You did not give up your basic rights the day you became a federal employee. Many rights are provided by law and additional rights have been negotiated. All are enforced for you daily by NTEU.

Your rights, under both the law and the NTEU/agency contract, are only words on paper until you claim them, assert them, and exercise them. Exercising your rights will transform hopes and aspirations for the future into a positive action program that will make a better tomorrow for federal employees.

You will never be alone in exercising these rights. NTEU--its members, leadership, and staff--stand with you.

The Federal-Labor Management Relations Act defines and protects your rights. As a federal employee, you have the right to:

• join NTEU;
• actively participate as a member of NTEU;
• participate in the decisions affecting your work life;
• file grievances through your NTEU representative;
• be guaranteed protections in exercising your rights.

It is against the law for management to take any action against you because of your membership in, support of, or active participation in, NTEU.

Question and Answers

Do you have the right to have an NTEU representative present in a "formal discussion" between you and management?

YES
Any examination of an employee in the bargaining unit by a representative of the agency in connection with an investigation, including Internal Security or Inspection, entitles you to have an NTEU representative present if you reasonably believe that the examination may result in disciplinary action against you and you request representation.

Do you have the right to file grievances or complaints against the agency without fear of reprisal?

YES
It is illegal for the agency to discipline or otherwise discriminate against you because you have filed a grievance, complaint, or affidavit against the agency or its representatives.

Does the law state that the statutory protection of the right of employees to form, join, and participate in labor unions of their own choosing contributes to the effective conduct of public business?

YES
In addition, Congress has found, and the law thus states, that employees' participation in labor unions also safeguards the public interest and facilitates and encourages the amicable settlements of disputes between employees and the agency involving "conditions of employment."

All of the above are rights afforded to you in accordance with the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. NTEU ensures that those rights are protected.

Congress guarantees your right, as a federal employee, to join NTEU. Some managers may not understand the law or have no respect for it. Make it perfectly clear to them that you know what your rights are, and that you plan to assert them, immediately. Take that important first step!

 Since that time, the federal workplace has changed a great deal and in 1993, The Hatch Act was reformed to reflect these changes. The law officially changed on February 3, 1994. Listed below you will find the guidelines for activities allowed and prohibited under the current Hatch Act law. If you are ever concerned about the legality of an activity, please contact NTEU's Legislative Office at (202) 572-5500 or NTEU Legislation Department, 1750 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20006.

 Hatch Act DO's and DON'Ts

 Employees May:

1. Register and vote as they choose;
2. Assist in voter registration drives;
3. Express opinions about all candidates and issues, privately and publicly;
4. Run for election to a non-partisan office;
5. Contribute money to political organizations or attend a political fund raising function;
6. Sign petitions, including nominating petitions;
7. Wear political badges, buttons (except in government buildings);
8. Run for office within party organizations and affiliate groups;
9. Attend political conventions, rallies and meetings as an elected representative of a partisan organization;
10. Take an active part in political management of campaigns;
11. Solicit contributions to the political action committee of the organization to which both employees belong provided that the contributor is not a subordinate employee;
12. Spouses and other members of an employee's family may engage in all forms of partisan political activities.

Employees May Not:

1. Be candidates for public office in partisan politics;
2. Use their official position to influence or coerce colleagues and election results;
3. Wear political buttons in government buildings;
4. Collect, solicit, receive, handle, disburse or account for contributions from the general public;
5. Wear a government uniform or government insignia while engaged in political activities;
6. Sell tickets to a political fund raising function to the general public.

Use Your Rights to Legislative and Political Action

The range of activities you can engage in to encourage elected officials to improve your work life is vast--everything from writing a letter to your representative in Congress to managing a political campaign. You can use these rights most effectively if you also understand what you cannot do.  The following will show you the lines you cannot cross, so that you can run full tilt at the activities you want to pursue.


Know the Basic Rules

There are two basic rules which you need to keep in mind when you plan your activities. 

    1. You may pursue legislative activity on site and on official union time, but you may not perform political or electoral work on official time.

    2. You may solicit financial contributions to TEPAC off-site, but you may only ask other NTEU members to give and you may not engage in any other solicitation of money.

Political vs. Legislative Activity
 
Your rights depend on whether you are doing political or legislative activity.

Political activity is work directed toward the success or failure of a political party or candidate. It relates to elections, not governing. Political activity includes everything you might do to help elect a candidate to office from stuffing envelopes through organizing a get-out-the-vote phone bank to managing a political campaign. Expressing your opinion about politics and elections is not political activity, though, as long as it is not directed to influencing the success of a party or candidate.

Legislative activity is directed toward the activities of the government, rather than an election. It is directed at influencing legislators to do something about an issue of importance to NTEU members. Legislative activity may be as simple as calling your local legislator’s office to recommend a vote in favor of a pay raise or inviting a legislator to come and talk about issues of interest to employees. It may involve organizing a complex letter writing and lobbying campaign to influence a variety of important issues.

The line between political and legislative activities may be fuzzy at times. A periodic talk by your Member of Congress about issues of interest to federal employees is a legislative event. It may, however, seem like a political campaign event during October of an election year. If you have doubts about which side of the line an activity falls on, ask yourself the purpose of the event. Is it to affect policy or the election? If you think the purpose of the event might not be clear to an outside observer, make it clear. For example, the letter inviting the congressperson could explain that this talk is not a campaign event, but an opportunity for education and feedback.

The distinction between legislative and political activities is critical, because most current restrictions only apply to political activity. Legislative activity may be performed on official union time, as long as you are acting as an employee representative, this activity is authorized by your contract and you follow your contractual requirements. It may be performed throughout a federal building. Your use of work time and government facilities should follow the same rules as other union representation or, if the matter is not union business, any other non-work activity you engage in. The rules for political activity are much stricter, and you need to be very careful not to violate them. Political activity is limited to off-duty time and to off-worksite locations.

Off-Duty Political Activities
 
You can do almost any political activity off-duty. You can volunteer to help a campaign, you can organize volunteers for a campaign, and you can manage a campaign. You can be actively involved in your political party, holding office and participating in conventions You can give speeches and circulate petitions.

There are a few things you cannot do, on-duty or off-duty. You cannot run for partisan political office. You cannot use your official authority for political purposes. You cannot solicit or accept financial contributions from anyone, except contributions to TEPAC. TEPAC contributions may only be solicited from NTEU members and may not be solicited from subordinates. You can be indirectly involved in soliciting contributions, as long as you are not personally identified with the fundraising. For example, you can stuff envelopes asking for money, but you cannot make phone calls as part of a phone bank soliciting campaign contributions.


On-Duty Political Activity

As a general rule, political activity on-duty is prohibited. This means that you cannot do political work on work time, on union time, or inside a federal building  If your agency occupies leased space, you can do political work in other non-federal parts of the building.

           
Fundraising for TEPAC

Fundraising for union political committees is specifically allowed by law. This means that TEPAC is a great opportunity for you to help employees use their dollars to increase their voice in the political process. Giving to TEPAC is easier than ever, because employees can make their contributions automatically through payroll deductions. The process is explained in the attached fact sheet.

There is one restriction to keep in mind. You cannot solicit or receive TEPAC contributions from employees who are not members of the union. Non-members may give to TEPAC, but they must make unsolicited contributions. Employees may not physically accept a TEPAC contribution from a non-member. Non-members may send contributions by mail to NTEU National Headquarters or place them in the Chapter's mailbox. Employees may forward a received contribution to the National Office.


Getting the Message Out

The restriction on political activity on site means that you will need to be creative in rounding up participants and volunteers for political events.  Remember, employees have different skills and people who are not interested in other union duties may love political work.

• Generally announce that there are political opportunities when you hold non-political legislative events. Direct employees who want details to the legislative coordinator.

• Pass out leaflets on the public sidewalks outside the building to entering employees.

• Mail fliers and other material to your members at home.

• Build a phone tree to activate a group of volunteers for on the spot political duty.
  

Newsletters and Fliers - What Can They Say?

Newsletters and fliers are subject to the same rules as other political activity. To figure out what they can say, you have to ask yourself two questions:

How will it be distributed? If the material is going to be desk dropped or sent through agency mail, it must be legislative. If it is going to be passed out on the public sidewalk in front of the building, it can be political.

Who is this for? If it is going to be generally passed out to employees who are not members of NTEU, you cannot ask for a TEPAC donation. If you are sending out a newsletter that is targeted for members, but will also go to non-members, any TEPAC solicitation should specifically state that is for NTEU MEMBERS ONLY and should contain the following disclaimer in the solicitation.  "TEPAC is a registered labor organization political committee which does not solicit contributions from employees who are not NTEU members, as required by law."

If you normally desk drop your newsletter to all bargaining unit employees, you may want to consider a "special edition," mailed to members six weeks before an election, explaining the union's positions and urging them to contribute to TEPAC and to get involved in the political fray.

Buttons, Bumper Stickers, and Uniforms

Political buttons and bumper stickers are permitted off-duty, but not on-duty. You can leave your car in a federal parking lot with a bumper sticker on it. You have to cover the bumper sticker, however, if you are using your car for official business. You cannot engage in any political activity while wearing a uniform or any part of a uniform, like a badge with an official insignia on it.


What are the Penalties for Violations?

The penalties for violating the rules against financial solicitation and on-duty activity are quite strict. The law requires that the employee be removed from his position, unless the Merit System Protection Board unanimously votes to impose a less severe penalty. In any event, the penalty cannot be less than a 30 day suspension.

In addition, there are separate criminal statutes which prohibit the use of federal authority to influence an election, the solicitation of political contributions in federal buildings, coercing employees to engage in political activity, and misusing government vehicles.

Finally, the federal election laws prohibit union political action committees from soliciting donations from non-members.

In other words, it pays to be very careful that you are not violating these rules.


Who Can Answer My Questions?

If you have a question about a specific activity that is not covered on this page, you should contact your NTEU Chapter President, Field Representative or Deborah Jansen, Director of TEPAC at (202) 572-5500.