NFFE Local 1998 is a federal employees Union that represents the nearly 1400 bargaining unit members of Passport Services, which is part of the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs.  We are the "exclusive representative" of the employees, which means that we are the only labor union that can speak on their behalf.  We are limited to only representing members of the bargaining unit - employees such as Passport Specialists, Contact Representatives, and Processors - and cannot represent Management officials or confidential employees, such as a Regional Director's secretary, or contractor employees.  

NFFE Local 1998 represents the employees in every Passport Services office - 18 offices in 16 cities across the nation (for details, see "Where are we?" below).  

Local 1998 is one of approximately 200 locals that make up the National Federation of Federal Employees, which is the oldest Union representing federal workers.  NFFE Came into existence in 1917.  NFFE's motto is "We Work For America Everday".  In 1999, NFFE affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), and thus became a part of the AFL-CIO.  IAMAW members are sometimes called "the fighting machinists" because in the late 19th century the IAMAW was the first Union to negotiate nine hour days for its members (down from the ten hour workdays standard at that time).  The IAMAW is part of the American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).  

Local 1998 is committed to representing its members and the employees of Passport Services.  The Local 1998 Bylaws state that the goal of the Union is "to promote the social and economic welfare and education of Local members and to work toward the perfection of systems that will make for greater efficiency in the various services of the Government". 

Source: Lists of bargaining unit employees provided to NFFE Local 1998 (the Union that is the exclusive representative of Passport Services' employees), as required by Article 10, Section 4 of the collective bargaining agreement.   

Notes:
* BUE = "bargaining unit employees" (this includes Passport Specialists, Passport Specialists Trainees, and other positions).  
* The number of trainees is included in the total # of BUE, but is not included in the number of Passport Specialists. 
* The April 8, 2002 list from HQ included 642 total BUE, but 16 of them were supervisory or other non-BUE positions, so were subtracted.
* The September 6, 2002 list from HQ included 642 total BUE, but 15 of them were non-BUE and were subtracted.