Federal Daily - July 20, 2009
Union Opposes DBB Recommendation to Remake NSPS
The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) sharply criticized a Defense Business Board (DBB) task group recommendation to reconstruct DoD’s controversial National Security Personnel System (NSPS) rather than abandon it. The DBB task group issued the findings at a July 16 meeting after studying the viability of the pay-for-performance system and the General Schedule (GS) pay system. “This was absolutely not the recommendation we wanted to get from the task group,” said William R. Dougan, NFFE president. “We believe the best course of action is to abandon this failed personnel system once and for all, not try to restructure it.” Employee unions have complained that NSPS is unworkable, and that it pays out raises under a system that is both unfair and not transparent. The task group did not disagree with unions’ contentions that NSPS was being run poorly and would not work in its current form, citing major problems with the pay pool process and pay-banding, Dougan said. However, the task group failed to call for NSPS’s elimination, which is a mistake, Dougan said. “The thought of starting over on NSPS is comical,” said Dougan. The union suggested that DoD work with the Office of Personnel Management, which is looking at the creation of a new pay system for the federal government as a whole. About 205,000 of the 865,000 DoD civilians are in NSPS. The full Defense Business Board will review the task group’s recommendations and will prepare a report for Defense Secretary Robert Gates. To see more, go to: www.nffe.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/13468 or www.pentagon.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=55150.
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Gates Probably Won’t Ban Tobacco from Military, Press Secretary Says
Despite the potential health risks of smoking, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is unlikely to outlaw tobacco use among troops in war zones, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said during a July 15 press conference. Morrell was reacting to a question about an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, released last month, that suggested implementing a ban on tobacco use in the military. Citing the health-related risks of smoking, the report suggested a prohibition, starting at military academies and officer training programs and among new recruits. It also suggested that the military stop selling tobacco products in Army and Air Force commissaries—Navy and Marine Corps commissaries already do not sell them. Although Gates has not made a final decision, he is not likely to institute such a ban, Morrell said. Morell said that while Gates understands the desire to create a smoke-free America, now may not be the time to take an outlet from stress away from troops fighting in two war zones. The IOM report also suggested that Congress should allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish tobacco-free medical centers. The IOM report was requested by DoD and VA. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/news/.
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Obama Nominates NAACP Lawyer to Head EEOC
President Obama on July 16 nominated Jacqueline A. Berrien, an NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund lawyer, to head the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). A longtime nonprofit and foundation worker, Berrien served as associate director-counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund since September 2004. She served from 2001 to 2004 as a program officer at the Ford Foundation’s Peace and Social Justice Program, administering grants to promote civic engagement. “Each of us deserves a fair chance to succeed in our workplace and make a contribution to this nation,” Obama said, “and I’m confident that Jacqueline’s passion and leadership will ensure that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is living up to that mission.” Berrien is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Her EEOC nomination, for a term expiring July 1, 2014, has to be approved by the Senate. To see more, go to: www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Pick-to-Head-Equal-Employment-Opportunity-Commission
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