This year has been, and continues to be, challenging for not just our country, but the entire world, due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic.  NCSSMA was set to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Spokane, Washington in August.  Like many organizations, NCSSMA made the difficult decision to put all of our plans and meetings on hold.  NCSSMA has a rich history, including its mission of advocating for the highest level of public service.  Even today, as most Social Security Administration employees are working from home, we strive to continue providing the level of service the public deserves.  NCSSMA continues to be at the forefront with agency leaders and Members of Congress regarding the impact of the pandemic on field office and teleservice center operations.  These relationships did not come easy and have been cultivated over the last half-century.

In the 1950s, two regional Social Security management associations were formed; one in New York and one in New England.  By the time the clock turned to the 1970s, additional regional associations had been formed, but no organized national management association existed.  The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA) was formed in 1970. 

The formation of a national association was made possible by an Executive Order signed by President Richard M. Nixon on October 31, 1969.  Included in the Executive Order were instructions that “...an agency shall establish a system for intra-management communication and consultation with its supervisors or association of supervisors.”  The Executive Order went on to state, “...these communications and consultations have as their purpose the improvement of agency operations, the improvement of working conditions of supervisors, the exchange of information, the improvement of managerial effectiveness, and the establishment of policies that best serve the public interest in accomplishing the mission of the agency."

With this new Executive Order, the New York and New England regional associations worked together to set up a meeting on Memorial Day weekend in 1970 with as many representatives as possible from other regions to try to form a national association.  With seven regional representatives, it was agreed that a Constitution and By-laws of an association would be written and then voted on at a national ratification convention in October 1970.  These documents were written and then ratified at the first NCSSMA Annual Meeting in late October of 1970.  Joseph P. Collins, District Manager in Lynn, Massachusetts, was elected as the first National Council President.  Later, NCSSMA's highest award was established in his honor.

After the first annual meeting, an Executive Committee (EC) was established consisting of national officers and regional presidents.  In May 1971, the EC met with the leadership of the Bureau of District Office Operations (BDOO) in Baltimore, Maryland, for the first time.  This meeting inaugurated regular in-person meetings between the EC and Central Office Executives that have continued to this day.

Communications in the early days of NCSSMA were done by mail.   NCSSMA's first major challenge was the classification of management.  At that time, the highest grade of District Managers (DMs) was a GS-13.  Branch Managers (BMs) were GS-11 as were Operations Supervisors (OSs).  Claims Representatives (CRs) were at GS-9.  NCSSMA's efforts helped upgrade CRs to a GS-10, BMs to a GS-12 and some DMs to a GS-14.  However, the OSs stayed at the GS-11 level at that time.

Member communication was initially done by sharing the minutes from meetings.  In February 1973, NCSSMA started its first newsletter, initially called the National Council Reporter, which was renamed later in the year to M.A.S.S Media (Management Associations of Social Security).  M.A.S.S. Media was published as a mailed paper newsletter up to the year 2000 when it was replaced by the online FrontLine.

From its very beginning to this day, issues that NCSSMA leadership discussed with Central Office have been brought to national attention by members through the regional associations.  In the 1970s, the issues NCSSMA worked on included expanding workloads such as adding the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program in 1974, workload backlogs, systems issues, workload simplification, quality of service, and adequate staffing.

In the 1980s changes advanced by the Reagan Administration had significant impacts on SSA and NCSSMA.  The agency experienced considerable downsizing and a loss of 20-25% of its workforce.  Field offices were under staffing freezes for nearly a decade.  Staffing shortages were often quite significant in many field offices.

The 1980s also brought merit pay to management at grades GS-13 and above.   There were no longer Within-Grade Increases (WIGI) as we know them today, but rather raises were based on an individual's appraisal.  This led to intense competition to achieve better statistical numeric performance.   Because there were caps on merit pay raises, this resulted in even more pressure on achieving numbers.

NCSSMA found that its ability to influence agency leadership on these issues was not as effective as it might be.  This led to a decision to hire someone to assist NCSSMA to communicate with Congress and begin establishing relationships between NCSSMA and Capitol Hill.

However, at that time, the agency took strong exception to the role of NCSSMA on Capitol Hill.  Meetings between agency leadership and NCSSMA were cut and the agency threatened to eliminate NCSSMA's recognition.  The pressure was so intense that the association stopped lobbying in front of Congress.  Subsequently, Congressional leaders asked for an investigation by the General Accounting Office (GAO).   GAO issued a report finding that SSA had interfered with NCSSMA's rights.  Congressional leaders sent letters to the Attorney General and Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare asking SSA to stop interfering with NCSSMA’s rights.  

In the end, the agency quietly backed off their efforts to silence NCSSMA, and NCSSMA was able to continue its efforts on the Hill.  Regular meetings with agency executives resumed and today, NCSSMA has a transparent and open dialogue with agency leaders regarding our work on Capitol Hill and with other Federal agencies.  As to the issue of merit pay, NCSSMA continued to present its view that merit pay was not effective in motivating management.  By the early 1990s, merit pay was abandoned.

The 1990s brought opportunities for upgrades.  NCSSMA had been working for many years to upgrade field positions.  In the end, the work bore fruit.  The upgrades started with CRs to GS-11s, clerks to GS-5, and Service Representatives (SRs) to GS-8 in 1994.  Next, the OSs were upgraded to GS-12, ADMs and BMs to GS-13, and some DMs to GS-14.

Simultaneously, the mid-1990s brought the downsizing of management.  The ADM position was virtually eliminated, and the OS position was reduced by about 80%.  SSA moved to a pass-fail appraisal system.  NCSSMA was unable to stop this effort which was initiated by the Clinton Administration.  NCSSMA's work to reinstate these positions took nearly a decade.  On a positive note, NCSSMA's efforts on the budget front helped to reinvigorate hiring.

Throughout the first 25 years of NCSSMA, communications were primarily by mail, fax, and one-on-one phone calls.  In looking back, it is hard to imagine not having e-mail or the ability to have conference calls.  Yet NCSSMA was able to effectively present its views and keep members informed.  The many years of efforts to present NCSSMA’s views and support management required a considerable amount of time, effort, and sacrifice.   Our history tells us that we exist today and have a strong voice because of these efforts.

If you would like to delve further into our history, you can research thousands of documents, categorized by year in our NCSSMA Archives.

Rick Warsinskey

NCSSMA Past President