NTEU President Colleen Kelley to retire

Management

NTEU President Colleen Kelley to retire

Colleen Kelley will be stepping down after four terms as president of the National Treasury Employees Union.

Michael O'Connell@moconnellWFED

March 4, 2015 12:08 pm

2 min read

Colleen Kelley will be stepping down as the National Treasury Employees Union president, a role she’s filled since 1999. She will retire following the union’s 2015 National Convention in August.

Kelley made the announcement in a memo to NTEU Chapter presidents, in which she thanked the union’s leaders saying she was “in awe every day” of the work they did.

“I am proud of my NTEU career and the state of our union today … as much as I love my role and our union, I will not be seeking re-election to a fifth term as NTEU National President,” she said, in the memo. She will be retiring to Pittsburgh to spend time with her family.

Kelley’s successor will be selected at an election during the annual convention.

A native of Pittsburgh, Kelley worked 14 years there as an Internal Revenue Service agent. It was in the Steel Town that she rose through the ranks of the union to become the chapter president of NTEU Chapter 34, Pittsburgh. She became an NTEU staff member and was elected to be the National Executive Vice President and then, in August 1999, the National President. She was re-elected for her fourth term by a wide-margin in 2011.

“In her time as the union’s top official, Kelley has led the union to a number of significant accomplishments including ending the IRS’ program to outsource the collection of tax debts to private collection agencies, citing the danger to taxpayers’ private information and the risk of taxpayer harassment,” an NTEU release said. “She fought to protect Department of Homeland Security employees’ collective bargaining rights by successfully leading a lawsuit against a revamped personnel system the agency tried to impose on its employees and won enhanced Law Enforcement Officer retirement benefits for Customs and Border Protection Officers.”

Kelley was a vocal champion of federal employees who were furloughed leading up to and during the 16-day government shutdown in October 2013, helping to secure backpay for employees once they were back at work. She was also a proponent of phased retirement for civil servants.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) praised Kelley for her “principaled and skilled leadership” of NTEU.

“Colleen has truly embodied the spirit and energy of organized labor in defending the rights and dignity of working men and women at a time of great challenges,” Hoyer said, in a release. “During her national presidency, federal employees were targeted for pay freezes, furloughs, and increased pension contributions, and NTEU fought back and raised awareness of the important role federal employees play in keeping our nation safe and growing our economy.”

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