WASHINGTON-After about 18 months since NCUA employees voted to unionize, NCUA and the National Treasury Employees Union have reached an agreement on the ground rules for negotiations. NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said that bargaining is scheduled to begin March 13 and conclude the week of June 12. "This is very good news, very good news for employees. So this will be an opportunity for us to have language negotiated between us, on important issues to employees," she commented. NTEU looks forward to discussing such issues as expanding the scope of the grievance procedure, discipline procedures, promotion policies, and leave policies, Kelley explained. "NTEU is looking forward to this," she said. "Our team is getting ready and will be ready by the time we meet for the first time. We hope to have productive negotiations with the NCUA." NCUA Executive Director Len Skiles commented, "We expect that negotiations over the first labor agreement in NCUA's history will proceed in a productive and thorough manner. The parties will engage in extensive discussions covering a wide range of working conditions. We hope to negotiate an agreement with NTEU that addresses the needs of the employees and meets the requirements of the agency to adapt to the changing credit union environment."