Robert M. Tobias, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election as the union's top official. His term expires in August.
Tobias has been head of the union for 16 years. The union, which represents more than 155,000 employees at the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies, will elect a new president in August at a national convention in Las Vegas.
Tobias plans to teach and write about public policy after he steps down.
He joined NTEU 31 years ago and was previously general counsel and executive vice president for the union. He was also a labor relations specialist at the IRS and General Motors.
Tobias' achievements include bringing a suit against President Clinton to overturn the line-item veto (in which he won a settlement from the Justice Department), bringing a successful $500 million back pay suit against President Nixon and helping garner the union a seat on a board that will oversee IRS operations under the agency's 1998 reform bill.