New Contract Signed 

01/19/01 . . . The new Basic Negotiated Agreement between NTEU 245 and the USPTO was signed into effect during ceremonies which took place on Friday morning, January 19th, 2001, in the offices of Undersecretary Dickinson.

Colleen Kelley (NTEU National President) and Howard Friedman (President, NTEU Chapter 245) on behalf of the bargaining unit, joined Undersecretary Q. Todd Dickinson and the Commissioner for Trademarks, Anne Chasser in signing the groundbreaking contract.

The new contract is the first to be negotiated at the PTO through Interest Based Bargaining (IBB).  Among the beneficial new provisions is the creation of a progressive production bonus award program under which bargaining unit members may earn up to an extra $10,000 every six months. 

Presidents Kelley and Friedman, along with Undersecretary Dickinson and Commissioner Chasser, took turns expressing satisfaction with the new contract which came to fruition after many months of intense negotiations.  In addition, each expressed the desire to continue working closely together through the process of actual implementation of the new contract.

The NTEU 245 negotiating team included:  Howard Friedman (Chapter 245 President), Law Office 101; Suzanne Brennan, NTEU National; Gary Thayer, Law Office 103; Susan DuBois, Law Office 111; Shanna Winters, Law Office 102; Marc Leipzig, Law Office 115; and Jennifer Krisp, Law Office 112.

The management team included:  Meryl Hershkowitz, Managing Attorney for Law Office 113; Jerry Price, Managing Attorney for Law Office 101; Michael Levy, Senior Attorney for Law Office 110; Tomas Vlcek, Managing Attorney for Law Office 115; Leslie Bishop, Senior Attorney for Law Office 109; Tom Lamone, Managing Attorney for Law Office 107; and Portia Robinson, Labor Relations Specialist for the Office of Human Resources.

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