FederalDaily - August 30, 2005
Unions Oppose DHS Personnel Motion
After a judge earlier this month ruled that new personnel rules proposed for
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees were illegal, DHS asked Judge
Rosemary Collyer to narrow the court’s injunction preventing DHS from
implementing the new personnel rules. The rules were originally scheduled to
go into effect on Aug. 15. The National Treasury Employees Union said it will “vigorously
oppose the DHS request to narrow the court’s injunction.” Also,
American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage said, “We
are disappointed by the department's decision to file a proposal in response
to Judge Collyer's decision…We had hoped that Judge Collyer's decision
would bring all parities involved to the bargaining table.”
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Army Investigator Suspended
The Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) announced on Aug. 26 an inquiry
into allegations that a civilian forensic DNA lab examiner at For Gillem, Ga.,
may have falsified official documents. According to CID, the examiner in June
admitted to making a false entry on a control sample used during a DNA examination—the
false entry made the DNA test invalid. CID stated that the Department of Defense
Inspector General’s Office has been requested to conduct a review of
the CID inquiry. The DNA examiner has been suspended pending the outcome of
the inquiry. Although the name of the employee was not revealed, CID said the
examiner was previously suspended for contamination in his testing process.
There will now be a review of all cases the examiner processed since 1995;
to date he has worked at least 479 cases.
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Military Contractor Hires Illegal Aliens
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested six Mexican nationals
last week who were working illegally for Laurence-Hovenier, Inc., a Corona-based
company that does construction framing for commercial and public works projects
throughout Southern California, including military housing at Fort Irwin. The
ICE agents apprehended the men as they reported for work at the base. The workers,
most of whom had security badges authorizing them to enter the Army base, were
identified after agents audited the hiring records of more than 700 Laurence-Hovenier
workers. ICE said that audit found that more than 40 percent of the employees
on the company’s payroll may not have been authorized to work in the
U.S. One of the men arrested had illegally re-entered the U.S. after a prior
deportation and is subject to criminal prosecution. The others will either
be voluntarily returned to Mexico or deported, according to ICE.
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Joint Duty Credit Granted for Deployments
Active duty officers in the grades of major and above, and some captains,
are eligible to receive joint duty credit for deployments because of a recently
expanded list of approved operations, according to the Air Force. The joint
duty credit only applies to officers who deployed for at least 90 continuous
days to an approved combined joint task force headquarters staff. The cumulative
credit may be used in combination with a present or future joint duty assignment
to allow early departure from a joint duty position. Captains who filled a
valid major or higher grade billet may receive the joint duty credit. For more
information on how to self-nominate or where to fax or e-mail supporting documentation,
officers can visit the Air Force Personnel Center ’s Joint Assignment
Section Web site online at www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/jom/.
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