FederalDaily - September 14, 2007
GAO: Labor, VA Need to Improve Joint Jobs Effort for Disabled Vets
The Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs (VA) need to do a better job coordinating a nationwide
effort that is supposed to help veterans with service-connected disabilities find employment, said
a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on Sept. 12. GAO looked at how well the
two departments were implementing a 2005 agreement to coordinate their employment efforts for disabled
vets, as well as the progress VA had made with its Five-Track program, a redesigned employment program
for these veterans. The departments continue to face major challenges executing the 2005 agreement
on the state level and lack a complete plan for implementing and assessing the progress of the agreement,
the report said. Labor and VA have implemented just one element of the agreement—establishing
three joint work groups—but have only partially implemented or taken no action on the others,
the report said. While VA has mostly implemented its Five-Track employment program for disabled veterans,
it may be ill-prepared to handle returning war veterans—a large proportion of whom are suffering
from traumatic brain injuries, the report said. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d071020high.pdf.
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GSA Plans for Half of Its Employees to Telework by 2010
General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Lurita Doan said her agency is so committed to
promoting the cause of federal telework that it plans to allow 50 percent of eligible GSA employees
to telework at least one day a week by 2010. Doan said on Sept. 12 that GSA wants to increase the number
of GSA teleworkers to 20 percent by the end of 2008, and to 50 percent two years later. Currently,
10 percent of eligible GSA employees telework, compared to 4.2 percent for the overall federal workforce.
GSA has about 12,000 employees. Doan has been a big supporter of federal telework, but acknowledges
that the option hasn’t found favor with the cadre of federal agency managers. Managers have voiced
concerns about data security, office staffing and employee productivity. But such criticism is virtually
baseless, Doan said, with research showing that teleworkers perform equal to or better than office-bound
workers. One way to overcome management resistance is to get managers to experience telework for themselves,
Doan said. “Many of those who argue the loudest against telework are actually those who have
never tried it,” she said. “Managers are far more receptive when they telework themselves.” To
see more, go to: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?pageTypeId=8199&channelId=-13259&P=XI&contentId=23523&contentType=GSA_BASIC.
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NALC Endorses Hillary Clinton for President
The 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) on Sept. 12 endorsed
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for president in the 2008 presidential election. In
announcing the labor union’s endorsement, NALC President William Young said
Clinton was the clear choice in a nationwide survey of all NALC members. Young noted
that Clinton was a strong supporter of postal reform legislation, and that she was
among the first to support legislation to prohibit the outsourcing of carrier jobs
to low-wage contractors. “We need a change of direction in this country,” Young
said. “We need a leader who sees the labor movement as the solution, not the
problem.” To see more, go to: www.nalc.org.
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