The National Treasury Employees Union echoed calls for more CBP officers. It said hundreds more are needed for El Paso, Texas operations and an increase of 4,000 nationally to both fully staff ports and allow for training.
NTEU, which represents thousands of CBP employees, criticized CBP management practices in El Paso for implementing work schedules the union says have harmed morale.
Union president Colleen Kelley told the committee that management sometimes forces officers to work consecutive shifts totaling 16 hours in order to avoid paying overtime, and often varies schedules within the same pay period without warning.
Kelley said this has caused CBP officers to be “leaving the service in droves," when taken together with a lack of law enforcement officer status and retirement benefits for CBP officers. As Kelley noted, a 2008 omnibus spending bill would provide those benefits.
