Federal Daily - September 11, 2008

NTEU Applauds IRS Cancellation of Private Contract

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) on Sept. 10 applauded a decision by the IRS not to renew a private vendor’s file management contract—and to bring the work back in-house. About 700 jobs will be affected. The agency is in discussions with NTEU concerning hiring employees to take over the work, said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. NTEU said the IRS announced that effective Oct. 1, the agency would not renew its five-year, $103 million contract with IAP Worldwide, Inc., which won the contract in 2003 as part of a privatization competition. Kelley pointed out that IRS employees won the original public-private competition, but IAP eventually won the contract after it protested the decision. Kelley said that NTEU members had reported lengthy delays in retrieving the information they needed from IAP-managed files. IRS employees will take over management of taxpayer files at seven regional tax return submission processing centers in Andover, Mass.; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Covington, Ky.; Fresno, Calif.; Kansas City and Ogden, Utah. Kelley noted that federal agencies have legislative authority to take back in-house work previously contracted out, and she called on agencies to be more assertive. “Federal agencies should take a long look at the private-sector companies doing the work of the federal government and bring that work back in-house,” Kelley said. “When federal employees are given the tools and resources to do their jobs, there is no one who can do the work of the federal government better than federal employees.”  To see more, go to: www.nteu.org.

:: Back to Top ::

Groups Urge Lawmakers to Revive Whistleblower Bill

Seventy more groups have joined an already diverse coalition—which includes labor unions, good-government organizations and those representing consumer rights—to urge Senate and House negotiators to wrap up talks over a federal employee whistleblower protections bill and quickly deliver it to President Bush. With perhaps just three weeks before the end of this congressional session, the organizations joined an ongoing petition calling on Congress to enact sweeping new whistleblower rights for government employees, said the Government Accountability Project (GAP), which supports the measures. Both chambers have approved legislation, but a final version has yet to emerge. The House bill rolls back a series of judicial rulings that have weakened existing whistleblower rights, gives whistleblowers new rights to fight reprisals and expands protections to employees not covered by current statute. Under H.R. 985, whistleblowers would have access to federal district courts in the event the Merit Systems Protection Board fails to act on their claims within 180 days. “Our goal is credible free speech rights enforceable through jury trials for all employees paid by the taxpayers,” Tom Devine, legal director of GAP, said in a Sept. 9 statement. Among the organizations which have newly joined in the petition are the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the American Friends Service Committee; the Better Government Association; Blacks in Government; the Alaska Forum of Environmental Responsibility; and the National Committee for an Effective Congress. To see more, go to: www.whistleblower.org.

:: Back to Top ::

New Service Launched for Wounded Servicemembers, Families

Wounded servicemembers now have a hotline they can call for support during their recovery, DoD announced Sept. 8. The Military OneSource service has established a Wounded Warrior Resource Center telephone number and e-mail address for service members and their families, DoD said in a statement. Servicemembers and their families can now call (800) 342-9647 or e-mail wwrc@militaryonesource.com around the clock, seven days a week to request support. Assistance provided by the resource center is intended to supplement the specialized wounded warrior programs established by each of the military services. Specially trained consultants will take the calls or emails; identify the appropriate hand-off to either a military service or federal agency with authority to resolve the matter, and keep in contact until the issue is resolved, DoD said. “The department is committed to aggressively addressing the needs of our servicemembers and their families,” said DoD Secretary Robert Gates. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12190.

:: Back to Top ::