Federal Daily - May 8, 2009

House Committee Approves Paid Family Leave Bill

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on May 6 approved a bill that would—if signed into law—provide federal employees with four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. The bill, H.R. 626, now goes to the full House for a vote. The bill would expand options available to federal employees under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)—which provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a number of reasons. Federal workers who take FMLA leave for birth- or adoption-related activities would be paid for four weeks under the bill. Federal labor unions applauded the House committee action. “Congress needs to pass this family-friendly legislation if we are to attract the highly talented and skilled individuals necessary to take on the challenges of recovering from an unparalleled economic upheaval,” said National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association President Margaret Baptiste. Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, also praised the vote. “Not only would this have a positive impact on federal employees and improve the competitive position of agencies in their recruitment and retention efforts,” Kelley said, “[but] the strong likelihood is that it would result in an expansion of its use in the private sector as well.” H.R. 626 was introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and has a companion measure, S. 354, introduced by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., pending in the Senate. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1424 or www.narfe.org 

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USPS Posts Second Quarter Loss of $1.9 Billion

Citing declining mail volume, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on May 6 said that it recorded a $1.9 billion net loss at the end of the fiscal year second quarter, which runs from Jan. 1 to March 31. Despite aggressive actions to reduce costs and grow revenue, the Postal Service will likely face a cash shortfall of over $1.5 billion at the end of the fiscal year, USPS warned in a statement. The USPS second-quarter statement contained mostly glum news. The Postal Service has incurred net losses from operations in 10 of the last 11 fiscal quarters. The fiscal year-to-date net loss is $2.3 billion, compared to a loss in the same period last year of $35 million. A significant portion of the losses over this period were attributed to an unprecedented decline in mail volume. In the second quarter, mail volume totaled 43.8 billion pieces, down 7.5 billion pieces, or 14.7 percent, compared to a year ago. “The economic recession has been tough on the mailing industry, and we have seen an unprecedented decline in mail volumes and revenue that continued to accelerate during the second quarter,” said Postmaster General John Potter. USPS hopes to generate savings this year through a variety of programs, including a work-hour reduction program which would cut work hours by more than 100 million hours for the entire year—the equivalent of 57,000 full-time employees. USPS is realizing other savings from consolidating excess capacity in mail processing and transportation networks, realigning carrier routes, halting construction of new postal facilities, freezing Postal Service officer and executive salaries at 2008 pay levels and reducing travel budgets. Although USPS has asked Congress to suspend the six-day-a-week delivery requirement, going to five days of delivery will not generate any savings until FY 2010, the Postal Service said. To see more, go to: www.usps.com/news.

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House Subcommittee to Examine Flu Response

The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce will hold a hearing on May 14 to examine how federal agencies have responded to the recent swine flu outbreak, according to the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., will look in particular at how agencies are protecting employees in frontline homeland security positions from infection. NTEU, which represents all 22,000 employees in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bargaining unit, has been pressing the Department of Homeland Security to allow frontline employees to don masks if they choose. NTEU President Colleen Kelley will testify at the hearing. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1425.

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