AFGE Week in Review (June 23, 2009)

House Panel Passes Bill to Repeal NSPS, Convert Employees to GS: The House Armed Services Committee last week passed the 2010 Defense Authorization bill with an AFGE-backed measure that would repeal the Pentagon's controversial personnel system and convert employees to the General Schedule in one year unless the Defense Department makes significant changes to the National Security Personnel System. The bill would also give NSPS employees the same full governmentwide pay raise the GS employees receive every year. Currently, NSPS employees receive 60 percent of the nationwide raise with the rest going to pay pools. The bill would also prohibit DoD from putting new hires under NSPS and from classifying any jobs as being covered under NSPS. The full House is expected to vote on the bill this week.

Bill Passed to Suspend A-76 for Three Years: The 2010 Defense Authorization bill also includes another AFGE-backed provision that would impose a three-year ban on public-private job competitions while the new administration reviews the process. It would suspend all pending A-76 studies until the department can review and determine if they should continue. The bill would also put an 18-month time limit on all future A-76 studies. AFGE praised the leadership of House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., for the inclusion of the measure in the bill.

AFGE Pushes for 2010 Funding Increases to Hire BOP Correctional Officers:   The House last week passed the fiscal 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, providing a $481 million increase for the Bureau of Prisons' salaries and expenses account - $71 million of which is designated for hiring 745 additional correctional officers. The action now turns to the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is marking up its version of the bill this week. AFGE is calling on the Senate appropriators to provide a $628 million increase in the BOP's salaries and expenses account - $315 million of which would be used for hiring 3,300 additional correctional officers. AFGE also is calling on the Senate appropriators to include bill language that explicitly directs BOP to use this $315 million to hire additional correctional officers. Last year BOP ignored committee report language recommending that $160 million be used to hire new correctional officers. AFGE does not want that to happen again.  

AFGE's TSA Campaign Praised: AFGE's campaign to win collective bargaining rights for Transportation Security Administration workers was praised in an article written by an AFL-CIO blogger on the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com). In calling for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff cited AFGE as a good example of a union waging an impressive campaign to win collective bargaining rights for TSA employees.

"AFGE has waged a remarkable creative, strategic and energetic campaign to give TSA workers collective bargaining and organizing freedoms," Acuff wrote. "In the absence of collective bargaining AFGE has organized a union of TSA workers to demand and campaign for collective bargaining rights. Now AFGE has introduced legislation called the Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act (HR 1881) to grant TSA workers the same collective bargaining rights and workforce protections as other federal workers and end TSA's flawed personnel rules that have denied their workers thousands of dollars in increased wages. It is critical that the Democratic Congress and the Obama Administration pass HR 1881 and reverse the Bush Administration's assault on collective bargaining in the federal workforce."

To read the article, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stewart-acuff/collective-bargaining-for_b_215436.html.

Inside Government: A recent swine flu outbreak at the Krome Service Processing Center in Miami, Fla. was addressed last week on AFGE's radio show, "Inside Government." Matthew Brooks, president of AFGE Local 527, which represents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers in Florida, updated listeners on the outbreak and the challenges he faced in getting protective equipment for the employees.

Also appearing on the show were Rick Perlstein, author of "Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America"; Progressive Majority President Gloria Totten; and Center for Economic and Policy Research Co-Director Dean Baker – all attendees of the recent America's Future Now conference by the Campaign for America's Future. Perlstein shared his thoughts on the conservative movement as well as pressing issues in today's world such as the energy crisis. Totten then provided an inside look at running for public office – from campaigning and fundraising to getting re-elected. Baker discussed how the banking crisis impacted the overall economic downturn, and why another stimulus package may be needed.

"Inside Government" - hosted by AFGE Assistant General Counsel J. Ward Morrow - airs on Fridays at 10 a.m. EDT nationwide on Federal News Radio at www.federalnewsradio.com and 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C., area. Programs are archived on the Federal News Radio Web site and can be heard on demand at http://www.federalnewsradio.com or http://www.afge.org/insidegovernment. Please note there will be a short advertisement prior to the start of the program. The program also airs on Saturdays at 7 a.m. on KTKK 630 AM, "The Voice of Utah," in Ogden, Utah sponsored by AFGE Local 1592. For more information, please e-mail InsideGovernment@afge.org or go to www.federalnewsradio.com.