August 6, 2007
Congress Blocks Funding for New DoD Personnel System
Union Says Congress Should Put an End to Costly Program That Could Waste Millions in Tax Payer Dollars
(WASHINGTON) – The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents more than 200,000 Department of Defense (DoD) civilian employees, today lauded House members for their overwhelming bipartisan support of a bill that blocks funding of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) for civilian defense workers.
U.S Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced an amendment to the FY08 Defense Appropriations bill blocking funding for the DoD’s proposed personnel system, which essentially guts civilian employee rights.
“In May, the House overwhelmingly rejected NSPS as costly and misguided by including in its 2008 Defense Authorization Bill language striking down major portions of the system,” said John Gage, national president of AFGE. “The House said it then, and now is saying again that NSPS must be stopped.”
The Government Accountability Office recently released a report detailing the exceedingly high cost of implementing the system. It also expressed serious doubts as to whether DoD could implement NSPS at its estimated cost. (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07851.pdf)
In February 2006, AFGE and its partners in the United Defense Workers Coalition won a decisive ruling in the U.S. District Court against NSPS. Judge Emmet G. Sullivan’s ruling gutted NSPS provisions pertaining to labor relations, collective bargaining, independent third party review, adverse actions, and DoD’s proposed internal labor relations panel. The ruling was overturned this May in a sharply divided 2-1 decision by the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“AFGE has dedicated itself to protecting DoD employees from being subject to unfair working conditions,” Gage said. “We are confident in today’s action. We have no doubt that in the end, DoD employees will be treated fairly and in a just manner.”
July 3, 2007
“INSIDE GOVERNMENT” TO AIR MORE INTERVIEWS FROM THE “TAKE BACK AMERICA” CONFERENCE
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND HIGHLIGHTS LIST OF GUESTS
WASHINGTON—“Inside Government”, the nationwide radio program of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), will air more interviews this week from the recent “Take Back America” conference in Washington, D.C. “Take Back America” is sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future, a prominent Washington, D.C.-based grassroots organization. Guests include Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Maryland Lieutenant Governor; Will Robinson, Partner at The New Media Firm; and Michelle Randall, CEO of Glass Houses Coaching & Consulting. The show will air on Friday, July 6 at 10:00 a.m. EDT nationwide on www.federalnewsradio.com and 1050 AM in the Washington, D.C., area.
“Inside Government” is a one-hour weekly nationwide radio/Internet program dedicated to issues that impact all federal and D.C. government employees. In launching “Inside Government”, AFGE became one of the first unions and the only federal workers’ union to have a national broadcast program on the air.
The program, hosted by AFGE Assistant General Counsel Ward Morrow, can be heard Fridays at 10:00 a.m. EDT nationally on demand (available anytime) at www.federalnewsradio.com or 1050 AM in the Washington, D.C., area.
Programs are archived on the Federal News Radio Web site and can be heard on demand (available anytime) at http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=300. Federal News Radio is one of the most popular online news stations in the country, according to the Baltimore Sun/New York Times Syndicate.
“Inside Government” is also available to more than 70 million iPod users through Apple’s iTunes music download software. The program is available via podcast, located at the following link: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=212048686. Users must install iTunes on their computers before accessing “Inside Government” via podcast.
June 25, 2007
AFGE Week in Review
House Gives Feds 3.5% Pay Raise in 08: The House June 28 approved a 3.5 percent pay raise for civilian employees in fiscal 2008. The White House recommended 3 percent for both the civil service and the military.
VA Ordered to Pay Hundreds of Workers Saturday Premium Pay: In response to AFGE’s protest, an arbitrator May 30 ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to give back pay dating to January, 2004 to hundreds of VA employees previously determined by VA to be eligible for Saturday Premium Pay. VA had added these employees – 10 occupations – to the list of workers eligible for premium pay since early 2006, but the workers never received it. The arbitrator also required VA to include AFGE in the ongoing process of determining the eligibility of 863 other occupations.
AFGE Wins $420,000 in Awards for Members: AFGE in March won more than $420,000 in performance awards for about 275 employees working at the Energy Department’s laboratories in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Morgantown, W.Va. The employees were supposed to get the cash awards for their performance late last year, but management cited budgetary concerns and did not pay them. The two AFGE locals involved filed grievances in December and January and the issue was resolved before the cases went to arbitration which was scheduled for July.
House Votes to Keep Safeguards Against Outsourcing Governmentwide: The House voted June 28 to keep AFGE provisions in the 2008 Financial Services Appropriations bill that would provide federal employees in all agencies with several safeguards against the unfair outsourcing process. The bill would:
* Give feds the same appeal rights long enjoyed by contractors to have outsourcing decisions reviewed by independent third parties.
* Exclude health care and retirement costs from the A-76 process when a contractor contributes less toward its employees’ benefits than that required of federal agencies by Congress.
* Make it a permanent requirement for agencies to allow the in-house work force to submit its most competitive bid, known as the Most Efficient Organization, before work performed by more than 10 employees could be outsourced.
* Make it a permanent requirement for the contractor’s bid to be cheaper than that of the in-house team by $10 million or 10% of personnel costs before any work can be outsourced.
* Eliminate OMB’s pressure on agencies to outsource federal jobs.
Army Depot in Pennsylvania Told to Adopt Telework: After a long fight, the Army at Tobyhana Army Depot has finally agreed to adopt a telework pilot project. The Army’s decision was a direct result of an arbitration hearing in January where AFGE Local 1647 argued that a number of workers should be allowed to telework. About 2,000 of the 3,200 positions at the depot, however, are not telework appropriate as they involve bench work on electronic equipment.
Employee Free Choice Act Fails in Senate: The bill failed in the Senate June 26 as it could not secure the 60 votes needed to pass. The bill, which cleared the House in March, would have allowed private sector workers to decide how they want to choose a union and would enable them to do so without employer interference.
AFGE Wins Job Back for Salt Lake City TSO: AFGE successfully argued to have a Salt Lake City Transportation Security Officer’s removal reduced down to a five-day suspension. The TSO was fired early this year when an emergency situation prevented him from giving the maximum advance notice for his approved leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. AFGE filed an appeal with the TSA Disciplinary Review Board in April, arguing that the TSO made a good-faith effort to comply with leave procedures, but it was not practical in his circumstance.
AFGE Wins Retaliation Case at Pittsburgh: After four years of TSA’s foot-dragging and the misplacement of the case file in the EEOC field office, EEO Administrative Judge ruled in favor of a Pittsburgh TSO who filed a complaint that she was retaliated against after complaining to management about a co-worker who was sexually harassing her. The judge found that the management official who reassigned the TSO failed to explain why the TSO was given a reassignment she clearly did not want after she complained about sexual harassment. The judge further found that the management official’s testimony was not credible.
AFGE Wins $500,000 in Bonuses for D.C. Workers: AFGE in May won $500,000 in bonuses for 632 employees at D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. AFGE Local 631, 872, and 2553 filed a grievance against the agency after it refused to pay the employees performance bonuses for 2004. The case went to arbitration in November and December last year.
AFGE Wins Job Back for Army Lawyer Wrongfully Terminated: The Army lawyer, who is also vice president of AFGE Local 1858 in Alabama, got fired in August last year after helping her friend fill out a form for damages caused by a military police car that hit her friend’s parked car. She had earlier filed an EEO complaint and grievances against government. But the arbitrator in May ruled that she was wrongfully terminated. He ordered the Army to reinstate her and give her full backpay with interest.
AFGE Wins Backpay for CBP Officer: The Custom and Border Patrol Officer in Florida was suspended for two days in May last year after a Brazilian tourist was allowed to enter the country on a different Brazilian tourist’s passport. AFGE argued that the two men had extremely similar names and appearances with similar computer data. And when the first man’s name was called, the other man answered it while the first man ignored the call. AFGE also argued that CBP was trying to save money by not having back-up checks for situations like this. The arbitrator May 21 sided with AFGE and ordered CBP to give the officer backpay and remove the suspension from his record.
New FLRA Member Nominated: President Bush June 28 withdrew the nomination of FLRA Chair Dale Cabaniss and nominated Thomas Beck of Virginia to be an FLRA member for a term expiring July 2012.
Inside Government: AFGE’s weekly radio program on June 29 was broadcast from the “Take Back America” conference in Washington, D.C. The event was sponsored by the Campaign for America’s Future, a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots organization. Guests included Jim Dean, Chairman of Democracy for America; Bill Scher, Online Editor of Campaign for America’s Future; and Larry Mischel, President of the Economic Policy Institute.
For the July 6 program, we will broadcast more interviews from the “Take Back America” conference. Guests include Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Maryland Lieutenant Governor; Will Robinson, partner at The New Media Firm; and Michelle Randall, CEO of Glass Houses Coaching & Consulting and editor of “Winning Without Compromising ? Yourself.”
Inside Government airs every Friday at 10 a.m. EDT nationwide on www.federalnewsradio.com and 1050 AM in the Washington, D.C., area. The one-hour program discusses issues that impact all federal and D.C. government employees.
