The National Weather Service Employees Organization, known as the NWSEO, is the labor organization

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 and professional association that represents 4,000 employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...

 in the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Department of Commerce

United States Department of Commerce

The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...

, including:

• The forecasters, technicians and support personnel of the National Weather Service
  National Weather Service
  The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
  
  , America's official source for weather forecasts and warnings;
• The attorneys in NOAA’s Office of General Counsel, who are responsible for enforcing laws that protect America's environment and natural resources;
• The civilian crews of the Hurricane Hunter
  Hurricane Hunters
  The Hurricane Hunters are aircraft that fly into tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean and Northeastern Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms. In the United States, the Air Force, Navy, and NOAA units have all participated in...
  
   aircraft based in Tampa, Florida
  Tampa, Florida
  Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
  
  ;
• The technicians who track and command America's weather satellites from Wallops Island
  Wallops Island
  Wallops Island is a island off the east coast of Virginia, part of the barrier islands that stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States of America.It is located in Accomack County, Virginia...
  
  , Virginia; and
• The hurricane researchers and other scientists and support personnel at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
  Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
  The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory , a federal research laboratory, is part of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research , located in Miami, Florida...
  
   in Key Biscayne, Florida
  Key Biscayne, Florida
  Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324....
  
  .

Overview

NWSEO is the only organization with the ability to lobby Congress and the Administration to preserve NWS jobs, promote better working conditions and career promotions for NWS, and participate in collective bargaining.
The diligent work of the NWSEO produced these top five recent accomplishments to enhance the working conditions of National Weather Service employees.

1. Launched a successful communications campaign to keep the National Weather Service fully funded for the remainder of FY11. NWSEO communications included working with media on a national level, letter-writing campaigns to key legislators, and the creation of the Protect the National Weather Service Facebook group (with over 70,000 members) to support fully funding the NWS. These efforts helped maintain critical weather forecasts and warnings.
2. Saved the CWSUs from consolidation, preserving aviation safety and NWS jobs. NWSEO spent over $200,000 in this five year lobbying effort and obtained the support of the Senate Commerce Committee, the House Science Committee and the House and Senate Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittees
3. Securing back pay for overtime for nearly 200 NWS employees. Securing FLSA Non-Exempt status for more than 180 NWS employees. The NWS has agreed to pay two years’ lost overtime wages and liquidated damages for those employees, as well.
4. NWSEO secured an agreement that upgrades to a GS -8 every Administrative Support Assistant at field offices around the country. The GS - 8 upgrade includes approximately one million dollars in extra pay and benefits to the lowest paid NWS employees each and every year from now on.
5. Secured the National Weather Service Health Club and Wellness Services Fee Reimbursement Program – NWS employees can have their health club membership fees reimbursed through this NWSEO negotiated program.

Organization

President

Dan Sobien became NWSEO President in 2005 after serving three years as Executive Vice President of the organization. Mr. Sobien is an expert in the areas of marine meteorology, air-sea interaction and coastal flooding. He has published several scientific papers on those topics. Dan started his career in the National Weather Service in 1991. He became an activist in the late 1990s to help hold off funding cuts to the National Hurricane Center and the NWS’s Southern Region.

Executive Vice President

William Hopkins was elected Executive Vice President of NWSEO in 2005 after serving as the NWSEO Southern Region Chair.

Regional Chairs

NWSEO Leadership includes eight regional chairs including a chair for the NESDIS Wallops Office, and the NOAA Attorneys Guild Officers. Each Regional Chair is responsible for representing their region at the Spring Council Meeting and NWSEO Annual Convention, labor relations and communicating labor issues with the union.