FederalDaily.com > Border Patrol Employees Could See Longer Details

FederalDaily - April 21, 2005

Border Patrol Employees Could See Longer Details

Employees of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may be seeing longer work details than they are used to. The director of CBP’s Labor Relations Division, Sheila H. Brown, sent a letter on April 14 to National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) President T. J. Bonner saying a provision of the negotiated agreement between the union and the agency is no longer enforceable. Under the agreement, employees represented by NBPC cannot be assigned details that last longer than 35 calendar days. But CBP says this interferes with management’s right to assign work. “CBP must be able to rapidly reposition its employees…for unspecified amounts of time,” Brown’s letter stated. She added that, effective immediately CBP will “no longer be bound to adhere to any restriction on the time lengths of details for its employees.”

Federal Programs Nominated for Grant Awards

Four federal programs have been named finalists for the Innovations in American Government Award. This award is a program of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The four federal programs (along with 11 state and local programs) are eligible for one of five $100,000 grants. The four federal finalists, selected from more than 1,000 applicants, are:

the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Global Development Alliance,

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Laboratory Response Network,

the Office of Management and Budget’s Program Assessment Rating Tool, and

the Environmental Protection Agency’s site at www.Regulations.gov.

“These efforts truly represent the best and brightest in federal government innovations,” said Patricia McGinnis, president of the Council for Excellence in Government.

AFGE, Congressmen Want Outsourcing Stopped

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) organized a letter, sent on April 15, to Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez asking that he “oppose a privatization review of work performed by 25 federal employees in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Logistics Support Center.” The letter was signed by four Missouri congressmen: Democratic Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Ike Skelton and Republican Sens. Christopher Bond and James Talent. According to NOAA’s records, this privatization review has cost more than $1 million—or $41,000 for each of the 25 employees being studied for outsourcing—with the consultants pocketing two-thirds of that cost, said Dave Saale, president of AFGE Local 1910, of which the affected employees are members.

More Authorities for Diplomatic Security Agents

An amendment to the State Department Basic Authorities Act included in Public Law 107-228 expanded the law enforcement authorities of special agents of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security; the new authorities became effective on April 6. Now, Diplomatic Security special agents are allowed to:

obtain and execute subpoenas, summonses and search and arrest warrants for any federal offense; and

make an arrest without a warrant for any federal offense committed in a special agent’s presence or for any federal felony if an agent has probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested is committing or has committed such felony.

NTEU Protests Energy Contracting Decision

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) has filed a formal protest with the Department of Energy (DOE) following the awarding of federal work to a private contractor. NTEU alleges that the cost of the contract is $2.6 million more than if the work had been left with federal employees. DOE headquarters logistics functions, including electricians, maintenance mechanics, engineering technicians and others in Washington, D.C., and Maryland offices are affected. The work was awarded to Logistics Applications, Inc. “NTEU’s protest…should compel DOE to step back from its initial decision and award the work to the federal employees,” NTEU President Colleen Kelley said.