Federal Daily - January 21, 2010

OIG Report Notes Inconsistency of USPS Consolidation Studies

For years, postal worker unions have complained about the fickleness of the Area Mail Processing studies that the U.S. Postal Service used to justify closing and consolidating postal facilities.

Now, a new USPS Office of the Inspector General report appears to add support to those concerns. The OIG study, which looked at five years of initiatives aimed at streamlining the mail-processing network, concluded that the Postal Service has failed to establish criteria for identifying consolidation opportunities.

“If management does not consistently apply established criteria to identify consolidation opportunities, stakeholders may question the credibility of the process,” the report said. “Development of objective criteria and implementation of a top-down approach would provide a more consistent and defensible approach to AMP consolidations that may reduce stakeholder resistance.”

Between Fiscal Years 2005 and 2009, the Postal Service has implemented 13 AMP consolidations. Only two consolidations have resulted in full facility closures and 39 proposed consolidations have been canceled.

Stakeholder opposition and resistance to consolidations with potential service downgrades were the primary factors that delayed or resulted in the disapproval of AMPs, the report said. Additionally, the Postal Service has cancelle some AMPs without providing their rationale.

“We have questioned the validity of the so-called ‘right-sizing’ programs from Day One,” said American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus. “The plans have had many different names. Now the OIG has found that the latest version, the ‘Rationalization Initiative,’ can’t be rationalized.”

To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/webart/2010/10-005-oig_network-100119.htm.

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DHS Activates 900 Coast Guard Reserves for Haiti Clean-Up

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Jan. 19 temporarily activated up to 900 reserve members of the Coast Guard to serve in the aid and recovery effort in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The reserves will join 500 Coast Guard personnel already in Haiti helping in the clean-up after the Jan. 12 magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Napolitano activated the reserves after President Obama on Jan. 16 signed an executive order authorizing DoD and DHS to call on the military’s reserves.

The order authorizes Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen to activate of up to 900 reservists—comprising units and individual members—of the Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve for a period of up to 180 days to support DHS efforts in Haiti. The Coast Guard expects to send about 100 of the newly-activated reserve personnel—who are expected to arrive within 96 hours of activation—to strengthen port security operations in Port-au-Prince, the capital. The other newly activated reservists will be sent to support U.S. Coast Guard District 7 and Homeland Security Task Force Southeast operations, as well the efforts of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department.

The additional manpower was announced just as the island was hit by a strong, 6.1 magnitude aftershock on the morning of Jan. 20. The epicenter was about 35 miles west-southwest of Port-au-Prince.

To see more, go to: www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1263936960166.shtm.

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TSA Nominee Withdraws

President Obama’s choice to serve as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, Erroll Southers, has withdrawn his name from consideration.

TSA unions had strongly supported the nomination of Southers, who brought deep experience in air security as Los Angeles World Airports Police Department assistant chief for homeland security and intelligence, and as an associate director at the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events at the University of Southern California.

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley expressed disappointment at the development. “It was clear from the beginning that Southers was extremely well-qualified for this critical homeland security post,” she said. “Two Senate committees agreed and he had more than enough bipartisan support to overcome politically-motivated delays to his confirmation.”

For more information, visit www.nteu.org.

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