FederalDaily - June 22, 2007
Army Set to Privatize Environmental/Cultural Resource Positions
The Army is ready to begin contracting out its environmental, natural and cultural resource staff
positions, according to agency documents released June 20 by the Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility (PEER). The Army notified private contractors in mid-March and asked them to start preparing
bids on environmental jobs at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the White Sands Missile Range
in New Mexico. Formal bidding will begin later this summer with contract awards slated for January
2008. Approximately 800 positions will be affected at the two bases, but potentially more than 20,000
slots could be at risk, PEER said. PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch said the privatization effort
appears to be illegal and contrary to congressional directives, and the group is asking Congress to
intervene and stop the privatization, as well as order DoD to report on how well it is meeting its
other environmental mandates. “If the Army goes forward we will sue them,” said Ruch. To
see more, go to: www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=875
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NTEU Urges Congress to Jettison CBP ‘One Face’ Effort
The leader of the union representing border security workers urged the House to eliminate the Bureau
of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) “One Face at the Border” initiative and
reestablish specialization among homeland security officers guarding the nation’s borders. Colleen
Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), spoke June 19 at a border security
hearing before House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and Oversight. CBP
and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, established the “One Face” effort
in 2003 to consolidate a number of border security-related responsibilities under the purview of CBP
officers. As a result, CBP officers must perform a range of diverse duties once done by members of
a number of different agencies—including the Department of Agriculture, the old Customs Service
and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. And that approach just isn’t working,
Kelley told panel members. “The ‘One Face at the Border’ initiative has resulted
in job responsibility overload and dilution of customs, immigration and agriculture inspection specialization,” Kelley
said, “and in weakening the quality of passenger and cargo inspections.” To see more, go
to: www.nteu.org
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Union Files National Grievance Over VA Back Pay
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) recently filed a national grievance seeking
back pay for employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) it said were forced to work overtime,
but then were denied compensation. AFGE said it filed the grievance on behalf of Veterans Service Representatives
(VSR)—at Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) offices nationwide—who were forced to work
overtime, but denied pay. In the grievance, AFGE is contending that VA had knowledge that the overtime
was being worked and that employees weren’t being compensated. AFGE argued that VSRs are protected
under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which mandates that nonexempt workers be paid for overtime, said
AFGE National President John Gage in a statement. “This is just another example of poor management
at the VA,” Gage said. “We will not stand by while the agency keeps money from employees
who rightfully earned it.” To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=759
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