AFGE Week in Review (July 13, 2009)

Over 1,900 AFGE Petitions Flood Attorney General's Office: More than 1,900 petitions have been pouring into Attorney General Eric Holder's office since last week as AFGE members and activists are calling on the attorney general to oust Bureau of Prisons Director Harley Lappin and mandate that all funds appropriated for BOP staffing be used for hiring additional officers. Following the death of Correctional Officer Jose Rivera and subsequent attacks on officers by inmates at federal prisons across the country, AFGE has been urging BOP to hire more people to adequately staff federal prisons, which have become increasingly dangerous as officers are regularly outnumbered by inmates by 100 or 200 to one. At the urging of AFGE, Congress increased total funding for BOP's salaries and expenses in 2009 by $545 million – with a significant portion of this increase intended for hiring new correctional officers. But BOP management is now unilaterally saying that none of the $545 million increase will be used to hire more officers.

Besides calling for the resignation of Lappin and for the appropriate use of BOP staffing funds, the petitions also urged the attorney general to hire 9,000 additional correctional officers to return BOP to the same level of staffing as in 1997.

Senate Panel Approves 2.9 Percent Raise: The Senate Appropriations Committee last week approved a 2.9 percent pay raise for federal civilian employees next fiscal year, setting the stage for debate after the House Appropriations Committee remained silent on the matter, which would allow the Obama administration to provide only a 2 percent increase. Congress typically supports pay raise parity between civilians and military members, who are likely to receive a 3.4 percent raise next year as the full House and the Senate Armed Services Committee have approved the amount as part of the 2010 Defense Authorization bills. Obama had proposed a 2.9 percent raise for military personnel and a 2 percent increase for federal employees. AFGE will continue to fight for a 3.4 percent raise in accordance with the longstanding tradition of pay parity.

Bill Passed to Move TSOs to General Schedule, Grant Collective Bargaining Rights: The House Homeland Security Committee last week passed an AFGE-backed bill that would end the Transportation Security Administration's highly subjective Performance Accountability and Standards System and move TSA workers to the General Schedule system most federal employees are under. The 2009 Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act also would grant Transportation Security Officers the rights to bargain for better workplace rules.

AFGE Voices Support for Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits Bill: AFGE President John Gage last week submitted a testimony in favor of H.R. 2517, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009. The bill would grant same-sex domestic partners of federal employees equal benefits given to spouses of married federal employees. The union strongly supports the introduction of S. 1102 by Senator Joe Lieberman,I-Conn., and H.R. 2517 by Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

GAO: Federal Buildings Are Vulnerable: A new report issued last week by the Government Accountability Office revealed serious flaws in the Federal Protective Service's contract security guard program when undercover investigators were able to sneak in bombs and detonators inside high-security federal buildings occupied by Homeland Security, State, and Justice departments. The GAO found that these guards were not given adequate training before they were sent to their posts and that FPS relies on contractors to self-report that training and certification requirements are met. There is no guidance on how guard inspections should be carried out, and inspections are typically done only during business hours while some FPS's regions don't even have inspection requirements.

"Is it any wonder that there have been contracting and oversight failures when—from 2000 to 2009—the number of contractors has increased from 7,300 to 15,000 and the number of FPS law enforcement officers has decreased from 1400 to1200?" asked AFGE Local 918 David Wright, who has repeatedly testified and warned Congress over the years that underfunding and mismanagement at the Federal Protective Service have left our nation's federal buildings vulnerable. But Wright said the Obama administration is taking a step in the right direction when it proposed the transfer of FPS to Homeland Security's National Protection and Programs Directorate, which is a more natural fit than the current overseer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The move creates the opportunity FPS needs to rebuild itself into the first class anti-crime and anti-terrorism agency the nation requires. AFGE looks forward to working with Congress to address the serious and long standing problems at FPS as outlined in the GAO report.

Inside Government: Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, who most recently served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was featured last week on a special rebroadcast of AFGE's radio show, Inside Government. Former Clinton White House chief of staff and co-chairman of President Obama's transition team, John Podesta, who currently serves as president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, was also interviewed. Dean addressed the call for a public option in health care reform, while Podesta discussed the Obama administration's desire to rely less on private contractors and bring more work back into the federal government.

Also appearing on the show were AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox, U.S. Rep. Ed Towns, D-N.Y., and Rick Perlstein, author of "Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. Cox updated listeners on the Department of Veterans Affairs' staffing and funding shortages, AFGE's opposition to the VA Health Care Facility Leasing Program, and a claims backlog expected to top 1 million. Rep. Towns discussed his role as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, and the need to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Perlstein shared his thoughts on the conservative movement as well as pressing issues in today's world such as the energy crisis.

"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.