Federal Daily - June 11, 2009

USPS Must Heed Contract When Consolidating Facilities, APWU Says

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) needs to abide by restrictions in its current labor contract as it considers consolidating larger post office and retail branches, American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President William Burrus warned USPS officials. In a June 8 letter to the USPS manager of contract administration, Burrus noted that a memorandum of understanding included in the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement between USPS and the union requires that “all existing retail operations will remain within the installation of which they are a part.” The Burrus letter came in response to a May 15 letter from the Postal Service which said that USPS is reviewing the activities of all larger stations and branches for possible discontinuance. USPS cited dramatic decreases in mail volume and extremely challenging financial circumstances. USPS said it will consider a range of factors during the review, including the effect on employees, service standards, cost savings, customer access and the long-term needs of the service. Burrus reminded postal officials of a key factor he said must be included in the decision. “I note that of the many factors that will be considered in your final decisions, you omit the parties’ negotiated agreements,” Burrus wrote. To see more, go to: http://apwu.org/news/webart/2009/09-064-consolidation-retail-090609.htm. 

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Group Reports Thousands of Free Trips Taken by DoD Staff

Citing potential conflicts of interest, the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) on June 10 issued a report showing that DoD personnel received millions of dollars worth of free flights, accommodations and hospitality from private and foreign interests doing business with the Pentagon. According to CPI’s analysis of thousands of travel disclosure records from 1998 through 2007, outside sources over the period paid for more than 22,000 trips worth at least $26 million. The travel was sponsored by an array of companies, foreign governments and other groups and organizations. The medical industry paid for more travel than any other single interest—over $10 million for some 8,700 trips, or about 40 percent of all outside sponsored travel. Healthcare personnel receiving the free services included military pharmacists, doctors and others who administer the Pentagon’s $6 billion-plus annual budget for prescription drugs, the report said. Also, foreign governments paid more than $2.6 million for 1,500 trips, the report said. The biggest sponsors were U.S. allies Australia, Singapore and Japan—but the list also included China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Watchdog groups say the free travel indicates a lack of sufficient oversight. “This is the kind of behavior that should be barred without a loophole,” said Winslow Wheeler of the Center for Defense Information. To see more, go to: www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/pentagon_
travel/articles/entry/1408 or www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/pentagon_
travel/articles/entry/1409.

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Plug-In Vehicles Present a Range of Tough Issues

As agencies prepare for future purchases of more plug-in hybrid gas/electric vehicles, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the General Services Administration (GSA) need to resolve conflicts among energy and vehicle acquisition requirements, according to a June 9 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. GAO said DOE and GSA need to work together to provide guidance that helps agencies make decisions about acquiring plug-in hybrid vehicles. Federal agencies are under a mandate to use more plug-in hybrid vehicles as they become available at a reasonable cost., but GAO said agencies will need to consider the high up-front costs of plug-ins, and whether—once they are distributed—they compare favorably to gasoline vehicles over the life of ownership, especially if certain factors change, such as a decrease in the cost of batteries or an increase in gasoline prices. GAO said agencies also will have must meet a number of requirements covering energy use and vehicle acquisition, which sometimes conflict with one another. For example, plugging vehicles into electric energy sources at federal facilities could reduce petroleum consumption—but increase the use of a facility’s energy. What’s more, that electrical energy may be generated by fossil fuels. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d09493high.pdf.

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