FederalDaily - January 22, 2008
NTEU Seeks Status
of DHS Personnel Rules
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) asked a court Jan. 18 to force the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) to make a decision over plans it may have for the new labor relations portion of its
proposed new personnel system, the Human Capital Operations Plan (HCOP). The NTEU filing came two days
after DHS said that it has put on hold any further implementation of HCOP due to lack of funding. DHS
has been prohibited by a federal court injunction won by NTEU from implementing the system’s
labor relations segment, which NTEU President Colleen Kelley said would “eviscerate” employees’ collective
bargaining rights. Kelley noted that the legal window for HCOP implementation is quickly closing. DHS
has until Jan. 24, 2009, when its authority to implement the new personnel system expires, Kelley said.
And DHS said it can’t move forward with HCOP this fiscal year because the FY 2008 omnibus appropriations
bill provided zero funding for the plan. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1205.
:: Back to Top ::
Unions Sue USPS, OIG over Medical Records
Two postal worker unions sued the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the USPS Office of Inspector General
(OIG), alleging that OIG investigators are prying into the medical records of postal employees without
their permission. The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the National Association of Letter Carriers
(NALC) filed suit Jan. 17 in federal district court in New York, charging that USPS and the OIG were
responsible for systematic and widespread intrusions into the medical records of postal employees.
The lawsuit claims that, beginning in 2006, the USPS OIG began surreptitiously seeking and obtaining
the medical records of postal workers directly from doctors and hospitals, and that the OIG has routinely
instructed medical providers they should refrain from notifying affected employees. The OIG has told
medical providers that it has a right to review the records as part of oversight or investigatory activities,
the lawsuit said. The unions are asking the court to declare that the practice is illegal and to issue
an injunction against USPS and its OIG. In a statement on the APWU Web site, the union’s president,
Bill Burrus, said he was “outraged that OIG would use the tactics of a police state to investigate
workers compensation or sick-leave cases. The OIG has no legitimate business investigating routine
personnel matters.” To see more, go to: http://apwu.org/news/webart/2008/webart-0808-oig-suit-080122.htm.
:: Back to Top ::
Border Patrol Agent Killed in Arizona
A veteran Border Patrol agent was struck and killed Jan. 19 by a suspected smuggler's vehicle that
he was trying to stop along the border near Yuma, Ariz. Senior Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was struck
on Interstate 8 in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area about 20 miles west of Yuma, according to
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Aguilar was trying to place spike strips in the path of two
vehicles believed to have illegally entered the country from Mexico when one of the vehicles hit him,
CBP said in a statement. The fleeing vehicles then drove back across the border into Mexico, CBP said.
Both U.S. and Mexican officials are investigating the matter. To see more, go to: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/01202008.xml.
:: Back to Top ::
|
