Federal Daily - March 26, 2008

AFGE Urges Removal of VA Regional Director

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) on March 24 urged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to remove from his position a VA regional director who has been the focus of numerous workplace complaints. AFGE is seeking the ouster of Carl Hawkins, Jr., regional director at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in Columbia, S.C., following employee complaints of alleged sexual harassment, age discrimination and racial discrimination. According to AFGE Local 520—which represents 200 employees at the Columbia facility—none of the 34 management positions filled by Hawkins since January 2002 have been filled by African-American women, and only three by African-American men. AFGE said VBA has paid out more than $500,000 in the past two years to resolve discrimination claims filed against Hawkins and his subordinate managers. But in spite of these allegations, AFGE said, Hawkins received VA bonuses of about $50,000 over the past two years. “The harassment and discrimination perpetrated by Mr. Hawkins tarnishes everything that the VA is supposed to be about,” said Dan Brockway, president of AFGE Local 520. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=834.

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IRS Open on Saturday for Stimulus Package Info Sessions

The IRS will hold a nationwide “Super Saturday” event on March 29, opening offices that day specifically to help recipients of Social Security or Department of Veterans Affairs benefits get their economic stimulus payments. Approximately 320 IRS offices will be open to aid in the preparation of a simple Form 1040A for people who are filing a 2007 return solely to receive their stimulus payment, the agency said in a statement. The IRS sessions—which will also involve community groups—are specially designed for people who may qualify for an economic stimulus payment but who normally are not required to file a return. To see more, go to: www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=180648,00.html.

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NATCA Critical of Air Traffic Control Radar Outages

Weekend radar outages at three separate air traffic control facilities in California, Florida and Georgia severely limited controllers’ abilities to safely guide planes and caused delays at the affected airports, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). The union said the failures call into question the reliability of the equipment the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is putting in its air traffic control facilities. Outages were experienced at Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control and Augusta Air Traffic Control Tower, NATCA said. To see more, go to: www.natca.org/mediacenter/press-release-detail.aspx?id=492.

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