Survey Nessage from Colleen Kelley, National President

May 11, 2007
A Message from the NTEU National President On the 2007 IRS Survey:
After numerous conversations with NTEU leaders and IRS employees, I am writing to express some thoughts about the IRS survey process. I recently received an e-mail from an NTEU leader that said he had a good boss at the IRS and wanted to let the agency know that. He intended to do so by taking the survey.
I am sharing this because it occurred to me that many of you may feel the same way or some of you may feel the opposite way about your manager. In both cases, it is a good idea to take the survey and let the IRS know. Question 5 on the survey asks if you have “trust and confidence” in your supervisor, while Question 6 asks you to rate “how good a job” your supervisor is doing.
By the same token, if you feel that the issues are with senior leadership, training, resources or performance appraisals. There are questions that address those issues as well. And, if your particular question is not addressed, there is an opportunity to write in your views.
I thought long and hard about asking you to take the survey this year. Boycotting the survey was a way for each of you individually to express your anger and frustration about how the IRS has been treating employees. I recognize that there is a lot of frustration and anger over the last several years about how employees have been treated; whether you have the tools, resources and support to do your jobs; and whether the agency views its workforce as the asset it is or would rather contract out your jobs to private companies. All of those feelings are justified. I ask that you focus this justified anger at the IRS, vocalize it and document it by answering the survey with candid answers.
I believe we made our point by boycotting the survey over the last two years. Now I think it is time to try a new approach.
In our struggle to improve working conditions at the IRS, there is a chance that these survey results can make a difference. I do not expect miracles, but I do see opportunities for NTEU to use this information to make positive changes for IRS employees. When I receive the survey results, I will look carefully at your responses. I will keep you informed about this process at every step, as will your chapter leaders. Thank you as always for your support for NTEU. Together, we will continue to make a difference.