workshops are designed to provide overviews and analysis of critical issues NTEU deals with on a daily basis.

During our visits we met with Jim Silliman, Legislative Assistant of House Representative Pete Sessions; Jeff Stockdale, Labor Legislative Assistant of House Representative William Thornberry; J D Hale, Labor Legislative Assistant for Texas Senator John Cornyn; Kathryn Knowles, Labor Legislative Assistant for House Representative Kay Granger; Kathy Bergren, Labor Legislative Assistant for House Representative, Randy Neugebauer; and Ryan Young, Senior Policy Aide for House Representative, Kenny Marchant.  We also meet with House Representatives Sam Johnson and Jeb Hensarling.  Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison invited us to attend a pleasant meet and greet coffee hour reception with her.  Even though in most cases we meet with Legislative Aides to the House Representatives, I was amazed as to how many members of the house actually took the time to speak with us directly.

In each of our meeting, we discussed the 2009 priority legislative agenda that affects us all as Federal Employees with our respective representatives.  The issues are:

Pay Parity for Federal Employees
The FY 2010 budget recommends a 2% pay raise for federal employees and a 2.9% for military personnel.  Unfortunately, these recommendations do not reflect the longstanding principle of pay parity between federal civilian employees and the military.  In addition, there is a 23% disparity between federal employees and the private sector pay.  NTEU is urging congress to support pay parity for both military personnel and the federal civilian workforce.

Increasing Access and Affordability of Federal Employee Health Benefits Plans
NTEU also supports requiring the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to apply for a subsidy to keep premium costs down and raising the dependent coverage cap from age 22 to 25.