FederalDaily - August 24, 2007

Advocacy Group Urges Agency Action on IG Misconduct

A government watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), called on federal agencies to act on investigative findings that confirm instances of Inspector General (IG) misconduct. In a recent letter, POGO urged Clay Johnson—chairman of the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) and deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—to preserve the integrity of the IG system by correcting such misconduct. The letter comes in the wake of revelations of IG wrongdoing, including a May finding by the Office of Special Counsel that Department of Commerce IG Johnnie Frazier had retaliated against whistleblowers who claimed he had abused travel privileges. Frazier has since retired, but POGO questioned whether Acting IG Elizabeth Barlow—who the group says obtained her position as part of Frazier’s efforts to retaliate against one of these employees—should continue to serve in that post. “POGO fears that allowing Barlow to remain in this position means that the integrity of the Department of Commerce IG office will only be damaged further as these instances of misconduct go uncorrected,” said the letter from POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian. To see more, go to: www.pogo.org/p/government/ga-070821-ig.html  

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Kelley Critical of FDA Outsourcing Plan

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), issued an Aug. 22 statement criticizing a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plan to study outsourcing certain work now done by more than 300 federal employees. Kelley said that FDA’s rationale for the move does not make good business sense, and that the process lacks the necessary transparency. NTEU said it was recently notified that FDA was preparing 13 separate outsourcing studies that would cover 332 positions—defined as commercial in nature—in eight different FDA sub-components across 20 cities. FDA has said the positions to be studied for possible outsourcing include a variety of technical and administrative jobs, according to NTEU. “This appears to be studying jobs for contracting just for the sake of contracting out,” Kelley said. She also said that the agency’s outsourcing announcement doesn’t fulfill the agency’s collective bargaining obligations to provide specific notice to the union of changes in working conditions. If FDA refuses to bargain over the impact and implementation of the studies, Kelley warned that NTEU could file a grievance. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1146  

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Nurses Union to Merge with APWU

A small union representing postal nurses voted on Aug, 17 to merge with the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), according to a posting on the APWU Web site. APWU said the National Postal Professional Nurses (NPPN) will become a part of the larger union’s Support Services Division. “We welcome this group of dedicated professionals as an integral part of our union, and look forward to mutually beneficial activities on behalf of all APWU-represented employees,” said APWU President William Burrus. APWU said it will represent the nurses at contract negotiations slated to start Sept. 18. The nurses’ union has had collective bargaining agreements with the Postal Service since 1978. The agency employed 166 nurses last year, according to the USPS 2006 annual report. To see more, go to: http://apwu.org/news/webart/2007/webart-0780-nurses-070822.htm.

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