MEMBER RESOURCES

Last Updated: February 20, 2008

Welcome to National Border Patrol Council - Local 1613 Member Resources Page.  In this section, members will be able to find out as much as possible about the Union without actually having to attend a Union meeting.  Obviously a Union meeting provides an opportunity for the member to interact with Union officials, but we understand our members work long hours and for obvious reasons, prefer to spend what little free time they have with their families and friends.  Unfortunately, because this section is open to the public, certain topics are off-limits for posting on the Internet and will be saved for discussion at Union meetings.

October 12, 2007: Local 1613 announces the creation of two new Offices devoted to informing our members of their rights in the workplace and a modification to the existing Office of Health and Safety. 

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Labor Employee Relations (LER) division, which is the party responsible for responding to Union grievances, is dismissing an overwhelming majority of our grievances and unilaterally abrogating numerous long-established past practices.  CBP LER has openly stated that they have sufficient funds to fight the Union in arbitration and has no intention on resolving matters at the lowest level.   Consequently, I decided that the local needed to reorganize and train some of our representatives to become experts in other areas where we typically floundered.  In addition to adding these informational sections within the website, the message board has been modified to reflect these changes.  If you have any questions regarding one of these topics, please use the message board or contact the respective Director directly by phone or email.

The following outlines the changes under this reorganization and reflects new sections of Member Resources:

1. The Office of Safety and Security

The Office of Health and Safety is now known as the Office of Safety and Security.  Based on my experience in the local, the prior H&S office was primarily devoted to safety and security in the workplace and did not focus enough attention on the health and well-being of our agents.  This was not due to any one person involved with the program in the past, but was more likely due to the traditional function of the position and the extensive nature of OSHA regulations, which alone is a lot of information for one person to oversee.  In some instances, the Office of Safety and Security will work in conjunction with the Office of Health Services to correct situations that are negatively impacting the health of members.

Brian Henderson will continue as the new Director of Safety and Security, as well as continue as the NBPC Health and Safety Officer.  These changes do not affect the NBPC Health and Safety program.

2. The Office of Health Services

This office will be dedicated to providing information related to Office of Workers Compensation Program (OWCP), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Fit for Duty information, and anything pertaining to the health and well-being of our members.  In conjunction with the Office of Fair Practices, the Office of Health Services will monitor the Agency's Peer Support program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP).  In some instances, the Office of Health Services will work in conjunction with the Office of Safety and Security to correct situations that are negatively impacting the health of members.

Ron Zermeno, Vice President, will serve as the Director of Health Services.  Ron has attended several courses related to OWCP and is quickly becoming an expert in the area.  Ron recently filed a grievance related to several OWCP violations and the Agency has granted all of his requested remedies.  If you need any assistance with matters related to OWCP, FMLA, or any other matter related to your health, please contact Ron Zermeno.

If you have experience with OWCP and are interested in assisting Ron by becoming a Union Representative for the purpose of helping agents with OWCP cases, please call or email Ron directly.

3. The Office of Fair Practices

This office will provide the necessary information to help our members understand what is considered an EEO complaint, how to file, who to contact, etc.  In addition, this office will identify those matters that fall within EEO and provide assistance to the member in filing an EEO complaint.  In conjunction with the Office of Health Services, the Office of Fair Practices will monitor the Agency's Peer Support program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP). 

Terence Shigg has been appointed as the Director of Fair Practices.  Terry is a Border Patrol Agent assigned to the San Clemente Border Patrol Station.  Terry has been a Union representative since 1997 and was once a Local 1613 Executive Officer, but stepped down to spend more time with his family.  Terry holds a bachelors degree in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology.  Terry intends to use his knowledge in these areas to monitor Peer Support and EAP, and in the near future, provide guidance to members on the two programs.  Terry has already successfully assisted several members with filing EEO complaints and helped the Local identify violations that did not fall within EEO.

Unfortunately, Terry has already received interference from Alfaro Gonzales, Patrol Agent In Charge at the San Clemente BPS.  I guess this should not come as a surprise considering all the problems that continue to occur at SCM.  When we first decided to implement some of these changes, as a courtesy, we met with PAIC Gonzales to inform him of Terry's new position.  PAIC Gonzales challenged the Union's ability to create new positions and asked Union officials if they received approval from San Diego Sector management officials.  After explaining to PAIC Gonzales that Border Patrol management does not run the Union and the Union does not have to seek approval from BP management before creating positions, PAIC Gonzales still disagreed.  The Union attempted to explain how this new position will benefit the Agency in the future, but PAIC Gonzales continued to advise Union officials to seek approval.  The Union will address any violations related to refusing official time for Terry when necessary.

If you are interested in becoming a Union representative and serving under Terry as one of our EEO experts, please call or email Terry directly.

4. The Office of Member Services

The Office of Member Services will be responsible for improving methods of communicating with the members (i.e. newspapers, bulletins, the website), recruiting new members and Union representatives, and monitoring Union member benefit programs and identifying new programs that will benefit our members.  Currently, Local 1613 has asked Benefit Architects, one of the benefit providers authorized by AFGE, to identify a competitive Term Life Insurance program to offer to our members. 

Shawn Moran, Vice President, will serve as the Director of Member Services.  Shawn has been successfully handling the recruitment of all new trainees entering on duty to San Diego Sector for approximately six months and has always been an advocate for better communications within the National Border Patrol Council.  As expected, under the leadership of Chief Aguilar and Chief Fisher, the Agency is interfering with our recruiting efforts and have already cut the amount of time that the Union has to address trainees from two hours to one hour.

If you have want to assist Shawn or if you have any ideas for him, please call or email him directly.

New Website Coming Soon

Local 1613 is currently redesigning the website and is expected to have it up by the end of the year.  The new website will have a protected member's section and a separate protected Union representative's section.  Each of these protected sections will allow us to post additional information that we were restricted from posting in the past due to the fact the entire site was open to the public.  In addition, the member's section will have a message board within it to allow private communications to occur with the Executive Board. The current message board will continue to operate in the future as it continues to serves its intended purpose.

As always, if you have any suggestions changes to the site or for content on the website, please email me at cbauder@nbpc1613.org.

Thank you,

Chris Bauder

President

NBPC Local 1613