Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO

Date: January 28, 2002

To: _____________, Regional Director

From: Alex Allen, Union Vice President

CC: Employee A

RE: Step 1 Grievance on behalf of Employee A

Local 1998 request that the following grievance be considered in accordance with the provisions of Article 20 of the Agreement Between Passport Services and NFFE Local 1998.

Employee A was promoted to GS-7 effective August 27, 2000. Her last evaluation for that grade was Excellent and she should have been promoted to GS-9 with an effective date on or about August 26, 2001.

Article 15, Section 7e, of the Agreement reads as follows:

“Generally, if the employee is exceeding all work requirements at his/her current grade level, that is an indication that the employee is capable of performing at the higher grade level. Employees who have met the required time-in-grade for promotion from GS-5 to GS-7 and from GS-7 to GS-9 will automatically receive their promotions at the earliest eligibility date if they have obtained an Excellent or Outstanding overall performance rating at their current grade level.

There was still some degree of confusion over this article because the contract was very new at that time. The contract was not approved by the Agency until July 3, 2001.

Employee A spoke with her supervisor in July about her promotion and was told that there were no shortcomings. Employee A was not recommended for promotion until October and it was not effective until November 2001. Employee A initially contacted the Adjudication Chief, ____________, about the matter in November. _____________ was to check with personnel to see if the promotion could be made retroactive. _____________ informed Employee A in late December that she had spoken with _____________ from personnel and was informed that nothing could be done.

This delay in Employee A’s promotion was in no way caused by Employee A.

In accordance with the requirements of the Agreement, we request that Employee A’s promotion be made retroactive to an effective date of August 26, 2001 and that she receive all associated back pay.

Thank you for your consideration.

Alex Allen