Federal Daily - October 27, 2009

Union Reiterates Calls For CBP Staff Increase, Other Improvements

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) recently reiterated what the union termed its “consistent” call for an increase of at least 4,000 new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. The union says the hiring surge is necessary to ease understaffing at the nation’s ports of entry. In testimony Oct. 22 before a House Homeland Security subcommittee, NTEU President Colleen Kelley said added personnel are needed to beef up a currently understaffed CBP frontline workforce that she said is straining to fulfill its dual mission of expediting legitimate trade while protecting the nation from terrorists. “The major challenge of this mission is securing movement of goods without costly wait times and delays,” Kelley said. CBP also needs to rethink its ‘One Face at the Border’ initiative which continues to consolidate the roles and responsibilities of the inspectional workforce at the ports of entry. That initiative, Kelley said, dilutes and weakens workforce specialties, while vastly expanding the duties of each officer. Kelly also offered some collegial words for CBP management, noting that the agency should be applauded for two productive steps it has taken recently at the urging of the union. Last year, for example, CBP extended to agency officers an enhanced law enforcement officer retirement benefit. And last week CBP announced an increase in journeyman pay—from General Schedule (GS) Grade-11 to GS-12—for CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists. Kelley listed other improvements the agency should consider. These include: filling CBP vacancies to the levels called for in the agency’s own staffing models, fully staffing all existing lanes at ports of entry and, finally, extending GS-12 journeyman pay to CBP personnel not included in the most recent agency increase. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1490.

:: Back to Top ::

Senate Passes Bill to Ease Voting For Overseas Military, Other Feds

The Senate on Oct. 22 passed and sent to President Obama a bill that would make it easier for troops to vote from overseas duty stations. The legislation, part of the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 2647, passed the Senate on a 68-29 vote. Among other provisions, the measure would require—if signed into law—that all states make sure that military voters receive their ballots no later than 45 days prior to the election, so that they have enough time to vote and get their ballots back to the home state to be counted. The bill also would require that states electronically provide ballots, and enhance DoD’s Federal Voting Assistance Program (which is the main government source of election-related information and assistance for servicemembers) and would require that states do not reject military ballots for lack of a “Notary” signature. Notary signatures are difficult to come by in the bases of Iraq and Afghanistan, lawmakers noted. The bill also would require DoD to make emergency ballots available online so that troops can print them out and send them back to the appropriate voting officials in this country, in case of need. The measure was in response to a survey by the Senate Rules Committee which found that the votes of as many as 25% of troops stationed overseas went uncounted in 2008. “It is the least we can do for our troops to make sure their votes get counted when they are serving overseas,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. “This bill will remove the barriers that too often conspire to disenfranchise our military men and women.” To see more, go to: http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=319278.

:: Back to Top ::

DoD Announces Change In Job Referral Policy Regarding Air Force Positions

DoD on Oct. 23 announced that all DoD civilian employees wishing to know about employment opportunities elsewhere in the nation’s defense establishment will be referred to the appropriate Air Force hiring officials for civilian Air Force jobs—a service currently offered only to current Air Force civilians seeking a new job inside that agency. The policy change will allow former Air Force employees who have been realigned or moved into the Army or Navy—often because of Base Realignment and Closure or joint basing initiatives—a path to return to the Air Force, said Deborah Keating, the Air Force Personnel Center's program oversight manager for civilian hiring. The change comes as the Air Force expands its civilian labor force. Air Force civilian jobs are expected to increase by approximately 4,500 civilian positions in Fiscal Year 2010, a number that includes about 900 acquisition personnel. "Making all Air Force jobs available to DoD civilian employees will give them greater opportunities for joint experience and interagency assignments," Keating said. To see more, go to: www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123174308.

:: Back to Top ::