FederalDaily - January 26, 2006
New Per Diem Rates Announced
The General Services Administration announced new per diem rates in the Jan.
23 issue of the Federal Register. Specifically, the per diem rates
are changing for: for the District of Columbia, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, Tennessee and Texas. The new per diem rates apply to travel performed
on or after Feb. 1, 2006. The per diem rates can be found at www.gsa.gov/perdiemas.
For further information, contact Patrick McConnell, Office of Governmentwide
Policy, Travel Management Policy, at (202) 501-2362.
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Government Workers Highly Unionized
The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Jan. 20
that the unionization rate for government workers was 36.5 percent in 2005, while
the rate for private industry workers was 7.8 percent. Within the public sector,
local government workers had the highest union membership rate (41.9 percent).
This group includes several heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers,
police officers and fire fighters. Federal government workers had a union
membership rate of 27.8 and state workers of 31.3. Additionally, about 1.5 million
wage and salary workers were represented by a union on their main job in 2005,
while not being union members themselves. About half of these workers were employed
in government. The data was obtained from the Current Population Survey, conducted
monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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3 DHS Audits Show Weaknesses
The recent release of three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector
general audits regarding weaknesses at DHS led Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., to
express concern. The three reports are entitled: Management of the DHS Wide
Area Network Needs Improvement; US VISIT System Security Management Needs Strengthening;
and Security Weaknesses Increase Risks to Critical DHS Databases. “At
a time when we are spending billions of dollars to secure our nation, it is
unacceptable that the department has neglected to secure and properly manage
its computer systems,” said Gregg. To view the three reports, go to www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0334.xml.
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Congressman Questions VA on Phone Helpline
Concerned by reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) helpline
for veterans was delivering poor service, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., wrote
a letter to VA Secretary R. James Nicholson asking for more information on
how the department was improving service. According to recent information,
only 19 percent of veterans who called the helpline received accurate and helpful
responses from telephone operators, Salazar said. Furthermore, phone employees
were described as “rude” and “dismissive.” Salazar
has requested information on VA efforts to improve employee evaluations and
training and other quality improvement initiatives. “ America’s
veterans and their families deserve better,” Salazar said.
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