Home

Not to say 2009 was a bad year for EVERYONE, I think we can
realistically say that most of us are glad to see it go and
bring new challenges to our lives, work and our labor
organization. I hope each of you sat that all important
goal of becoming a proactive member
of your labor organization.

This spot was previously designated as our section on the

pending health care legislation. Since the legislation has essentially died,

we have taken it down.

We have a couple choices... sit idly by and wait and see what happens

next, OR.... we REGROUP and become proactive again with our

Congressmen on the hill by writing letters, phoning their offices and/or

visiting their offices. We think there may be some huge opportunities

for success since any successful legislation will have to be bi-partisan.

Both parties had great intentions, but the single sided democrat

approach from the top down failed to serve Americans.... as we

so deserve!

Presidents Executive Order (Creating Labor-Management
Forums To Improve Delivery of Government Services) can be accessed
by clicking here

ACT NOW ON THE FOLLOWING. In"act"tivity will certainly ensure the same ole business as usual.

According to ACT President Terry Garnett, there
is some activity on the hill pertaining to HR 3336.
We'll do our best to keep you updated on the activity.

HR3336 (National Guard Technician Recruiting and Retention ACT) has been submitted to committee. The last activity on this bill was on 24 July. We need to write and call our US Representives (click the link for our local link to their email/websites) and let them know that we need them to help us out and co-sponsor this bill with the other 19 or so co-sponsors. This bill can be tracked by clicking here.

S831(National Guard and Reserve Retired Pay Equity ACT 2009) has been submitted to committee. The last activity on this bill was on 20 April. As mentioned earlier, WRITE and CALL Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning asking for their support of this legislation. This bill can be tracked by clicking here.

Just an update that many of you may not of heard... The 2009 NDAA that passed last year 2008, had a provision in it for early military retirement for reservists. The provision allows for early retirement in 90 days increments for every 90 days of being on Title 10 contingency orders. I will research this a little further but I believe this could go as far back as age 55 or 50. Look for an update on this at a later date. The only problem with this provision, is that it only applies to those deployed AFTER October 2008. There is activity on the hill to retro the date, so keep looking here for an update on the bill and its language.

The 2010 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) has been signed into law. In the law, provisions for the FERS sick leave conversion were enacted. Whats this mean to you? It means that if you retire between now and the last day of 2013, you'll be able to take credit for half of your accrued sick leave. If you retire after 1 Jan 2014 or later, 100% of your sick leave will be credited to your retirement computation.

Also, more GREAT NEWS... NSPS has been REPEALED nationally! Hmmmm.... whats this mean to the 200.000 plus employees who are already on the system? It means that these employees will begin to revert back to the GS system with a completed phase in date of no later than 1 Jan 2012. GREAT VICTORY LED BY THE UNIONS!

!!!ALERT!!! PLEASE take the time to thank your Union representative for his/her efforts. If it wasn't for their efforts working with the local Chapter/National office, we'd NOT be experiencing these great victories.

RECENT NEWS OF INTEREST!
Pulled from the Technician newspaper (Jul/Aug 09). There is a little known secret that could benefit many wartime veterans and their spouses. To gain some excellent knowledge of this program, go to the Operation Veteran Aid website. This is a needs based program, and the veteran doesn't have to be poverished. While there, you will find the necessary information to begin the process of determining eligibility. The VA states that although there are only 300,000 vets drawing from this program, there may be 2 to 3 million more that are eligible but don't know about it. Veterans and their spouse could receive up to $1949.00, a widowed veteran $1644.00 and a widow of a veteran could receive up to $1056.00

WORK LEADER RANK INVERSION See note 1 at bottom of this page if any link doesn't load
Work Leader Rank Inversion policy rescinded and replaced with new. Basically, technicians on the floor can now military outrank their WL, however, the employee not outranking the supervisor has not changed. Click here to view the memorandum.

If you see a military position that you want to apply for, go ahead and apply. As long as you don't outrank your boss, your in business.

YOUR UNION WANTS YOU!! See note 1 at bottom of this page if any link doesn't load
If you are a Kentucky National Guard Dual Status or Non-Dual Status employee, WE WANT YOU IN OUR RANKS! Take the time to download the forms package by clicking on this link, print it out, fill in the blanks and follow the instructions to mail it to the Unions recruiter.

Want to know what the approximate dues will be? Click here to view a helpful chart.

We will even reimburse you for your postage upon request. We thank you.

INAPPROPRIATE EFFORTS BY MANAGEMENT
Employee's should be made aware that efforts are constantly in motion to keep your labor reps away from your work sites. It shouldn't be too evident why this is ongoing. Not only in Kentucky, but nationwide, management continues to exercise management rights to keep union officials at bay and away from non Union members. There are many reasons that management attempts to limit employee exposure to Unions and the biggest one that comes to mind, is the fact that in the absence of a Union official, management can free lance their employees, while violating the essence of our Collective Bargaining Agreement, and other laws, rules or regulations. Employees who are not given access to their Unions are not afforded the opportunity for appropriate representation against unfair acts or activities by management.

Employees are highly encouraged to come forth to a Union official if they suspect anti-Union sentiment by any member of management.

Employees who run into this type of activity should make every effort to notify a member of your labor organization. Contact the following leadership in the event of inappropriate activity...

Chief Steward	Chris Searcy	Email		Currently deployed
Chief Steward (pro tempore)	Scott Foster	Email	502 859-2089	in for C. Searcy
President	Daniel Newman	Email	270 723-4144
Board Member/ Recruiter	Michael Woosley	Email	270 319-7031

1. Having problems opening some of our files? You might need Adobe Acrobat. Click here...

2. Need access to the Unions Calendar? email the webmaster

3. Need access to the Unions "classified" documents? email the webmaster

4. Want to take a shortcut to our Google Group? Click here...

This page was last modified on Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:51 PM

Kentucky Long Rifle Chapter (ACT83)

Association of Civilian Technicians (ACT) KEEP THE FAITH