FEDERAL PAY RAISE
Although President Obama recommended 1.4% in 2011 for both civilians and military personnel, the House-passed Defense Authorization bill includes a 1.9% raise for military. The Senate Armed Services Committee-passed version of the Defense Authorization bill includes a 1.4% pay raise for the military. AFGE is working to ensure that the financial services appropriations bill (which is where the civilian pay raise will be addressed) includes a 1.9% raise. However, given the recession, much depends on whether House Democrats can justify the increase. In the meantime, Republicans in the House and Senate have aggressively offered amendments (and plan to continue) which would completely cancel the federal civilian pay raise for 2011. Achieving the 1.9% raise in this economic and political climate will require sustained grassroots support.
During Senate floor consideration of the FY10 supplemental appropriations bill on May 27th, Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John McCain (R-AZ) offered an amendment which would freeze civilian pay in 2011 and cap the number of federal employees. The latter, of course, would only exacerbate contracting out as we know from 16 years of experience with FTE caps. The Coburn-McCain amendment was defeated by a vote of 53-45. On May 28th, Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), on behalf of the House Republican leadership, offered a procedural motion to the defense authorization bill to cancel the 2011 federal pay raise. The procedural motion was defeated by a vote of 227-183. We expect similar attacks on federal employees’ pay and benefits throughout the summer.
WHITE COLLAR PAY
There continue to be numerous press inquiries pursuant to the publication of a USA Today story that argued that federal employees are overpaid relative to their private sector counterparts. The issue has also become fodder for Republican efforts to freeze federal pay. AFGE has provided data and other information/explanation to Hill staff to defend the little 1.4% pay raise and refute arguments that federal salaries are too high. In that vein, we are also working with OPM to urge that the Department of Labor continue to collect the data that is used to measure the pay gap. As the controversy over federal pay continues in the press and in Congress, it has become more important than ever to be able to defend the existence of the pay gap with high quality data. President Obama has proposed ending the BLS survey that is used to calculate the pay gap and replace it with manufactured estimates that will be extremely difficult to explain or defend. We have also urged appropriators to reject President Obama’s proposed cut. The OPM director has not yet officially named the Federal Salary Council, but all indications are that AFGE’s second seat will be restored. Throughout the Bush presidency, AFGE had just one seat in spite of the law’s instruction to seat federal employee unions according to the size of their bargaining units.
BLUE COLLAR PAY
There have been two meetings of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Council (FPRAC) since the new chair was appointed. AFGE has submitted to the Council proposals to alter FWS regulations so that General Schedule localities would no longer include more than one wage area, the same change that would be accomplished by the passage of HR 3493, the Locality Pay Equity Act, introduced by Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA). AFGE has been working to increase the number of cosponsors. Approximately 16,000 federal workers would be affected by the provision. Attached is a list of Representatives whose Congressional districts would benefit from the legislation. They are the most likely targets for co-sponsorship.
In addition, we have asked FPRAC to clarify the rules for calculating FWS overtime pay when the worker’s regular shift includes an evening or night differential. Finally, we have proposed changing the FWS regulation regarding the payment of shift differentials. Currently, a shift differential is payable only when a majority of hours of a regularly scheduled, non-overtime shift occur during the differential period. We have asked for a change in the regulation so that all hours worked during a shift differential period be paid at the differential rate when they constitute a minority of hours of a regular shift.
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM (FEHBP)
Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) have introduced legislation (H.R. 5200 and S. 3341, respectively) to ensure that the dependents of federal employees will be covered up to the age of 26 beginning this year (2010). The health care reform legislation recently signed into law by President Obama requires insurance companies (including those with plans in FEHBP) to extend coverage to the unmarried adult children of policy holders until they turn 26, up from 22. In keeping with the new law, OPM has told FEHBP insurance companies to offer the coverage to federal employees beginning January 1, 2011.
Some health insurers for private sector plans recently announced that they will voluntarily allow young adults to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies before January 1, 2011. However, because Title 5 specifies that FEHBP plans can only cover dependents up to age 22, this voluntary implementation would not extend to the millions of hard-working Federal employees. The Van Hollen- Cardin legislation would give OPM the authority to implement this change for the 2010 plan year, thus moving up the timetable for allowing Federal employees to keep their children on their health care until the age of 26.
HIRING REFORM
Since June 2009, the Obama Administration has pursued several valuable strategies to expedite federal hiring. The first is to require every agency to establish SWAT teams to “map” current hiring processes in order to identify bottlenecks and problems. The SWAT teams are also charged with rewriting job announcements in plain English. The second is to have similar agencies work together to share “best practices” in pursuing all of the reform policies that emerge from the administration’s efforts. The third item involves additional training for hiring managers and the last item involves establishing a mechanism to notify applicants of their status in the hiring process at four different points: when an application is received, when it has been assessed for basic qualifications, when it has been referred to a “selecting official” (or not) and when a final decision has been made.
Last month President Obama issued his Presidential memorandum on hiring reform. With regard to the specifics of the memorandum, we believe that efforts to engage operational managers more in the hiring process will undoubtedly lead to better and faster hiring decisions. In addition, it makes sense to eliminate mandatory Knowledge, Skills and Abilities essays (KSAs) for the initial application for a federal job. We are reviewing the decision about moving to category rating instead of “rule of three.” While OPM has assured us that category rating is a better tool for ensuring veterans preference than the rule of three, we will monitor this to ensure that there are no unintended consequences.
On May 18th, the Senate passed S. 736, a bill introduced by Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and George Voinovich (R-OH) named the Federal Hiring Process Improvement Act. Similar to the Presidential memorandum, it is designed to streamline the federal hiring process. The bill’s highlights include elimination of the KSA essays in federal job applications, the requirement that job announcements be written in “plain” language and the development of a centralized database of applicants that could be accessed by many agencies. It would encourage agencies to accept resumes and cover letters as initial applications for federal jobs and would require agencies to include in their strategic workforce plans short- and long-term plans for general hiring and the hiring of “qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds.” The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will soon consider the legislation.
AFGE is extremely sensitive to agencies’ pleas with regard to expedited hiring, especially in the context of insourcing jobs that were inappropriately outsourced in the last decade. With the recognition that each Full Time Equivalent position (FTE) insourced saves the federal government approximately $40,000 per year, according to Department of Defense estimates, the financial motivation to insource is substantial. It has become routine for agencies to complain that the competitive hiring process is cumbersome and time-consuming and use this as an excuse either to resist or delay insourcing, or to revert to non-competitive hiring processes such as the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP).
Unfortunately, neither the Presidential memorandum nor the legislation will restrict the use of FCIP. Numerous agencies have been using the FCIP almost exclusively for new hires, evading competitive procedures and veterans’ preference in the process. While the memorandum indicates that the administration will evaluate the use of the FCIP, there is already ample evidence that the FCIP is on the verge of replacing the competitive service. If the hiring reforms the administration has presented are to have any relevance, the FCIP must be either repealed or vastly scaled back. We have urged the Obama Administration to scrap FCIP promptly so that its reformed competitive hiring with veterans preference can become the standard for the federal government.
We have testified twice on the administration’s reform of the competitive hiring process. Our testimony focused on our opposition to the Federal Career Intern Program, the over-use of which is rapidly making competitive hiring a thing of the past.
TELEWORK
AFGE has recently testified twice on Capitol Hill about the need for expanded telework opportunities for federal employees.
AFGE members working at agencies with established telework programs such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Citizenship and Immigration Services report that those agencies have self-imposed an arbitrary “cap” on the number of workers allowed to participate in telework. At the National Science Foundation, the local union has succeeded in negotiating a telework program, but they were forced to trade off the right to file any grievances on the matter, regardless of their merit. This makes it almost impossible to ensure that telework at NSF is applied fairly and uniformly to the workforce. Our experiences are reflected by a 2007 study by the Telework Exchange Federal Managers Association study finding that only 35% of federal managers believe their agencies support telework, despite a 2001 Congressional mandate.
In April 2009, OPM issued a plan to increase the number of federal workers who telework. The plan consists of a review of agency telework policies, encouraging agencies to establish a telework manager and the convening of an advisory group of telework program managers to help formulate standards for telework policies. OPM Director John Berry has taken a personal interest in this matter and is aggressively urging agencies to reform their policies.
On March 10, 2010, AFGE participated in an OPM-sponsored thought forum on telework. Among the recommendations developed by forum participants was the proposal to have managers determine before a job announcement is posted whether and what level of telework opportunities would be available for the position. We argue that this would help applicants determine whether the job would be a good fit for them before they have been hired. And since telework will be an added incentive for the best and brightest candidates to apply, managers may get in the habit of thinking about telework as an attractive benefit of the job, rather than a detriment to the agency’s mission. Additionally, the thought forum explored ways to make telework the “norm” for the federal workforce. Their report is expected shortly.
Two bills are currently before the Congress that would take steps to expand federal telework. The Telework Enhancement Act of 2009 (S. 707), introduced by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), passed the Senate on May 24th. The Telework Improvements Act of 2009 (H.R. 1722), introduced by Representative John Sarbanes (D-MD), was passed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 4th, but failed to pass under suspension of the rules (requiring two-thirds) on May 6th. (Republicans who supported the bill in committee changed their minds when the bill came up on the floor.) The Senate bill is now pending in the House. It is not clear when the bill will come up in the House again.
Both bills require that all federal workers be considered eligible for telework unless the agency shows they are ineligible. Under current law, federal workers must overcome the presumption that they are ineligible for telework unless the agency determines otherwise. However, while the bills require agencies to appoint a “Telework Managing Officer” to report to Congress information on the number of workers involved in telework programs, they lack an enforcement mechanism if agencies fail to meet the telework requirement.
PRIVATIZATION
New OMB Circular A-76 Studies
A prohibition on new OMB Circular A-76 studies went into effect on March 11, 2009, with the enactment of the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The FY10 Financial Services Appropriations Bill rolled over the prohibition for another year. It is expected that the FY11 Bill will roll it over for another year. It is very possible that OMB will seek to strike this provision from the FY12 Bill.
Inventories
OMB is refusing to implement the law that requires non-DoD agencies to establish contractor inventories, even though DoD, particularly the Army, is going forward with its own inventory. OMB has not responded to a request from AFGE to discuss OMB’s refusal. AFGE is working to include an additional inventory requirement for non-DoD agencies in the FY11 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Direct Conversions
All non-DoD agencies were prohibited from directly converting to contractor performance functions of any size after enactment of the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. DoD is prohibited from directly converting to contractor performance functions of any size after enactment of the FY10 Defense Authorization Bill. No guidance has been issued to prevent agencies from continuing to perpetrate direct conversions. Indeed, such direct conversions continue to occur. For example, the Air Force Food Transformation Initiative could adversely impact hundreds of civilian employees, particularly NAF in food services. The House FY11 NDAA includes a requirement suspending the initiative until after a GAO inquiry most of the effort. However, it would allow the pilot project to go forward. AFGE Locals at Travis and Elmendorf Air Force Bases are fighting back against this direct conversion. The Air Force refuses to meet with AFGE to discuss this matter until after resolution of a bid protest filed by the Travis Local.
In-sourcing
DoD has an ambitious plan to insource as many as 41,000 jobs over the next five years and asked for budget authority to hire 13,000 employees next year. An anti-insourcing amendment at the House mark up of the NDAA failed by a vote of 37-23. Contractors are trying to offer anti-insourcing amendments when that bill goes to the floor. Although DHS has a serious insourcing plan, insourcing in the non-DoD agencies is not really happening besides a few pilot projects. OMB continually insists that it has little interest in seeing any work insourced other than a few acquisition and information technology functions, even though that position is contrary to the law. AFGE is working to include another insourcing requirement in the FY11 NDAA.
Clean Up Act
AFGE has worked with Representative John Sarbanes (D-MD) and Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) to introduce legislation—the Correction of Longstanding Errors in Agencies’ Unsustainable Procurements (CLEAN UP) Act (S. 924, 13 cosponsors; H.R. 2736, 70 cosponsors)--that would clean up the toxic sourcing legacy left behind by the Bush Administration by requiring agencies to insource all work contracted out that is inherently governmental, closely associated with inherently governmental work and mission essential.
Inherently Governmental
The Legislative Department has supported the Field Services Department in providing comments on OMB’s draft guidance for redefining the term inherently governmental. The draft guidance is definitely underwhelming. One senior agency official described it, accurately, as a punt. Representative Sarbanes and Senator Mikulski, with almost 50 of their colleagues, sent identical AFGE-authored letters to OMB that laid out detailed arguments for creating a more expansive and robust definition of inherently governmental.
High Road
AFGE continues to urge the Administration to oppose a so-called High Road proposal that would require contracting officers to give special consideration to certain factors such as pay and benefits for contractor employees, union representation of contractor employees and contractors’ employee turnover, so that awards could be made to certain “labor-friendly” contractors, regardless of costs. AFGE does not oppose requirements that all contractors provide certain levels of compensation. However, AFGE strongly opposes politicizing the procurement process to reward certain contractors, no matter how well-intentioned. The AFL-CIO also does not support the High Road proposal. Although there has been plenty of reportage about what is happening behind-the-scenes, there has been no announcement because of intense infighting within the Administration.
DEPOT MAINTENANCE
Congressional staff alerted AFGE that a wide-ranging report from a consultant, which is scheduled to be sent to the Hill in October 2010, may offer recommendations that could dramatically change how depot maintenance is performed for the Department of Defense. The consultant’s recommendations, which may or may not be helpful to civilian employees who work in the depots, could be included in the FY12 or FY13 Defense Authorization Bills. President Gage asked NVP Hill to facilitate the establishment of a task force of AFGE depot Locals to consider the issues discussed below. Two conference calls were held. Due to the level of interest, no further efforts are planned.
1. Is there a human capital problem that prevents depots from recruiting in a timely manner and retaining sufficient numbers of employees with the right skill sets, particularly to take on new systems? If there is a problem, is it inadequate personnel authorizations, lack of in-house human resources professionals, a cumbersome hiring process, an inability to offer sufficient pay, an unwillingness to expand the in-house workforce, or all of those things? What would our solution be?
2. Public-private partnerships—using public money to pay private contractors to perform work on the depots—are a serious concern of our Locals. Regardless of the report, these partnerships will be a problem. Are they consistent with the law and regulation? Is the work performed at a higher cost or lesser quality than in-house performance? Is the in-house workforce denied opportunities to perform this work, even when federal employee performance would be more efficient? Are these partnerships denying the depots their legally-required “ready and controlled” workforce?
3. Are there current or former managers that will help AFGE to, among other things, analyze the consultant’s report and prepare our own recommendations? If not, should we hire outside consultants? To what extent will the depot Locals bear the financial burden?
4. AFGE depot Locals can intensify their relationships with area lawmakers during the upcoming elections, ideally generating goodwill that that can inspire those lawmakers to be helpful in revising depot maintenance laws. What can we do to help Locals take advantage of these opportunities?
5. Whether to recommend that depot maintenance issues, particularly coordinating the preparations for and response to the report, be assigned to a particular National Office staffer? These issues have traditionally been handled by the Field Services Department.
BUREAU OF PRISONS (BOP)
FY 2011 Appropriations
BOP prison facilities continue to be extremely dangerous places to work primarily because of serious correctional worker understaffing and prison inmate overcrowding.
As a result, AFGE is lobbying House and Senate Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriators to:
1. Provide $219,000,000 above the Obama FY 2011 budget submission for the BOP Salaries and Expenses account to allow BOP: (a) to hire an additional 1,826 correctional workers in FY 2011, thereby achieving a 95% base staffing level at existing institutions and (b) to hire several hundred additional correctional workers to complete the activation of FCI Mendota in California and FCI McDowell in West Virginia, two new medium security facilities that will house about 2,400 prison inmates.
The Obama FY 2011 budget submission provides $6,533,779,000 for the BOP Salaries and Expenses account – a $447,548,000 increase above FY 2010. But AFGE estimates that of this $447,548,000 increase, only about $87,000,000 will be used to increase correctional worker staffing at existing prison facilities. In addition, no funding has been included in the Obama budget submission to hire additional correctional workers to complete the activation of FCI Mendota and FCI McDowell.
2. Provide $230,000,000 above the Obama FY 2011 budget submission for the BOP Buildings and Facilities account to allow BOP to deal with the growing backlog of major modernization and repair projects at BOP’s 115 prison facilities.
The Obama FY 2011 budget submission provides $269,733,000 for the Buildings and Facilities account – a $170,578,000 increase above FY 2010. The Buildings and Facilities account funds new prison construction and the modernization and repair of existing facilities.
But of this $269,733,000, the Obama FY 2011 budget provides only $74,210,000 for modernization and repair (M&R) projects. (The remaining $195,523,000 is for funding new prison construction.) This funding level is totally inadequate for dealing with the growing backlog of M&R projects at BOP correctional institutions. As the House Appropriations Committee pointed out in its report accompanying last year’s FY 2010 CJS appropriations bill (H.Rept.111-149):
“Thirty-four (one-third) of BOP’s 115 institutions are more than 50 years old and most have not undergone major renovations since they were constructed or acquired by BOP. In addition, the BOP has a backlog of major modernization and repair (M&R) projects valued at nearly $300,000,000. BOP’s budget justification indicates that it “strives to follow” the Federal Facilities Council recommendation of budgeting annually for M&R needs equal to two percent of the asset value of its facilities, which in the case of BOP facilities totals more than $400,000,000.”
OMB Circular A-76 Competitions
AFGE is lobbying the House and Senate CJS appropriators to continue the existing prohibition against the use of federal funding for public-private competitions under OMB Circular A-76 for worker performed by federal employees of BOP and the Federal Prison Industries (FPI).
The final FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-117) includes a general provision (Section 212) providing that:
“None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used to plan for,
begin, continue, finish, process, or approve a public-private competition
under the Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76 or any
successor administrative regulation, directive, or policy for work
performed by employees of the Bureau of Prisons or of Federal Prison
Industries, Incorporated.”
AFGE is urging House and Senate CJS appropriators to include this Section 212 language in the FY 2011 CJS appropriations bill because:
(a) Competing these BOP and FPI employee positions would not promote the best interests or efficiency of the federal government with regard to ensuring the safety and security of federal BOP prisons. According to BOP management, federal correctional officers and other federal employees who work for BOP and FPI are performing at superior levels. It therefore would be ill-advised to compete their positions merely to meet the numerical quotas of any ideologically-driven privatization plan.
(b) Various studies comparing the costs of federally operated BOP prisons with those of privately operated prisons have concluded – using OMB Circular A-76 cost methodology – that the federally operated BOP prisons are more cost effective than their private counterparts. For example, a study comparing the contract costs of services provided by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (now The Geo Group) at the Taft Correctional Institution in California with the cost of services provided in-house by federal employees at three comparable BOP prisons (Forrest City, AR; Yazoo City, MS; and Elkton, OH) found that “the expected cost of the current Wackenhut contract exceeds the expected cost of operating a Federal facility comparable to Taft….” (Taft Prison Facility: Cost Scenarios, Julianne Nelson, Ph.D, National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice.)
National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009
AFGE is actively supporting S. 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, a bill introduced by U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) on March 26, 2009 and its House companion bill - H.R. 5143 – which was introduced by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) on April 27, 2010.
The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 will create an 11-member national commission charged with undertaking an 18-month, top-to-bottom review of all areas of the federal and state criminal justice systems. Its task will be to recommend concrete policy changes designed to:
· Re-focus incarceration policies to reduce the overall incarceration rate while preserving public safety, cost-effectiveness and societal fairness;
· Improve prison administration, including training and career enhancement programs for correctional officers;
· Decrease prison violence;
· Establish meaningful re-entry programs for ex-offenders;
· Improve treatment of the mentally ill;
· Reform our nation’s drug policies;
· Improve responses to international and domestic criminal activities of gangs and cartels; and
· Reform any other aspect of the criminal justice system the Commission determines to be necessary.
BOP Nurse Overtime
NVP Jane Nygaard, Assistant General Counsel Judy Galat and Legislative Representative Alan Kadrofske are working together to obtain changes to existing federal law so that nurses employed at the five Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Federal Medical Centers located in Rochester, MN; Butner, NC; Carswell, TX; Devens, MA; and Lexington, KY, as well as at the various Department of Defense (DOD) medical facilities, can obtain the same full time-and-a-half overtime compensation pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1)) as private sector nurses. BOP and DOD nurses currently receive a more limited, pay-capped overtime compensation pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Section 5542(a)(2).
This lobbying effort began after the AFGE General Counsel Office (GCO) determined that GCO could not successfully argue in court that BOP and DOD nurses – like private sector nurses - should be classified as nonexempt under the FLSA because they are hourly employees. (FLSA nonexempt employees are entitled to receive full time-and-a-half overtime compensation; FLSA exempt employees are not.) This determination was made after reviewing the decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Billings v. U.S., 322 F.3d 1328 (Fed. Cir. 2003). The Federal Circuit court ruled in Billings v. U.S. that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is not required to apply the same regulatory “salary-basis” test to federal employees as the Department of Labor applies to private sector employees because “federal employees are subject to Title 5 suspensions not present in the private sector.”
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (SBA)
AFGE and AFGE Local 2532 are working with Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) to oppose SBA’s proposal to realign its Procurement Division from the Office of Management and Administration (M&A) in Washington, DC to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s (OCFO’s) Finance Center in Denver, Colorado.
AFGE and AFGE Local 2532 are opposed to this planned realignment because:
1. SBA has failed to fully explain the realignment’s purpose.
In its April 19, 2010 letter, SBA management stated that the realignment’s purpose is “to restructure and strengthen the acquisition and procurement functions in SBA…” But we are puzzled as to how realigning the Procurement Division from Washington, DC to Denver, CO will necessarily “strengthen” the procurement function of SBA.
2. SBA has failed to adhere to the spirit of the Obama Executive
Order 13522 (December 9, 2009), Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services.
SBA management has failed to take the time to discuss the proposed realignment of its Procurement Division with AFGE Local 2532. Instead, it would seem that SBA is attempting to rush past AFGE Local 2532 a “predetermined” realignment plan.
3. SBA has failed to consider how difficult it will be for SBA procurement staffers
who hold GS 12-15 grade positions to relocate with their work from M&A Headquarters in Washington, DC to OCFO’s Finance Office in Denver, CO.
In its April 19, 2010, letter, SBA management stated that the planned realignment of the procurement function from Washington, DC to Denver, CO “will directly affect approximately eleven employees,” and that many “will be reassigned with their work to the Denver Finance Center.” But this forced relocation will be particularly difficult for these procurement staffers, as the great majority occupy GS 12-15 positions (according to the chart accompanying SBA management’s April 19, 2010 letter) and thus are Washington, DC career professionals, heads of Washington, DC-located families and established members of Washington, DC-area communities.
VOICE OF AMERICA (VOA)
AFGE and AFGE Local 1812 are lobbying House and Senate appropriators to urge them to oppose the proposal included in the Obama FY 2011 Budget to close the International Broadcasting Bureau’s Greenville Transmitting Station in North Carolina.
We are opposing the closure of the Greenville Transmitting Station because:
1. It would adversely affect the federal employees who work at that site. This is
particularly troublesome given the apparent success of Greenville management and labor in overcoming problems related to balancing the workload with a reduced staff.
2. It will adversely affect the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG’s) strategic mission to promote freedom and democracy and to enhance understanding of America’s policies and values through shortwave broadcasts and other media communications. In particular:
(a) Closing the Greenville Transmitting Station would adversely affect the shortwave broadcasts that can reach people in Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean when other media communications are jammed, prohibited, or blocked by authoritarian governments.
(b) Closing the Greenville Transmitting Station would adversely affect the BBG’s surge and crisis broadcasting capability vis-à-vis Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean, a capability particularly important when other means of communications are destroyed by natural disasters.
DC GOVERNMENT
Council 211 (DC Government workers) in coalition with the DC Metro Central Labor Council defeated Mayor Adrian Fenty’s plan to merge the Public Employee Relations Board and the Office of Employee Appeals in his FY 2011 budget proposal. If Mayor Fenty’s plan had been accepted by the DC Council, DC public workers would have been left with almost no due process in labor relation matters, including adverse actions. Local 383 President Johnnie Walker testified before the DC Council in opposition to Mayor Fenty’s proposed procurement reform bill on March 23, 2010.
LP Walker is working Committee Chairwoman Mary Cheh to amend existing procurement law with enhanced protections for DC workers and taxpayer funds.
COURT SERVICES AND OFFENDER SUPERVISION AGENCY (CSOSA)
AFGE has strongly supported George Pruden to be the next CSOSA Administrator and is awaiting word from the White House as to whether his name will be sent to the Senate in nomination. Pruden, who is a former CSOS General Counsel of the Office of Justice Programs at the Department of Justice, is endorsed by CSOSA Local 727.
DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS AND OBLIGATIONS ACT
Earlier this Spring Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), introduced companion bills--the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009 (S.1102 and H.R. 2517)--that provide federal employees with same-sex domestic partners entitlement to the same employment benefits that are available to married federal employees and their spouses. AFGE has expressed its support for the legislation. Under the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, Federal employees and their domestic partners will also be subject to the same employment-related obligations that are imposed on married employees and their spouses. In order to obtain benefits and assume obligations, an employee must file an affidavit of eligibility with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The employee must certify that the employee and the employee’s same-sex domestic partner have a common residence, share responsibility for each other’s welfare and financial responsibilities, are not related by blood and are living together in a committed intimate relationship. They must also certify that, as each other’s sole domestic partner, they intend to remain so indefinitely. If a domestic partnership dissolves, whether by death of the domestic partner or otherwise, the employee must file a statement of dissolution with OPM within 30 days.
Employees and their domestic partners will have the same benefits as married employees and their spouses under:
- Employee health benefits
- Retirement and disability plans
Family, medical and emergency leave under:
- Group life insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Compensation for work injuries
- Death, disability and similar benefits
- Relocation, travel and related expenses
H.R. 2517 was favorably reported by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in November 2009 and is currently awaiting a vote before the full House. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee favorably reported S. 1102 the following month and is also awaiting floor action. House and Senate staff are working with OMB to accurately score the bills and find an offset for its cost and believe the bills will be passed prior to adjournment at the end of the year.
TSO RIGHTS
On July 9, 2009, H.R. 1881, the Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Subcommittee Chair Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) was favorably reported out by the Homeland Security Committee. The bill moves all TSA employees—including TSOs—to Title 5 rights, including the right to collective bargaining. AFGE remains concerned about provisions of the bill that delay the implementation of Title 5 rights until 60 days after the date of enactment and creates unprecedented consultation rights for labor organizations representing small numbers of workers. H.R. 1881 currently is waiting for a vote by the full house. AFGE has held conversations with staff with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV). Staff for both Chairmen have stated a preference to wait to move TSO rights legislation in the Senate until after action has been taken by the Obama Administration on the issue.
Following the nomination and withdrawal of both Erroll Southers and Robert Harding to be Assistant Secretary for TSA, on May 12 the White House announced the nomination of John Pistole for the position. Pistole is currently the Deputy Director of the FBI. The Senate Commerce committee has scheduled Pistole’s confirmation hearing for Thursday, June 10 and with HSGAC hearing following soon afterward.
NP Gage’s January 2010 letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano raising concerns about the Screening Partnership Program (SPP)—in particular an aggressive move to privatize most of the airports in Montana—has resulted in a moratorium on SPP applications until the agency has submitted a review of the program to the Secretary. AFGE strongly believes TSO jobs will be found to be inherently governmental or closely associated with inherently governmental work and excluded from future privatization.
FEDERAL EMPLOYEE PAID PARENTAL LEAVE
The House passed H.R. 626, the Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act on June 4, 2009 with a bipartisan vote of 248--54. National President Gage spoke at a press conference with the bill's cosponsor, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), along with a host of other Congressional and advocate supporters the day before the House vote. H.R. 626 and S. 354, the Senate companion introduced by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), would provide federal employees 4 of the 12 weeks of parental leave as paid leave upon the birth, adoption or fostering of a child.
AFGE is an active member of a coalition of worker and work-family advocates in support of the legislation. The coalition is currently campaigning for a mark-up of S. 354 by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this summer. AFGE is working in coalition with worker advocates and women’s and family groups to address an inflated CBO score of the legislation that erroneously counts additional weeks of leave and does not take into account savings from keeping incumbent workers in government service instead of leaving for jobs in the private sector with paid new parent leave benefits.
WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS
On July 29, 2009, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee favorably reported out an amended version of S. 372, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009, which for the first time extended jury trials to most federal workers whose whistleblower retaliation claims are denied by the Merit Systems Protection Board, along with other reforms. AFGE is a member of the Make It Safe Coalition, a coalition of worker advocate and good government groups that has met multiple times with White House staff to engage the Obama Administrative in taking an active role in the legislation. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), sponsor of the House version of the bill, H.R. 1507, has stated that he is likely to seek another House vote on the bill even though the House has passed the same bill twice before. Although the Senate bill is not as strong as the House version of the bill, it is hoped that with continued White House participation in the process the conference report of the two bills will include additional protections for workers currently in the House bill. Both bills extend whistleblower protections and protections from violations of some of the Prohibited Personnel Practices to TSOs and the White House has stated its support for this provision. Currently AFGE is working with the White House and Senate staff to move the Senate bill to a floor vote this summer.
MULTILINGUAL PAY LEGISLATION
Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) reintroduced the One America, many Voices bill on March 11, 2010, with 9 cosponsors. The bill requires federal agencies to pay a five percent pay differential to workers whose position descriptions require they use multilingual skills on the job. Rep. Honda’s staff is currently working with the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia subcommittee to report the bill out of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and hopes to schedule a hearing on the bill this session.
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK LEGISLATION
The Fairness and Accuracy in Employment Background Checks Act of 2010 (H.R. 5300) was introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) on May 13, 2010, with 8 bipartisan cosponsors. The bill improves the accuracy of criminal background records by requiring the FBI to update criminal history information in the same manner used for the Brady gun purchase background checks. It also requires that individuals subject to an employment criminal background check have the right to receive a copy of their rap sheet allowing the individual the opportunity to verify and challenge the accuracy of the information. The coalition of union, civil rights and legal organizations supporting the bill are currently looking for a sponsor to introduce the bill in the Senate.
GOVERNMNT PENSION OFFSET (GPO)/WINDFALL ELIMINATION PROVISION (WEP)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) has introduced the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act, which repeals the WEP. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representative Howard Berman (D-CA) have introduced the Social Security Fairness Act which repeals both the GPO and the WEP. Neither bill is scheduled for hearing or expected to move this year.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
VA Funding
The FY 2011 budget request submitted by President Obama in March was noteworthy in at least two respects. First, it proposed significant funding increases for veterans’ health care (8.3%) and thousands of new hires to process disability claims. Second, for the first time, the budget request for health covered two years, as required by the advance appropriations legislation signed into law last October. (As previously noted, AFGE was the only union at the White House bill signing and the veterans’ community acknowledged that Candidate Obama’s letter to us promising funding reform played a critical role.)
The adequacy and stability of VA funding has resulted in fewer reports of shortfalls and hiring freezes from the field. However, AFGE continues to be concerned about lack of transparency in VA’s wasteful spending practices, including excessive management bonuses and new layers of management that fail to reduce pressures on employees on the front lines in VA medical facilities and benefits offices. Veterans’ groups have indicated to us that they are also interested in greater oversight of these issues.
Medical Facility Construction
The Bush Administration attempted to replace standalone VA medical facilities with “leased facilities”, more specifically; this harmful strategy combines drastic reductions in inpatient VA hospital services with use of contract inpatient facilities and “supersized” outpatient clinics that are not linked with a VA medical center. Obviously, this strategy posed an enormous threat to the long term viability of the VA health care system. AFGE joined with veterans’ groups in several locations to fight leasing. Sadly, the Obama Administration continues to pursue a leasing strategy, albeit on a smaller scale, including, most recently, Roseburg, Oregon. The Salisbury, NC VA continues to fight against leasing-related cuts. We will continue to monitor this very carefully and team up with veterans’ groups and lawmakers to fight each new attempt.
Bargaining Rights for Pure Title 38 Employees
Bargaining rights legislation was introduced again in the 111th Congress on both the House and Senate side. To date, we have secured 46 House sponsors and 9 Senate sponsors. These bills (S 362/HR 949) would strike all three exclusions to bargaining (patient care, compensation and peer review) in current law (38 USC 7422) and strengthen the rights of Title 38 employees to judicial review and administrative appeals.
During the same period, AFGE and four other unions participated in a “7422 Work Group” with the VA to identify joint recommendations for administrative solutions to current “7422” related labor-management disputes. From the outset (June 2009), the VA made it clear that it was not willing to agree to legislative change through these discussions. Nonetheless, VA tried to convince members of Congress on numerous occasions that legislation should be deferred pending resolution of these talks!
After three face-to-face sessions and countless conference calls, the unions and VA agreed to fifteen recommendations and the talks officially concluded on February 19, 2010. VA continued to stall and attempt to retreat after that (despite an official record of joint recommendations prepared by an FLRA facilitator). Finally, last month, a final document was approved and the recommendations were ready to forward to the Secretary for review. To date, we are still waiting for confirmation that the Secretary has received them and that a date has been set for the team members to present their positions to the Secretary in person.
At the request of VA Assistant Secretary Sepulveda, team members agreed to keep the recommendations confidential pending Secretary review. This puts AFGE in the difficult position of advocating for reasonable legislative fixes without being able to show proof of the VA’s willingness to compromise. We are hoping that the meeting with the Secretary will take place in the very near future and that we will be able to disseminate these recommendations to the Hill.
The newest legislative development is that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has agreed to drop a “mini-7422” bill that would only clarify (not strike) the least controversial of the three exclusions: the right to bargain over all compensation matters except setting pay rates. We hope to have the bill dropped on June 7th and that Senator Brown will be joined by several other original cosponsors, including Senators Begich, Rockefeller, Webb and Byrd.
Other Title 38 Personnel Legislation
On May 5th, President Obama signed into law the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-163). The law contains a number of provisions for nurses and other VA health care employees that we advocated for including: permanent employment rights for part-time registered nurses (RN), more fair nurse overtime and shift differential pay rules, elimination of CRNA and LPN pay caps, access to RN pay survey data, clearer guidelines for mandatory nurse overtime, a stronger voice in VA Central Office for physician assistants and expanded authority for VA police
We were unable to keep a number of unfavorable provisions out of the legislation including expanded Hybrid Title 38 authority (which, interestingly, became the basis for reversing recent medical clerk downgrading actions) and obscene increases in pay and bonuses for nurse, physician and pharmacy executives.
At our urging, the House introduced legislation to increase the amount of continuing medical education (CME) reimbursement available to VA doctors and dentists. The bill also extended this benefit to other Title 38 employees. Unfortunately, without notice to AFGE, the House VA Committee weakened the draft bill significantly and marked up a bill that dramatically increases the Secretary’s discretion as to who gets this benefit and in what amount. We have informed the House and Senate that we will oppose legislation that weakens this benefit. We noted that AFGE had to bring a national grievance against the VA several years ago because of years of unfair denials of reimbursement claims under the current stronger language in the law.
We will continue to work toward legislation to provide appeal rights to terminated Veterans Canteen Service employees, who are increasingly being terminated without cause.
VA- DOD Hospital Merger
On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law the 2010 National Defense Authorization bill (P.L. 111-84) which included hard fought provisions to protect personnel who will be converted from DOD to VA status upon completion of the merger between the Navy’s Great Lakes medical facility and the North Chicago VA Medical Center. In addition to ensuring that converted employees do not lose ground on pay, benefits or seniority, the law provides that converted DOD health care professionals do not lose their Title 5 collective bargaining rights for two years after conversion to the Title 38 personnel system. (After the two year pilot period, Title 38 bargaining law will cover the following converted DOD employees: physicians, dentists, RNs, physician assistants, podiatrists, optometrists, chiropractors and dental auxiliaries).
After this two year period ends, the VA Secretary will determine whether these grandfathered in bargaining rights should be maintained. Therefore, it will be critical during the two year pilot project for AFGE to monitor and guide the exercise of bargaining rights by converted employees as well as current Title 38 employees.
We are also working very closely with the local to ensure smooth transition on all other fronts including preserving the integrity of the BU (since RNs at the VA facility are currently in another union) and RIFs for some converted employees.
Contracting Out
We have identified a number of positions that are suitable for insourcing, including all VA entry level jobs that have traditionally been filled by disabled veterans, including cemetery caretakers, housekeepers, laundry and food service workers and on the more skilled end of the spectrum, “comp and pen” disability exams and coordination of contract medical care. Our hope, based on encouraging discussions with veterans’ groups, is that the large contract care pilot, Project HERO, will not be renewed after its five year contract expires. We continue to share reports from the field on HERO’s impact on delivery of care and facility budgets with lawmakers and veterans’ groups.
We continue to work with FSD to challenge other contracting out attempts through the GAO bid protest process where appropriate.
Earlier this year, AFGE and the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council met with Acting Undersecretary of Memorial Affairs Muro to encourage less outsourcing and more veteran hiring at VA cemeteries. Mr. Muro appears to have made some movement in the right direction, specifically posting more jobs and publicly expressing his commitment to veteran hiring. Our longer term goal is legislation to require that veterans be hired for most entry level jobs at new and existing sites
Veterans Preference
AFGE is working with veterans’ groups and lawmakers on a number of fronts to increase veterans’ employment opportunities at the VA and other federal agencies. We have reached out to Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) who recently introduced a veterans’ employment bill, to request that she include provisions to extend DOL and MSPB appeal rights to Title 38 employees at the VA and to update the list of disabled veteran set-aside jobs under the Veterans Readjustment Act (VRA) to reflect current job categories. We have also had encouraging discussions with House VA Committee staff about updating the VRA. We strongly support provisions in the Murray bill that ensure that military experience is properly credited upon transition to federal civilian jobs; this would be of great benefit to our physician assistants, nursing assistants and other members utilizing their military skills in civilian VA jobs.
VBA Disability Claims Process
AFGE testifies nearly monthly on ways to address the backlog. However, as long as Bush Administration careerists run VBA, there is little chance of major reform. We are extremely disappointed with the lack of progress in implementing the Veterans Disability Claims Modernization Act of 2008, including a much needed study of the work credit and work management systems and certification tests for supervisors.
We are working with a team of veterans’ organizations on the work credit system and plan to present that our joint recommendations to lawmakers.
We also recently testified on a similar need for training and mentoring for employees in the VBA Fiduciary Program.
ATTACHMENT
LOCALITY PAY EQUITY ACT
Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) has introduced H.R. 3493, the Locality Pay Equity Act, which would prohibit the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from defining more than one local wage area for prevailing rate employees within a General Schedule pay locality. Currently there are no cosponsors. The following is a list of Representatives whose Congressional districts would benefit from the legislation:
Areas Affected by the GS Locality Alignment Proposal
1. Chambers County in Alabama and Troup, Meriwether, Upson, Lamar and Jasper Counties in Georgia would be added to the Atlanta wage area.
Alabama 3rd Mike Rogers 202-225-3261
(Chambers)
Georgia 8th Jim Marshall 202-225-6531
(Troup, Upson, Lamar and Jasper)
Georgia 11th Phil Gingrey 202-225-2931
(Troup, Meriwether and Upson)
2. The Narragansett and Portsmouth, Rhode Island wage areas would be abolished and added to the Boston wage area, along with the Massachusetts County of Worcester and the New Hampshire Counties of Hillsborough, Merrimack and Belnap.
Rhode Island 2nd James Langevin 202-225-2735
(Narragansett is in Washington County)
New Hampshire 1st Carol Shea-Porter 202-225-5456
(Portsmouth is in Rockingham County)
(Belnap)
New Hampshire 2nd Paul Hodes 202-225-5206
(Hillsborough and Merrimack)
Massachusetts 3rd James McGovern 202-225-6101
(Worcester)
3. Kenosha, Wisconsin would be added to the Chicago wage area.
Wisconsin 1st Paul Ryan 202-225-3031
(Kenosha)
4. Clinton County, Ohio would be added to the Cincinnati wage area.
Ohio 3rd Michael Turner 202-225-6465
(Clinton)
5. New London and Windom Counties would be added to the Hartford wage area, along with Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin Counties of Massachusetts.
Connecticut 2nd Joe Courtney 202-225-2076
(New London, Windom, Hampden, Hampshire)
Connecticut 1st John Larson 202-225-2265
(Hampden and Hampshire)
Massachusetts 1st John Olver 202-225-5335
(Franklin)
6. Jennings, Brown, and Grant Counties would be added to the Indianapolis wage area.
Indiana 9th Baron Hill 202-225-5315
(Jennings and Brown)
Indiana 5th Dan Burton 202-225-2276
(Grant)
7. The San Bernardino wage area would be abolished and added to the LA wage area. Santa Barbara County would also be added to LA.
California 41st Jerry Lewis 202-225-5861
(San Bernardino)
California 24th Elton Gallegly 202-225-5811
(Santa Barbara)
8. The New York wage area would take in New Haven, Litchfield and Fairfield Counties from Connecticut. It would also take in Orange, Dutchess and Ulster Counties from New York (including West Point); and Monroe, Pike, Warren and Mercer Counties of Pennsylvania (including Tobyhanna); as well as Hunterdon County in New Jersey.
Connecticut 3rd Rose L. DeLauro 202-225-3661
(New Haven)
Connecticut 5th Christopher S. Murphy 202-225-4476
(Litchfield)
Connecticut 4th Jim Himes 202-225-5541
(Fairfield)
New York 19th John J. Hall 202-225-5441
(Orange)
New York 20th Scott Murphy 202-225-5614
(Dutchess)
New York 22nd Maurice D. Hinchey 202-225-6335
(Ulster)
Pennsylvania 11th Paul E. Kanjorski 202-225-6511
(Monroe)
Pennsylvania 10th Christopher P. Carney 202-225-3731
(Pike)
Pennsylvania 5th Glenn W. Thompson, Jr. 202-225-5121
(Warren and Mercer)
Pennsylvania 3rd Kathy Dahlkemper 202-225-5405
(Mercer)
New Jersey 7th Leonard Lance 202-225-5361
(Hunterdon) 12th Rush D. Holt 202-225-5801
9. Perks County, Pennsylvania; Kent and New Castle Counties in Delaware; Salem County in New Jersey; and Cecil County in Maryland would be added to the Philadelphia wage area.
Pennsylvania 17th Tim Holden 202-225-5546
(Perks)
Delaware 1st(at large) Michael N. Castle 202-225-4165
(Kent and New Castle)
New Jersey 2nd Frank a. LoBiondo 202-225-6572
(Salem)
Maryland 1st Frank Kratovil, Jr. 202-225-5311
(Cecil)
10. Douglas County, Nevada would be added to the Sacramento wage area.
Nevada 2nd Dean Heller 202-225-6155
(Douglas)
11. The Salinas wage area would be abolished and its two counties, along with San Joaquin County, would be added to the San Francisco wage area.
California 12th Jackie Speier 202-225-3531
(Monterey)
California 11th Jerry McNerney 202-225-1947
(San Joaquin)
12. The Washington-Baltimore area would be most affected. Currently, this GS locality includes counties in six different wage areas (Harrisburg, Hagerstown, Richmond, Washington, Baltimore and Wilmington). Bringing them all into Washington means taking the following counties out of the Hagerstown wage area: Hampshire, Morgan, Berkley and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia; Clarke, Winchester and Warren Counties in Virginia; and Washington County in Maryland. Spotsylvania County would leave the Richmond wage area; Queen Anne’s County, Maryland would leave the Wilmington wage area; and Adams and York Counties in Pennsylvania would leave the Harrisburg wage area. The Baltimore wage area, which includes Anne Arundel, Howard, Carroll, Baltimore and Harford Counties of Maryland would be abolished and everything would get folded into the Washington, D.C. wage area.
West Virginia 2nd Shelley Capito 202-225-2711
(Hampshire, Morgan, Berkley and Jefferson)
Virginia 10th Frank R. Wolf 202-225-5136
(Clark, Winchester and Warren)
Virginia 7th Eric Cantor 202-225-2815
(Spotsylvania)
Maryland 6th Roscoe G. Bartlett 202-225-2721
(Washington, Carroll and Baltimore)
Maryland 1st Frank Kratovil, Jr. 202-225-5311
(Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel and Harford)
Maryland 7th Elijah E. Cummings 202-225-4741
(Howard)
Pennsylvania 19th Todd R. Platts 202-225-5836
(Adams and York)