I want to thank everyone for their support and votes during the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 168 election. These are challenging and dynamic times to be a part of the U.S, Customs and Border Protection team and a member of the NTEU. I’ve been working closely with former Chapter 168 Chris Melan to ensure a seamless turnover of the president’s office to continue the superb strides that chapter I has made over the last several years. I greatly appreciate the efforts of Chris, former Vice President Angela Fisher and all of the other chapter 168 representatives in the region that have ensured the success of our union.

I would like to extend my congratulations to Chapter 168 Vice President Larry Abramson and Secretary Treasurer Aundrea Lowery on election to their offices. This is the first time that all three Chapter 168 elected offices will be held in Memphis. We’re excited, about this but realize that it will be every challenging to serve the nearly 250 members in our five state region. Consequently, we’ll be asking that our very dedicated and knowledgeable NTEU stewards continue to represent our members and help us recruit new members.

We’ve had some recent victories at the local and national level, but we have a long way to go to meet our local and national expectations and goals. Customs and Border Protection is unquestionably a premier law enforcement agency because it has dedicated and talent officers that have sworn to uphold U.S. laws. Every CBP employee is essential to the success of the agency regardless of your series or title. As your Chapter President is imperative to me that we serve in the best interest of all of our members. The following are my goals for the next year to ensure that the NTEU Chapter 168 continues to advocate for CBP employees in our region.

Monitoring the U.S. Customs House New Orleans Post Hurricane Katrina Identity Theft Criminal Investigation: On March 20, 2008I spoke to Ms Kim Hynes, Assistant Director, Border Security, New Orleans Field Office. Ms Hynes informed me that the IRS believes that it has recovered the document that was used to illegally obtain CBP employee social security numbers and subsequently file fraudulent Federal income tax returns. Ms. Hynes stated that the IRS doesn’t believe that any fraudulent 2007 Federal income tax returns will be filed this year. The IRS gave she and the DFO every indication that the IRS is prepared to present a criminal case to the U.S Attorney’s Office for prosecution of the persons responsible for these criminal acts. Please contact me at (901)544-0603 if you have personal concerns regarding this issue or have been contacted by the IRS or a creditor regarding recent fraudulent use of your social security number.

NTEU Membership: If you are a member of the NTEU we appreciate your membership and support and will strive to continue the excellent representation that our predecessors provided to members. If you aren’t a member I would urge you to consider joining. Contact your local NTEU Steward, Larry Abramson or Aundrea Lowery at (901)544-0606 if you would like membership information.

Law Enforcement Retirement for CBP Officers: I think that we are all in agreement that the Congressional passage of an enhanced retirement system for Customs and Border Protection Officer in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill was along overdue. In spite of some resistance by some members of the Executive Branch it is expected to become effective in July 2008. When I met with Director of Field Operations Robert Gomez he informed me that CBP Headquarters and the NTEU is working closely in Washington to develop a policy that will best serve CBP Officers who elect the new LEO retirement system. Mr. Gomez believes that this policy will be ready for implementation as planned in July 2008. Details of the policy are now on www.cbp.net

NTEU Stewards Training: We don’t currently have stewards at all of our ports. We are actively recruiting stewards to ensure adequate representation. I’m researching the feasibility of steward training during the next year at a location and date to be determined.

Liaison with NTEU Legal Counsel: NTEU attorneys Walter Dresslar and Dennis Schneider are very supportive of NTEU members and employees in our region. We continually seek their counsel to ensure the legal rights of our members.

NTEU Chapter 168 Web Site: Vice President Larry Abramson has done a superb job in building this web site. Our plan is to use it for ongoing communication with the field. Communication is a two way street. We are going establish personal e-mail accounts for myself, Larry, Secretary-Treasurer Aundrea Lowery and NTEU stewards in the region. If anyone has an interest item that would like to post of the site please contact Larry.

Once again, we appreciate everyone’s support and look forward to hearing from you.