Flu Shot

By Alex Parker

It's been a long-simmering issue that appears to be winding down, but the National Employees Treasury Union is one step closer to ensuring that its employees can wear masks to protect themselves from infectious diseases such as the swine flu, without having to ask for permission.

According to a memorandum of agreement between the CBP and the National Treasury Employees Union Workers at Customs and Border Protection can now wear agency-provided masks, or N95 respirators, without having to seek approval from their supervisors. NTEU President Colleen Kelly announced the agreement during testimony Wednesday before the House Committee on Homeland Security.

NTEU had earlier claimed that some supervisors were preventing employees from wearing masks in the Department of Homeland Security. In June, the House added an amendment guaranteeing that workers with the Transportation Security Administration can don masks.

But despite the agreement, NTEU still claims that more needs to be done to protect federal workers during a virus scare. In her testimony to the committee, Kelly said the government needed to issue

clear guidelines about priorities for federal workers when it comes to vaccinations, clarify federal leave policies for pandemics, and to make sure that telework policies are up and running to ensure that government can operate during a crisis.