Federal Daily - July 30, 2009

GAO Labels USPS Financial Situation ‘High-Risk’

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) needs to consider restructuring its business, closing retail outlets and reducing its workforce to stave off insolvency, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released July 28. In the study, GAO added the Postal Service’s financial condition to the list of designated “high-risk” areas requiring the attention of Congress and the president. The Postal Service’s decline has been well-documented: USPS expects mail volume to fall to roughly 175 billion pieces in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, a drop of 38 billion pieces since FY 2007. Declining volume has meant reduced revenues, which applied toward fixed costs has resulted in a losing USPS bottom line. GAO projects that USPS FY 2009 year-end debt will be $10.2 billion, with a cash shortfall of about $1 billion. To improve its financial position, GAO said USPS should look at reducing its network of 37,000 retail facilities, where maintenance has been underfunded for years. Also, the Postal Service can reduce workforce costs, which eat up about 80 of its budget, by taking advantage of a large number of upcoming retirements, the report said. About 162,000 USPS employees are eligible to retire this year, which will increase to almost 300,000 within the next four years, according to GAO. “USPS has a window of opportunity to reduce the cost and size of its workforce,” the report said. “To make changes in this area, USPS will need to negotiate with its four largest unions on collective bargaining agreements that will expire in 2010 and 2011.” To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/press/d09937sp.pdf.

:: Back to Top ::

NTEU Says Suggestions Well Received at TSA Meeting

National Treasury Employee Union (NTEU) President Colleen Kelley said top Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials showed an encouraging willingness to discuss serious workplace issues—such as improving training and moving TSA employees to the General Schedule pay—at an initial union/TSA meeting. The July 28 session—the first formal session between the agency and NTEU representatives—covered a range of topics, and was attended by a number of NTEU-represented frontline Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), who are not allowed bargaining rights by TSA. “Collective bargaining and a fair, transparent and credible pay system would put TSA in a much better position to perform its vital national security function,” said Kelley. “Until collective bargaining is a reality, we pressed for a number of actions that could be implemented today.” For example, the union suggested that TSA educate managers on employee rights under TSA’s leave policies; administer tests that reflect “live” screening conditions; and ensure that trained workers’ compensation staff is available to effectively deal with workplace injuries—TSA has the highest injury rates in the federal government. “Each of these recommendations, and others that we made and will advance as we move forward, is critical to establishing a stable, professional, motivated workforce at TSA,” Kelley said. To see more, go to: http://dhsunion.org/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1465

:: Back to Top ::

CBP Workers Permitted to Wear Protective Masks

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has agreed that its frontline employees can don respirator masks at their discretion. The move, contained in a memorandum of understanding, was announced July 29 by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents all 22,000 employees in the CBP bargaining unit. The union had been pressing for the change, especially since the onset of the H1N1 flu outbreak. Earlier, NTEU backed House legislation that included a provision to let Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees wear protective masks while on duty. TSA in May adopted a policy permitting employees the discretionary use of respirator masks, but NTEU said the agency only disseminated that information widely months later, after the H1N1 flu-related death of a TSA employee in Puerto Rico in early July. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org.

:: Back to Top ::