FederalDaily - May 18, 2005

Unions Walk Away from Discussions

Discussions about the Department of Defense’s (DoD) plans for a new personnel system have gone sour. Several federal employee unions, which collectively represent more than 100,000 DoD employees, withdrew on May 16 from participation in the department’s meet and confer process in protest of the Pentagon’s methods of collaboration with the unions. “DoD had a statutory obligation to collaborate with the unions, but they refused to have meaningful discussions about the most important issues. In our minds, meet and confer has not even begun,” said Richard N. Brown, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE). Unions joining in the protest included: NFFE, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Association of Government Employees and the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

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Congressmen Urge Pay Parity in 2006

House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., and seven other House members sent a letter this week to House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and Ranking Member David Obey, D-Wis., urging pay parity for civilian and military personnel in fiscal year 2006. In nearly every year over the last two decades the annual pay adjustments have been identical for military and civilian federal employees. “We firmly believe it is imperative to continue this tradition in the coming fiscal year due to the essential service military and civilian employees provide to our nation and the vast wage gap that exists between public and private sector wages,” the letter stated. It added that Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 32 percent gap in pay between federal civilian employees and their private sector counterparts, and a 10 percent gap between the military and private sector.

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Keeping Federal Prison Guards Safe

The Council of Prison Locals, the union representing correctional staff in federal prisons, warned that legislation making its way through Congress that would classify certain gang-related crimes as federal offenses and impose mandatory minimum sentences could make federal prisons more dangerous for the federal employees who work there. “Felons don’t just disappear once they go to prison,” said Phil Glover, council president. He said over the past few years, staffing levels in federal prisons have not kept pace with the growth of the prison population, making these facilities more violent. By creating a new class of federal crimes without providing the staff to control the new prisoners, prisons will continue to become more dangerous, he added. The Council of Prison Locals represents 28,000 employees of the Bureau of Prisons, including 15,000 correctional officers.

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Hearing to Confirm New OPM Director

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs plans to hold a hearing on the nomination of Linda M. Springer, of Pennsylvania, to be the new director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on May 18. Springer’s previous position was also a federal job—with the Office of Management and Budget. Since OPM’s previous director, Kay Coles James, left the agency, Dan. G. Blair has been serving as Acting Director.

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