Federal Daily - February 6, 2008
Union Critical of Proposal to Roll Back Privatization Restrictions
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) criticized language in President Bush’s Fiscal
Year 2009 budget proposal which the union said seeks to reverse newly-enacted federal law that levels
the playing field in privatization competitions. That law, contained in the omnibus FY 2008 funding
package, extends to federal workers the same appeal rights available to contractors, and prevents private
bidders from offering substandard—or no—health or retirement benefits to its employees
as a means of gaining an unfair advantage in the bidding, said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. The law
also requires that private sector bids for federal work show a savings of $10 million or 10 percent
beyond the cost of keeping the work within the federal work force. “The overwhelming evidence
is that the most efficient and effective way to get federal work performed is by using trained, dedicated
federal employees,” Kelley said in a Feb. 4 statement. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org.
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Bush Seeks $2.3 Billion Hike in VA Medical Care
President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget contains $2.3 billion more than last year for medical
care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—a total of $41.2 billion to treat VA’s
5.8 million patients over the next fiscal year. The medical care budget is part of the larger $93.7
billion VA budget included in Bush’s $3 trillion spending plan sent to Congress Feb. 4. VA’s
total medical care request includes funding for medical services ($34.1 billion), medical facilities
($4.7 billion), and resources from medical care collections ($2.5 billion). VA also is asking for $762
million in FY 2009 for non-institutional long-term care, an increase of 28 percent over FY 2008. VA’s
medical care request also includes nearly $1.5 billion—a 10 percent increase over FY 2008—to
support the increasing workload associated with the purchase and repair of prosthetics and sensory
aids. Also, VA is asking for $442 million to support its medical and prosthetic research program, which
would fund nearly 2,000 high-priority research projects to expand knowledge in areas critical to veterans’ health
care needs, most notably $53 million to study mental illness. The budget proposal also includes $35.9
million to provide specially adapted housing grants to severely disabled veterans and servicemembers.
To see more, go to: www.va.gov.
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APWU, USPS Reach $48 Million Custodial Settlement
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) announced last week it had reached a final $48 million out-of-court
settlement with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that will provide $2,700 payments to about 17,000 custodial
employees. Payments are to be made by April 18. The settlement is the result of a 2006 arbitrator’s
ruling that forced USPS to rescind the 2001 version of the MS-47 handbook, Housekeeping Postal
Facilities, and to reinstate the 1983 version. The 2001 handbook had revised custodial staffing
procedures. The union argued against measures in the 2001 handbook which implemented a staffing policy
based upon the budget rather than upon frequency of cleaning. “We were extremely gratified by
the original arbitration award, which was critical to the job security of custodial employees,” said
APWU President William Burrus on Jan. 30. To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/nsb/2008/nsb01-080130-ms47.htm.
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