NTEU News Service - Special Edition

An e-mail update from the National Treasury Employees Union.

NTEU Wins $173.5 Million Settlement In Special Rate Back Pay Court Case

After a 19-year fight through the federal courts, NTEU has reached agreement with the federal government on payment of over $173.5 million to a class of more than 212,000 current and former "special salary rate" federal employees.

NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley called the settlement, which must now be approved by the court, "a great victory which would not have occurred without the determination of NTEU to carry it forward until the rights of federal employees were vindicated."

The case began when NTEU challenged an illegal regulation put in place in 1982 by OPM that ended the government's long-standing practice of passing on the entire annual general schedule pay increase to special rate employees. The result was that many special rate employees, those paid higher rates in hard to fill positions, received no salary increases, or only modest ones between Oct. 1, 1982 and Sept. 30, 1988, when the government rescinded the illegal rule.

Several steps still must occur before actual payments are made in the case, including preliminary approval by the court, notice to members of the class (those covered by the case) and an opportunity for class members to comment on the settlement at a court hearing, followed by final court approval.

Current and former employees covered by the case ("Class members") will receive full information by mail. Information is also available on a new web site at www.SpecialRatesSettlement.com and via a new telephone hotline. The number is 1-800-750-3406.

"We said all along we would stay with this case until we reached a successful conclusion," Kelley said. "This historic settlement will result in one of the largest back pay awards ever made to federal employees. This has been a long, difficult fight and it is now headed to the proper conclusion."

For complete information on the settlement visit the new special rates web site www.SpecialRatesSettlement.com or telephone 1-800-750-3406.