs receive PBC pay under the separate PRG compensation system.

In addition to the items on which the Union and management bargaining teams reached a negotiated agreement, the Union also sought to reach agreement with management on higher Band I and IIA maximum salary ranges. Unfortunately we were not able to reach agreement with management to negotiate these pay range maximums as part of this agreement. However, the Union Assembly and management are both committed to further negotiations over GAO’s compensation system, including existing salary ranges. For additional information on this tentative pay agreement, please see the official GAO Union website www.gaoanalysts.org.

Where can I learn more?
The union will hold the following information session with slides and examples:

Monday, April 27 @ 3:30 EDT with:
    • HQ Room 2197
    • Chicago Second Room
    • Dallas Third Room
    • Denver Main Room
    • Los Angeles Second Room
    • Seattle Main Room
Phone participants call the rm Audio bridge 800.369.3321, passcode 63948

Please plan to attend. For questions in the meanwhile, please feel free to contact your elected representative.

What's Next?
Members of the GAO Union will vote on whether they wish to ratify this agreement by online voting. Members received an email with a link to their ballot Thursday afternoon, and the voting will end 8:00PM (EST) on May 1. If you are a member, and you did not receive a ballot or have problems voting, please contact Todd Anderson, Election Committee Chair, at [AndersonTD@gao.gov].

Diversity Advisory Committee to Host Brownbag - Employees Over 40
GAO is currently developing its Workforce Diversity Plan for 2009 and to contribute to this effort, Nancy Zearfoss will be hosting two brown bags to seek input from GAO employees who are over 40. Nancy is the elected Assembly Diversity Delegate for employees age 40 or greater, and she and the staff from the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness are particularly interested in: employment policies or practices that you think are having a negative impact on certain groups of employees; what should be done to improve these policies or practices; and what steps should be taken to help create a more inclusive culture at GAO.

These meetings will occur at 12:00 pm ET on Friday, May 1, in HQ room 2Y23 and on Wednesday, May 6, in HQ room 6191. Field office staff who would like to participate should contact Nancy Zearfoss at zearfossn@gao.gov or (202) 512-3791. If you cannot attend either session, feel free to contact Nancy directly with your feedback.

PAST COMMUNIQUES:
04/20/09:  GAO Union Reaches Tentative Agreement with Management
04/13/09:  PBC Pay Negotiations Continue
04/03/09:  PBC Budget Factor Negotiations Begin Next Week
03/30/09:  GAO dispute resolution and grievance process discussion
03/16/09:  Selecting the new Comptroller General—Submit your comments for Congress
03/02/09:  GAO Employees Develop Alternative to SRS for 2009 Performance-Based Compensation
02/20/09:  FMA Assembly Delegate chosen, Union Assembly Officially Takes Office
02/02/09:  Management announces policy to streamline reports
01/27/09:  New Look Communique
01/16/09:  Assembly Election Schedule; Join the Union by January 30th to Vote
12/17/08:  Officer Election Results
12/15/08:  GAO Presents Initial 2009 Pay Proposal