Federal Daily - July 29, 2009

APWU Pans Amendments to Senate Benefits Pre-funding Reform Bill

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) said Tuesday that a raft of amendments to a Senate bill aimed at providing financial relief to the Postal Service would “weaken the legislation, harm the Postal Service, and hurt postal workers.” The main bill in question, the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Funding Reform Act of 2009, S. 1507, was introduced on July 23 by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and would reverse a law that requires the Postal Service to “pre-fund” retiree healthcare benefits—a requirement that threatens to drive the Postal Service into insolvency. In an online plea to members on the union’s Web site, APWU Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid asked union members to contact their senators if they serve on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and ask them to reject the amendments. APWU targeted amendments offered by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, which would require arbitrators to consider the financial health of the Postal Service when ruling on collective bargaining agreements. The union also panned an amendment offered by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that it said would ratchet up postal employees’ share of healthcare coverage. An amendment from Coburn also would repeal the six-day-per-week delivery requirement, APWU said. The committee is slated to vote on the bill on July 29. To see more go to: http://apwu.org/news/webart/2009/09-084-s1507-amendments090728.htm.

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DoDEA Schools Lead in Closing Black/White Achievement Gap

Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools continue to report some of the smallest achievement gaps between black and white students when compared to their counterparts in non-DoDEA public schools in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to a report card from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The results were contained in NAEP’s “Nation’s Report Card,” which includes an analysis of 2007 NAEP test scores. In Grade 8 mathematics, for example, DoDEA’s gap of 19 points was the second lowest compared with 11 states whose gap was smaller than the nation’s average of 31 points, according to DoDEA. DoDEA-managed pre-kindergarten through grade 12 education programs serve DoD dependents who otherwise would not have access to a public education. To see more, go to: www.dodea.edu/pressroom/releasesDisplay.cfm?prId=20090723.

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AFGE Critical of SSA Over Transit Benefits Grievance

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) criticized Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Michael Astrue after SSA denied a union grievance claiming that the agency was not properly paying out employee transit reimbursements. In a July 27 statement, AFGE noted that SSA had rejected the grievance, filed by AFGE Local 3615, over allegations that SSA failed to follow Presidential Executive Order 13150, which required the agency to reimburse eligible employees for commuting costs in the National Capital area. AFGE said that Astrue has claimed there is no money to subsidize such transit benefits. However, the union countered that SSA bankrolled a three-day “Management Tango” at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix for agency executives, and has other such events planned. “It is ironic that in the face of budget cut concerns, Commissioner Astrue’s response to a need for a few thousand dollars to promote mass transit and the environment was to have a management tango at an Arizona resort for hundreds of thousands,” said AFGE President John Gage. In light of the grievance, AFGE, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and AFL-CIO are calling for Astrue’s ouster. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=1028.

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