National Border Patrol Council

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Furlough Oral Response Template

Monday, 18 March 2013

The National Border Patrol Council created the below template to assist Union representatives and members with preparing for and presenting the oral response to the adverse actions being proposed by the Agency. Additionally, the NBPC provided information to the Local presidents concerning the variety of violations that have occurred as Agency officials mishandle the proposed actions. If you have experienced any violations, please make sure you are communicating those violations to your respective Local president.

If the oral response was already presented because an Agency official refused to provide the employee and/or the Union representative with an opportunity to properly prepare for the oral response, do not be concerned. This is one of the violations that has occurred in some locations and may be addressed with a grievance or when the matter goes before an arbitrator. The NBPC executive committee will provide guidance to the Local presidents on how to address the various violations.

To date, the NBPC has identified two types of violations:

1. Violations that resulted from the issuance of the notice, proposed implementation prior to negotiating, and failure to provide information to the Union, as requested in the demand to bargain. These matters will most likely be dealt with by a filing by the NBPC on behalf of the bargaining unit.

2. Violations that occurred when the notices were presented to the employees. Depending on the sector/station, the other main violations appear in the list below:

- Unilateral denial of an extension (as stated in the notices);

- Failure to provide or make available the information requested by the employees;

- Denial of official time for Union reps and admin time for the employees (if the time was requested);

- Attempting to schedule oral responses prior to the rep/employee being prepared to make the response (includes some of the above violations also); and

- Supervisors or above telling agents to quit the Union to save money.

The oral response template is provided in two formats for download: Adobe Acrobate and Microsoft Word:

Oral response template - Word

Oral response template - Acrobat

The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) is frequently asked who is behind the plan to reduce the number of Border Patrol agents on the border, which is what will occur if Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is successful with de-authorizing Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO). In one prior article, the NBPC reported how Bianca Warner openly stated in a meeting with the NBPC how she believed Border Patrol agents are overpaid. In response, the NBPC reported Bianca Warner's base salary in 2011, which was $170,512.00. Interestingly, after reporting this information, the NBPC heard from several sources who said they have heard Bianca Warner make similar outrageous statements on various occasions.

The NBPC just discovered there is a chart of the 1000 highest paid employees in Customs and Border Protection. The data was obtained from the same source that was previously used to report the base salary of Bianca Warner and the Labor Employee Relations Specialists in CBP. Guess what? Bianca Warner is number 31 on the CBP highest paid list.

The NBPC still does not know all of the people behind the plan to de-authorize AUO for Border Patrol agents. However, we now understand why the other individuals who are responsible for this offensive plan continue to hide behind people like Bianca Warner, and it probably due to the fact that their names probably appear on this list with her name. They know they are being paid an inflated base salary to sit in the comfort of their office and develop a plan to attack Border Patrol agents. They also know they are among the highest paid salaries in CBP and the federal government. Even though the base salary they earn is inflated and most likely well-above the salary of an employee performing the same job in the private sector, they have the nerve to attack the pay of Border Patrol agents when the salary an agent receives is directly attributed to the shift they work, which includes at least ten hours per day, five days a week.

For the record, AUO is a reduced-rate system that was specifically designed to save money while at the same time providing the necessary manpower to protect the border. AUO is unlike the Customs Officer Pay Reform Act (COPRA), which is the other system used for select employees in CBP. In case you are wondering, Border Patrol agents do not earn COPRA. The NBPC created a chart to compare AUO and COPRA, and the chart illustrates the cost savings of AUO. Ironically, none of the CBP plans have ever attempted to address COPRA. Instead, all plans have been aimed at attacking Border Patrol agents and the AUO that agents receive as compensation for the extra hours they work each day to protect the border.

By now, you should have requested administrative time, consulted with a Union representative, completed a G-956, and submitted the request for information template that the NBPC published to the website on March 7, 2013. If not, do not worry. This message incorporates the instructions and documents provided in the prior article.

Some Agency officials claimed the Union is trying to jam the system and others question why the Union is not filing one response to all of the proposed furlough notices. This is due to the fact that the Union recognizes and respects every employee's right to due process when served with an adverse action. Therefore, the Union recommends that every employee exercise their right to respond to this proposed action, which includes: a right to request a reasonable amount of administrative time to: consult with a Union representative; review all of the materials; request any other materials that the employee and Union believe are related to the proposed action; develop and file a written response; and prepare for the oral response.

Updates on sequestration the battle to save AUO

The civil war on federal employees has begun.

The NBPC discusses the actions it has taken in regards to sequestration and AUO cuts.