FederalDaily - May 15, 2007
Minorities Show Progress in Snaring Top Fed Jobs
The percentage of women and minorities in the most senior federal government civil service and U.S.
Postal Service (USPS) jobs has grown over the last six years, said new government figures. The Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report, “Human Capital,” was released May 10 as part of GAO
testimony before the House Government Reform subcommittee on the Federal Workforce. GAO looked at minorities
and women in the Senior Executive Service (SES), and in the GS-14 and GS-15 “developmental pool” which
provides successors for career senior positions. GAO also looked at comparable cohorts in the USPS.
In October 2000, women made up 23.6 percent of the SES positions and minorities made up 13.8 percent.
Those proportions had grown to 28.4 percent and 15.9 percent for women and minorities, respectively,
by September 2006. In the USPS, women and minorities made up 20.1 percent and 20.8 percent, respectively,
in 1999; growing to 28.6 percent for women and 25.5 percent for minorities by 2006. Minorities have
also made gains in the SES/USPS development pool—which is particularly significant in the SES
category, because 90 percent of those senior employees are expected to retire in the next decade, the
report said. USPS, for its part, expects nearly half of its execs to retire in the next five years,
GAO said. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d07838t.pdf
:: Back to Top ::
Bill Would Impose Six-Month AMP Window on USPS
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) applauded a new House bill that would establish firm deadlines
for Area Mail Processing (AMP) surveys and would prohibit the removal of equipment or the reduction
of the workforce in AMP-targeted facilities. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., introduced HR 2177, which would
require the Postal Service to complete AMP studies within 180 days. Extensions of 60 days would be
permitted only if “persons likely to be affected” are notified prior to the expiration
of the original deadline. “This is an important piece of legislation that would eliminate much
of the uncertainty that plagues postal workers and communities when ‘studies’ drag on indefinitely,” said
APWU President William Burrus on May 10. “The prohibition on removing equipment and cutting the
workforce during the six-month period is also significant.” Stupak, who represents constituents
in northern Michigan and its Upper Peninsula, has been demanding that the Postal Service be more accountable
when it proposes plant consolidations. To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/webart/2007/webart-0737-consol-stupakbill-070510.htm
:: Back to Top ::
TSA Breach Prompts Troubling Questions
The head of the House panel that oversees the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wants to
know how the TSA can be trusted to keep U.S. transportation systems safe when it can’t keep track
of a single computer hard drive containing sensitive agency data. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas,
chair of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation security, on May 10 posed that
question in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department
oversees TSA. Jackson Lee said she had lost confidence in TSA in the wake of an agency security breach
earlier this month involving the loss of a computer hard drive containing the personal information
of 100,000 current and former employees. “These data security lapses are unacceptable and they
reflect the department’s dismal record in data privacy and information security,” the letter
said. “We are troubled by these incidents and concerned that additional breaches may occur in
the future.” Jackson Lee is seeking new legislation that would focus on procedures for protecting
sensitive government data, and penalties for those who do not follow those procedures. To see more,
go to: http://homeland.house.gov/press/index.asp?ID=210&SubSection=1&Issue=0&DocumentType=0&PublishDate=0
:: Back to Top ::
|
