Federal Daily - August 27, 2008

APWU Delegates Call for Leaders to Resist Additional Privatization Efforts

American Postal Workers Union (APWU) delegates meeting in Las Vegas adopted a resolution calling on the union’s national leadership to resist any further attempts to privatize Parcel Post work done by APWU members, the union said Aug. 25.  Delegates meeting at the national convention urged the union to “lead and organize resistance to any/all attempts to privatize the parcel business.” Delegates are also urging Congress to delay implementation of provisions of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 that require Congress to review the underpinnings of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), including universal service, the mailbox monopoly, six-day delivery and the postal network. USPS has asked for bids from competitors to perform many of the duties currently conducted at nation’s 21 Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs), said Eastern Region Coordinator Mike Gallagher. “They will privatize us incrementally,” he warned delegates, “first the BMCs, then other work,” unless the union puts a stop to their efforts. To see more, go to: http://apwu.org/news/nsb/2008/nsb-conv-2008-5-080825.htm.

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OPM Proposes COLA Cut for Alaska, Hike in Puerto Rico

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed a cut in cost-of-living allowances (COLA) for federal employees in some areas of Alaska and a hike for federal employees in Puerto Rico, according to a Federal Register notice published Aug. 25.  The proposed changes—based on interim Consumer Price Index adjustments— are contained in a draft rule seeking comments, which are due by Oct. 24, the notice said. The rule proposed decreasing the COLA for employees in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska, by 1 percent, to 22 percent. OPM also proposed that employees in Puerto Rico receive a 1 percent hike, bringing their COLA to 14 percent. A new bill, introduced earlier this year by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, would phase out the COLA for federal civilian employees living in Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories, and replace it with locality pay. The bill, S. 3013, if it becomes law, would phase in locality pay over three years and allow current employees a one-time option to receive frozen COLA rates or transition to locality pay. To see more, go to: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-19593.htm.

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DoD Agrees to Take Another Look at Whistleblower’s Allegations

The DoD Inspector General (DOD IG) has agreed to take a second look at a whistleblower’s allegations that pumps installed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina weren’t adequately tested and might fail during a hurricane. Army Corps of Engineers civil engineer Maria E. Garzino had disclosed allegations to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) concerning what she believed was defective and largely untested pumping equipment. But a resulting DOD IG report ordered by OSC largely dismissed Garzino’s charges. Garzino, however, believed the IG report was a “whitewash” that contained “severely flawed and erroneous” conclusions,” OSC noted. OSC subsequently suggested that the IG’s original findings indeed were “superficial and dismissive,” and asked the IG to take another look. Acting DoD Inspector General Gordon S. Heddell later notified OSC that he agreed with OSC’s conclusion and ordered his staff to determine whether the pumps were adequately tested or could be vulnerable to failure in the event of a hurricane. To see more, go to: www.osc.gov/documents/press/2008/pr08_06.htm.

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