FederalDaily - November 9, 2006
Rumsfeld Out
Feds had only a few hours on Nov. 8 to absorb the implications of the legislative power shift resulting
from the midterm elections when word came that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would step down after
six years at the Pentagon.
As part of a move toward what he called a “fresh perspective,” President Bush will nominate
former CIA director Robert M. Gates, a Bush family ally and the current president of Texas A&M
University, to replace Rumsfeld.
In the run-up to the elections, four military newsweeklies printed a Nov. 6 editorial calling for
Rumsfeld’s resignation, saying the secretary had lost credibility with his military leadership
and the troops in Iraq. The four weekly newspapers—the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force
Times and Marine Corps Times—are published by a private company, but are bought
almost entirely by military personnel and report from the perspective of military insiders.
“This is a mistake,” the unsigned editorial said. “Rumsfeld has lost credibility
with the uniformed leadership, with the troops and with the public at large. His strategy has failed,
and his ability to lead is compromised…”
“Donald Rumsfeld must go,” said the last line of the editorial.
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Unions See Hard Work Ahead
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) applauded Democratic victories in the Tuesday
mid-term elections, but warned it will take hard work to address some of the personnel policies introduced
by the Bush administration. On a more congratulatory note, AFGE President John Gage on Nov. 8 gave
credit to the efforts of AFGE union members who volunteered to mobilize voters in states with competitive
House or Senate races. Gage said AFGE also conducted a membership education program that sent out more
than 400,000 pieces of mail and made about 100,000 phone calls. “For federal employees whose
rights, wages and benefits have been under relentless attack,” Gage said, “this is a very
sweet victory. It’s a repudiation of the mean-spirited policies of the Bush administration and
the Republican leadership that did their bidding.” At the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU),
NTEU President Colleen Kelley on Nov. 8 called the midterm vote “a clear mandate for the government
to do a much better job of taking care of taxpayers’ money.” Alluding to the union’s
ongoing battle with IRS plans to privatize certain collection functions, Kelley called for Congress
to “improve oversight of government contractors and to keep inherently government work--like
collecting taxes--in the hands of federal employees.” NTEU said the administration “has
been determined to contract to the private sector as many federal jobs as possible, despite no credible
evidence that this saves taxpayers any money, and despite the poor record of contractor oversight on
the part of federal agencies.” To see more, go to: www.afge.org/index.cfm?fuse=content&contentID=869
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APWU: USPS Needs to Get Serious in Talks
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) has expressed disappointment in the first two months of contract
negotiations with the Postal Service. Negotiations so far have been dominated by formal presentations
on USPS marketing plans and financial conditions, said APWU President William Burrus. On Nov. 6, the
union presented the Postal Service with economic proposals calling for raises and upgrades that reward
union members’ performance over the six years of the contract that expires Nov. 20, Burrus said.
The union proposals include basic annual salary increases of 4 percent and semi-annual COLA increases. “I
have been disappointed in the progress of the talks,” Burrus said. “If management’s
posture in these negotiations is just a prelude to arbitration, so be it. But it is our belief that
a voluntary agreement is preferable for both parties.” To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/nsb/2006/nsb12-110606.htm
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Union Calls for Tighter Contractor Controls
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to implement tighter controls over its private contractors
after repair work fouled up systems at New York’s Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and
delayed flights over the entire upper East Coast air corridor, a union said on Nov. 7. The Professional
Airways Systems Specialists (PASS), the union representing FAA systems specialists, said that problems
were caused by Harris Corp., the firm providing Federal Communications Infrastructure circuitry and
communications work. Harris encountered problems while performing corrective maintenance Nov. 2 on
equipment at ARTCC, PASS said. For about an hour, ARTCC lost all communications with the New York Terminal
Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility. Consequently, all departures were temporarily stopped from
New York TRACON’s airspace and a hold was placed on airborne flights. “If the FAA does
not address the significant lack of contractor knowledge, this type of situation could have much more
serious consequences in the future,” said Luke Drake, PASS regional vice president. To see more,
go to: www.newsmgr.com/publish/article_816.shtml
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