NTEU rallies on the Hill to energize feds, educate lawmakers

With a Capitol Hill rally Wednesday and a three-day legislative conference to follow, NTEU President Colleen Kelley discusses the union\'s priorities for the ye...

The National Treasury Employees Union has never been shy about expressing its members’ views — especially when it comes to federal pay and benefits.

But with a Capitol Hill rally Wednesday and a three-day legislative conference to follow, union leaders and members want to make sure Congress is listening.

Colleen Kelley, NTEU’s president, joined In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss what the union’s priorities are as the conference kicks off, as well as what’s on the agenda for the rest of the year.

Kelly said the top issues up for discussion are federal pay and retirement, staffing and funding levels at Customs and Border Protection, and identifying alternative cost-saving plans so lawmakers don’t automatically target federal employees.

At the rally, Kelley and NTEU members will be joined by a number of lawmakers, including Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) among others.

While not all lawmakers consider themselves friends of feds, that won’t necessarily impede the union’s efforts, Kelley suggested.

“There are those who are not so friendly and there are those who just don’t have the facts,” she said. “And we think that every one of them needs to be armed with — or at least be presented with — real facts about federal employee issues.”

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