Federal Daily - March 2, 2010

USPS Targets Five-Day Delivery, Retiree Health Benefits Pre-funding Requirement

Postmaster General Jack Potter on March 1 shared with postal workers a list of remedies the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service plans to use to pull itself out of the red.

The measures, being detailed today during a USPS presentation and panel discussion, include:

• Asking Congress to restructure payments to pre-fund USPS retiree health benefits, which currently costs USPS $5.5 billion a year;
• Requesting that Congress change the law to accommodate five-day delivery, which would save USPS $3 billion per year;
• Augmenting the traditional USPS retail network through new and existing channels and retail partners;
• Pricing USPS products to make them more competitive; and
• Building more flexibility into the workforce in future bargaining rounds to accommodate changes in demand.

Potter called the measures a “simple plan” that “makes sense.”

The postmaster general’s message is posted at the PostalReporter News Blog at: www.postalreporternews.com.

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Blocked Bill Forces DOT Furloughs

The Department of Transportation furloughed about 2,000 employees without pay on March 1 when funding for their jobs expired as a result of stalled legislation. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., blocked legislation that would extend unemployment insurance and COBRA health insurance subsidies for unemployed workers, as well as provide a short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund, which supports federal surface transportation programs. Bunning has said he is holding up the bill until lawmakers find a way to fund it without deficit spending.

DOT said furloughs affected employees funded by the Highway Trust Fund at the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said federal inspectors would be removed from a number of major FHWA construction efforts, bringing work to a halt on those projects.

DOT said employees could find furlough information and updates at www.dot.gov, as well as on LaHood’s blog, www.fastlane.dot.gov; his Twitter account, www.twitter.com/RayLaHood; and his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/sec.lahood.

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Union Asks TSA to Rescind AWOL Charges Related to Recent Snowstorms

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley applauded efforts to restore the pay of Transportation Security Administration employees who were docked leave time when they failed to report to work last month amid record snowfalls in the Washington area.

Kelley said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., announced that TSA employees at Washington Dulles International Airport will not be charged as absent without leave if they were unable to report to work during the recent snowstorms. TSA management at Dulles has issued a document granting administrative leave to employees who were unable to report to work as scheduled from Feb. 5 through Feb. 11, NTEU said.

The union is trying to make sure TSA employees at other area airports get the same deal. According to a Feb. 26 posting on the NTEU Web site, Kelley sent an e-mail to TSA acting Administrator Gale D. Rossides, asking that TSA rescind absent without leave charges for employees at all airports in the Washington, D.C., area who arrived late or could not report at all during the blizzards, but who made a good-faith effort to get to work.
                     
“Employees should not be penalized for a situation that was out of their control,” Kelley said.

Kelley also asked Rossides to restore annual and sick leave to employees who were forced to use it; ensure that storm-related absences have no impact on employee performance ratings; grant administrative leave to affected employees; and ensure that no employee is disciplined because of a storm-related absence.

To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1529.

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DoD Eases Social Media Restrictions

It is now officially OK with DoD if you want to access your Facebook or MySpace Web site from a non-secure government computer. That’s according to a new policy memorandum regarding social media and other Web 2.0 platforms issued by DoD on Feb. 26. The new guidance is an attempt to provide consistent rules for all branches of the military.

Most servicemembers generally have been able to access social media platforms from their government computers, but policies have been inconsistent. For example, the Marine Corps instituted a policy in 2007 blocking Marines from accessing these sites through Marine networks. They have, however, been permitted to access the sites from personal computers, according to the American Forces Press Service.

While authorizing access, the new policy also recognizes the importance of protecting military networks and operations, said David M. Wennergren, DoD deputy assistant secretary for information management and technology.

The policy allows commanders to temporarily limit access to maintain operations security or address bandwidth constraints. It also prohibits malicious activity on military information networks and denies access to prohibited activity such as gambling, pornography and hate sites.

“This directive recognizes the importance of balancing appropriate security measures while maximizing the capabilities afforded by 21st Century Internet tools,” said Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III.

To see more, go to: www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13338.

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New Labor-Management Council Debuts

Federal unions offered input last week on how to start improving relations between federal workers and employing agencies at the first meeting of the new National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations. Council members met on Feb. 26 to begin laying out the functions and operating procedures of the council. The group was established by an executive order signed by President Obama in December.

Co-chaired by Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry and Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director of Management Jeffrey Zients, the council’s overarching mission is to help agencies establish intra-agency labor-management forums or adapt existing entities, if viable. Agency heads are required to submit their implementation plans by March 9.

Appointees to the council include Senior Executive Association President Carol Bonosaro, Federal Managers Association President Darryl Perkinson, National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley, American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage, National Federation of Federal Employees President William Dougan, International Federal of Professional and Technical Employees President Gregory Junemann, Director of the Public Services Division-Teamsters Michael Filler, National Association of Government Employees President David Holway, and Federal Education Association Executive Director and General Counsel H.T. Nguyen.

To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/opm-to-host-first-meeting-of-the-national-council-on-federal-labormanagement-relations,1550.aspx.

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