Introduction

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Many of us take for granted that EPA is a good place to work. But most of the benefits today were not always in place. The benefits were hard fought by NTEU and its predecessors. Your union negotiated many of those benefits including, but not limited to, an indoor air quality agreement, alternative workspaces for chemically-sensitive individuals, establishment of child care facilities, changes in the smoking policy, compressed and flexible schedules, reduction-in-force protections, fitness centers, as well as transit subsidies. Every day the union fights to prevent encroachments on these important benefits and to give you additional rights.

In 1981, with an administration expected to be hostile to both employees and the environment, a group of EPA professionals including toxicologists, chemists, biologists, attorneys and other environmental professionals came together to jointly fight anti-environment and anti-federal employee efforts. Those union pioneers believed that EPA's mission and ability to accomplish that mission were in danger, as were EPA workers.

 

Becoming NTEU

The goals of our early union organizers were to encourage professional ethics, professional development, sound science for EPA policy decisions, and ensure protection of all professional workers. Those forerunners wanted to ensure that all of us were able to do our jobs without facing political retribution for important work.  Some years prior to creating a professional union, EPA headquarters workers voted to organize with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3331. Professional employees, however, with their independent vote under federal labor law, voted against organizing. Despite this anti-union vote, by 1984 those same professionals felt sufficiently threatened to change their minds. In 1984 EPA professionals reconsidered and voted to join — by a 90-percent majority — the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), then chartering Local 2050 at EPA Headquarters.

Challenges with NFFE began in the early 1990s, however, with the retirement of the longtime NFFE president, Jim Peirce. NFFE National Presidents elected after 1990 were subjected to election challenges before the Labor Department, and charges brought before the National Executive Council. NFFE financial crises ensued and EPA’s chapter began to resent interference in chapter operations by the NFFE national office.

By 1994, chapter members attempted to leave NFFE to form an independent, environment-oriented union, dubbed Environmental Employees Collectively Organized (EECO). But before those members could carry out the necessary procedures to replace NFFE with EECO, NFFE put the chapter into trusteeship in September 1994. The elected officers were removed and replaced by a trustee appointed by NFFE. That arrangement proved unsatisfactory to EPA professionals, and eventually to NFFE itself, as the NFFE budget crisis of 1995 appeared on the horizon. NFFE National then restored the removed officers, finally ending the trusteeship in the Spring of 1996 as the budget scare came to an end.

The chapter was thereafter courted by several major national unions, but the National Treasury Employees Union’s (NTEU's) stability and reputation as a law firm masquerading as a labor union, won the chapter’s hearts and minds. In February 1998, the chapter voted to change affiliation from NFFE to NTEU. In April that year the Federal Labor Relations Authority granted the chapter’s petition to become NTEU Chapter 280. Simultaneously, NFFE Locals in Region 4 and Cincinnati switched to NTEU, becoming NTEU Chapters 281 and 279, respectively.

Collective Bargaining

On November 13, 1986, NFFE Local 2050 signed its first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with EPA. That contract was then unique in creating a Labor-Management Committee (LMC) that met weekly to solve employee problems through dialogue and cooperation whenever possible. NTEU renegotiated the CBA with the agency over the years, each time gaining additional rights and benefits for professional employees. The current collective bargaining agreement was ratified by all EPA chapters on September 4, 2015 and became effective about a month later on October 8. It includes a number of improvements including fulltime telework and gliding schedules, to name but a few.

More Info

If you would like more detail about unions at EPA or our Chapter's history, please visit epaunionhistory.org, a site put together by two former NTEU Chapter Presidents. Any opinions expressed on that site are that of the site's creators and do not necessarily reflect the views of current Chapter leadership.

Historical List of Officers

Before 1985, we did not have terms established under a constitution. Thus, persons elected to office in 1983, immediately after we were chartered by the National federation of Federal Employees, served until the elections held in mid 1985. In 1996, we did away with the office of President-Elect, re-titling that office as Executive Vice-President, and no automatic succession to the office of President was associated with the Executive Vice-President position. All officers served one-year terms in office. Presidents could not succeed themselves. There were no elections in 1995 during our period of trusteeship. When NTEU Chapter 280 adopted a new constitution in 2004, terms became three-year terms.

PRESIDENTS
1983 - 1986:  William Coniglio
1986 - 1987:  Robert Carton
1987 - 1988:  Bill Hirzy
1988 - 1989:  William Coniglio
1989 - 1990:  Robert Carton
1990 - 1991:  William Hirzy
1991 - 1992:  Dwight Welch
1992 - 1993:  Tyrone Aiken
1993 - 1994:  Bill Hirzy
1994 - 1995:  Dwight Welch
1995 - 1996:  trusteeship
1996 - 1997:  James Murphy
1997 - 1998:  Dwight Welch
1998 - 1999:  James Murphy
1999 - 2000:  Dwight Welch
2000 - 2004: 
2004 - 2007:  Dwight Welch
2007 - 2009: 
2009 - 2012:  Diane Lynne
2012 - 2015:  Amer Al-Mudallal
2015 - 2018:  Diane Lynne
2018: Joe Edgell
2018 - Present: Amer Al-Mudallal

PRESIDENTS-ELECT (OR EXEC. V.P.)
1985 - 1986:  Robert Carton
1986 - 1987:  William Coniglio
1987 - 1988:  William Hirzy
1988 - 1989:  Robert Carton
1989 - 1990:  William Hirzy
1990 - 1991:  Dwight Welch
1991 - 1992:  Tyrone Aiken/Myra Cypse
1992 - 1993:  William Hirzy
1993 - 1994:  Dwight Welch
1994 - 1995: 
1995 - 1996: trusteeship
1996 - 1997: 
1997 - 1998: 
1998 - 1999:  Dwight Welch
1999 - 2000: 
2000 - 2004:
2004 - 2007:  Bill Hirzy
2007 - 2009:
2009 - 2012:  Amer Al-Mudallal
2012 - 2015:
2015 - 2018:  Amer Al-Mudallal
2018 - Present: Diane Lynne

SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENTS

1985 - 1986:  William Hirzy
1986 - 1987:  Rufus Morison
1987 - 1988:  Lois Dicker
1988 - 1989:  Rufus Morison
1989 - 1990:  Rufus Morison
1990 - 1991:  Robert Carton
1991 - 1992:  Robert Carton
1992 - 1993:  Dwight Welch
1993 - 1994:  James Handley
1994 - 1995: William Hirzy
1995 - 1996: 
1996 - 1997: William Hirzy
1997 - 1998: William Hirzy
1998 - 1999:  William Hirzy
1999 - 2000: William Hirzy
2000 - 2004:
2004 - 2007:
2007 - 2009:  Diane Lynne
2009 - 2012:  Bill Evans
2012 - 2015:  Anne Pastorkovich
2015 - 2018: Joe Edgell
2019 - Present: Allison Hoppe

VICE-PRESIDENTS
Alejandro Arce: 1985, 1992, 1994
David Alexander: 2018 - Present
Jeff Beaubier: 1996, 1997, 1998
Salvatore Biscardi: 1987, 1989
Alfonso Blanco
Andrew Byro: 2019 - Present
Doreen Cantor: 1983
Robert Carton: 1983
Arthur Chiu: 1997, 1998, 1999
Myra Cypser 1990
Elbert Dage 1991, 1992
Lois Dicker 1985, 1986, 1987
Joe Edgell
Bill Evans
Clarence Featherson
William Garetz 1997, 1998, 1999
Charles Garlow 1988
James Goodyear 1998
Otto Gutenson 1993, 1994
James Handley 1994
William Hirzy 1986
Allison Hoppe 2018 - 2019
Eric Jackson 1994
Barbara Karns
Robert Kenney
Anne Leslie 1994
Krystina Locke 1987
Raymond Locke 1988
William Marcus 1985
Linda Martin 1999
Irvin Mauer 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993
Sherry Milan 1990
Rufus Morison 1989, 1993
James Murphy 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
Richard Nalesnik 1999
Tommy Ngo
Martha Price 1996, 1997, 1998
Barbara Pringle 1993
Diane Rains
David Ritter 1986, 1987, 1988
Donald Rodier 1985
Maria Roderiguez 2018 - Present
Bernard Schneider 1992
Freshteh Toghrol 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Marc Turgeon 1986, 1987
Hale Vandermer 1990
Alex Varela 1993
James Walker 1990, 1991
William Wassell, 2013 - Present
Dwight Welch 1989
Norman Whalen 1983
David Wynn 2018 - Present

CHIEF STEWARDS

1985 - 1986:  Rufus Morison
1986 - 1987:  Marc Turgeon
1987 - 1988:  Rufus Morison
1988 - 1989:  Eleanor Zimmerman
1989 - 1990:  Hale Vandermer
1990 - 1991:  Rufus Morison
1991 - 1992:  Rufus Morison
1992 - 1993:  Rufus Morison
1993 - 1994: Steven Spiegel
1994 - 1995: Steven Spiegel
1995 - 1996: trusteeship
1996 - 1997: Dwight Welch
1997 - 1998: Patricia Sims
1998 - 1999: Rosezella Canty-Letsome
1999 - 2000: Rosezella Canty-Letsome
2000 - 2004:  Rosezella Canty-Letsome
2004 - 2007:  Rosezella Canty-Letsome
2007 - 2009:  Rosezella Canty-Letsome
2009 - 2012:  Rosezella Canty-Letsome
2012 - 2015:  Rosezella Canty-Letsome
2015 - 2016:  Sean Carter
2016:  Alan Carpien
2017 - 2018: Anne Pastorkovich
2018: Diane Lynne
2019 - Present: Andrea Medici

TREASURERS

1983 - 1985:  William Marcus
1985 - 1986: Patricia Hilgard
1986 - 1987: William Marcus
1987 - 1988: Morris Blumenfeld
1988 - 1989: Daljit Sawhney
1989 - 1990: Daljit Sawhney
1990 - 1991: William Marcus
1991 - 1992: William Marcus
1992 - 1993: William Marcus
1993 - 1994: 
1994 - 1995: 
1995 - 1996: trusteeship
1996 - 1997: 
1997 - 1998: 
1998 - 1999: 
1999 - 2000: 
2000 - 2004:
2004 - 2007: Bernard Schneider
2007 - 2009:  Bernard Schneider
2009 - 2012: Bernard Schneider
2012 - 2015:  Bernard Schneider
2015 - present: Bernard Schneider

SECRETARIES

1983 - 1984:  Mark Antell
1984 - 1985: 
1985 - 1986: Mark Antell
1986 - 1987: Mark Antell
1987 - 1988: Robert Carton
1988 - 1989: Francine Ten Eyck
1989 - 1990: Myra Cypser
1990 - 1991: Laura Sallman-Smith
1991 - 1992: James Handley
1992 - 1993: James Handley
1993 - 1994: Patricia Sims
1994 - 1995: Richard Emory
1995 - 1996: trusteeship
1996 - 1997: Anne Leslie
1997 - 1998: Julie Simpson
1998 - 1999: Julie Simpson
1999 - 2000: Julie Simpson
2000 - 2004:
2004 - 2007: 
2007 - 2009:
2009 - 2012: 
2012 - 2015:  David Alexander
2015 - 2017:  Anne Pastorkovich
2017 - 2018: Toby Jeong
2018 - Present: Anne Pastorkovich