Federal Daily - July 24, 2009

Court Allows Union to Pursue FCIP Complaint

A federal court dismissed procedural challenges to a National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) lawsuit that alleges agencies are using the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP) to undercut laws mandating merit-based hiring, NTEU said in a July 22 statement. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected jurisdictional and other procedural objections raised by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is named in the lawsuit filed in January 2007. The decision allows NTEU’s direct challenge to the FCIP to go forward, said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. The lawsuit alleges that the FCIP, which originally was created as a limited, special-focus hiring program in 2000, has been used to circumvent the competitive examination process. Because OPM placed few restrictions on the program, the lawsuit alleges, FCIP has been used by many agencies—including the IRS, Customs and Border Protection and the Social Security Administration—to fill a wide range of positions and then convert the positions to permanent jobs at the end of the two-year internships. For example, the IRS has been using FCIP to bring onto its rolls such key enforcement employees as revenue offices and revenue agents. Critics say that the way that the FCIP currently is administered has reduced promotional opportunities for existing federal workers. “By their day-to-day work and their commitment to duty, these employees have proven themselves ready for promotion,” Kelley said, “but all too often, their advancement is blocked because of the way agencies use the FCIP.” To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1464.

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EEOC Union Offers Suggestions to Clean Up Agency

According to Gabrielle Martin, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National Council of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Locals, No. 216, EEOC has suffered in recent years from a cascade of frozen budgets, the loss of 25 percent of its workforce, and mounting case backlogs. To help fast-track some solutions to those problems, AFGE has issued an open letter to incoming EEOC head Jacqueline Berrien that contains a list of 10 things Berrien can do to improve the agency. To improve morale, it said, Berrien should prioritize the hiring of frontline staff to dig itself out of its rising backlog of 82,561 cases—the public now waits on average almost nine months for help. Berrien also should clean up EEOC’s own overtime rules, AFGE said, and consider paying back pay to employees who have been shorted by the system. Berrien also needs to ensure EEOC offers competitive salaries, the union said. AFGE also recommended that Berrien redo a 2006 EEOC field restructuring plan which, according to the union, split states and downgraded offices in cities with high minority populations. Berrien, a longtime nonprofit and foundation worker, served as associate director-counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund from September 2004 until her EEOC appointment. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=1024.

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DHS Launches YouTube Channel

Making a foray into the online world of social media, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on July 22 announced the launch of the DHS YouTube Channel as part of a broader redesign of its Web site, DHS.gov. The DHS YouTube Channel, at www.youtube.com/ushomelandsecurity, will allow DHS to use video to highlight events, speeches, public service announcements and other related content. DHS’s emphasis on Web 2.0 tools such as YouTube permits the department to provide greater transparency and access to the public, DHS said. The Web site makeover was centered on DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano’s top five DHS priorities: counterterrorism, border security, enforcement of immigration laws, disaster preparedness and response and department unification, DHS said. “Social media plays an increasingly large role in our engagement with the public, especially in the event of an incident or disaster,” said Napolitano. “These new tools will facilitate an open dialogue about the department’s security efforts across the nation and around the world.” To see more, go to: www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1248296963736.shtm.

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