FederalDaily - June 17, 2005
Meeting on DoD Personnel System Heads South
Agreement on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) proposed personnel system
appears to be a long shot after employee union leaders and department heads
meet on Thursday. After a one-hour meeting at the Pentagon between union officials
and Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, American Federation of Government
Employees (AFGE) President John Gage said DoD officials made it clear that
it was “their way or the highway.” DoD employee unions have been
critical of the proposed personnel system due to restrictions on collective
bargaining, merit system protections and labor appeal processes. “I really
have no idea what is going to happen from here,” Gage told reporters
after the meeting. “DoD employees will never accept someone’s radical
plan to strip away their rights.” While Gage said England appeared to
listen to many of the complaints union officials raised, he was not hopeful
the administration will change its proposed plan.
:: Back to Top ::
Q & A Posted for new Retention, Relocation Bonuses
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted questions and answers
on its Web site about the administration of the new recruitment, relocation
and retention incentive authorities. OPM posted this information in response
to questions it received from agencies. The site is at www.opm.gov/oca/pay/html/3Rs_QAs.asp.
The questions answered include:
- When can agencies start using the new incentive authorities?
- Can agencies use locality rates to compute bonuses between
now and when they implement the new incentive authorities?
- Because locality rates cannot be used to compute retention
allowances authorized before May 1, 2005, can agencies increase
the retention allowance to offset this reduction?
:: Back to Top ::
Senator Fights to Keep FEMA Office Open
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, announced on June 14 that the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) Pacific Area Office, located in Honolulu, will remain
open. In February, FEMA announced internally that closure of the Pacific Area
Office was being considered due to budget restrictions in fiscal year 2005.
Akaka objected to the closure, and announced that he received confirmation
on June 14th from FEMA that the office will remain open indefinitely. "I
am pleased and grateful that FEMA recognizes the need for a local emergency
response presence in the Pacific," Akaka said. The Pacific Area Office opened
in April 1993.
:: Back to Top ::
DoD Struggles Predicting Funding Needs
Concerns have surfaced in Congress regarding the adequacy of funding for base
operations support (BOS) functions of military installations, a new Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report says. Congress has designated increased
funding for BOS programs in recent years—sometimes more than requested—but
because those amounts were still often less than the cost of BOS services,
hundreds of millions of dollars designated for other purposes were re-designated
by military services to pay for BOS. GAO said such funding movements, while
permissible, can adversely affect the quality of life and morale of military
personnel. The ability of the Department of Defense (DoD) and its components
to predict what they will need for BOS funding has been hindered by the lack
of common definitions of BOS functions across the military services, GAO said,
adding that the problem appears to be greatest in the Army.
:: Back to Top ::
|
