FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 5, 1997

CONTACT: Mary Ann Maloney (202) 606-1800 mamalone@opm.gov

Washington, D.C.--Members of the labor-management team at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Atlanta are being honored by the National Partnership Council (NPC) for their efforts in creating a team that has improved customer service and saved tax dollars. The members of the Atlanta IRS partnership will receive the award at the National Partnership Award ceremony on:

The National Partnership Council was created on October 1, 1993, by President Clinton to forge labor-management relations throughout the Executive Branch and encourage agencies and unions to work together to create a government that works better and costs less. The Council is comprised of federal cabinet and agency officials, the presidents of the American Federation of Government Employees, National Treasury Employees Union, the National Federation of Federal Employees, a representative of the Public Employees Department of the AFL-CIO, and representatives from the Senior Executives Association and the Federal Managers Association.

The IRS labor-management partners are being recognized for their teamwork in educating their customers -- the taxpayers -- on tax issues involving the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. It was estimated that the games would inject approximately $3.5 billion dollars into the Georgia economy. The games would result in 84,000 new jobs, 700,000 visitors and the creation of many new taxpaying entities in the Georgia district in a short period of time. They identified in advance potential compliance problems, supplied needed information to diverse audiences in innovative ways, measured the effect of their actions by the increase in tax revenue, and decreased the taxpayer burden of complying with the law.

In addition to saluting the Georgia IRS partnership, the National Partnership Council will present awards to six other partnerships that have improved service and saved money.

Each of the partnerships we recognize today is a model for managers and unions as they work together to deliver the highest quality services to the American people, said Vice President Al Gore, who has spearheaded the Reinventing Government effort.

Janice R. Lachance, Acting OPM Director and Chair of the NPC, added, Todays honorees have proven that federal labor-management partnerships provide real results for the American people by saving taxpayer money and delivering better services.

Members of the media wishing to attend the ceremony should contact OPMs Mary Ann Maloney at 202-606-1800 or at mamalone@opm.gov. A live satellite broadcast can be downlinked using the following coordinates:

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