Federal Daily - March 18, 2010

NTEU Files FLRA Petition for TSA Election

The National Treasury Employees Union on March 17 filed a petition with the Federal Labor Relations Authority seeking an election to become the exclusive representative of the 40,000-employee Transportation Security Administration. The union’s move comes after the filing of a similar petition by the American Federation of Government Employees late last month.

NTEU already is the exclusive representative of a 24,000-employee Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit, which it won in a 2006 FLRA election over the American Federation of Government Employees.

“We have enough support among Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to meet the FLRA’s 30 percent criteria for filing such a petition and seeking an election,” said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. “I am confident that when TSOs examine the records, performance and expertise of the unions competing in such an election, NTEU will prevail.”

An unresolved issue that may hamper NTEU’s efforts is a 2003 FLRA decision rejecting an AFGE petition for a TSA election. Kelley said that NTEU continues to have questions about the legal and practical effects of that previous decision.

To see more, go to: www.nteu.org

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OPM to Recalculate Some Annuities

Certain recipients of disability or survivor annuities could get a boost in benefits because the Office of Personnel Management is looking to recalculate the amount of money it pays out to annuitants in certain employment categories who served under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System.

OPM is looking for any CSRS or FERS beneficiary who is receiving a disability annuity or a survivor annuity based on federal service in seven broad employment categories. They are: federal law enforcement officer; firefighter-nuclear materials courier (performed with the Department of Energy on or after Oct. 1, 1977); Customs and Border Protection Officer (on or after July 6, 2008); member of the Capitol Police; member of the Supreme Court Police, any congressional employee or air traffic controller.

The mount of an annuity benefit typically is based on the amount of creditable service an individual performs and the average pay of the individual. Changes in interpretation of the applicable statutes have evolved, which could mean that some retirees are not receiving their fair share of payments, OPM said.

OPM wants annuity recipients in these categories to contact the agency for a recalculation. There is no risk, according to a notice posted this week on the OPM Web site. If the recalculation results in a higher annuity, OPM says it will pay the difference. If not, OPM will make no change to the benefit it pays out, the agency said.

To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/retire/post/edsa.

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Sexual Assault Reports Increased 11%, DoD Says

The number of sexual assaults reported by servicemembers jumped 11 percent last year when compared to Fiscal Year 2008, according to the DoD’s Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, released March 17.

In FY 2009, a total of 3,230 restricted and unrestricted reports of sexual assault were filed involving military members who were victims or alleged perpetrators, the report said. Of the two types of reports, restricted (or confidential) reporting allows victims to receive health care support, but the case is not referred to a Military Criminal Investigative Organization. Unrestricted reports are referred to an MCIO.

Of those reporting, the vast majority (2,670) were servicemembers who said they had been the victim of a sexual assault. Although the number of sexual assaults is unacceptable, the fact that more victims are coming forward is encouraging, the report said, noting that only 20 percent of servicemembers who experience unwanted sexual contact ever report the matter.

“One sexual assault is too many. As such, the best way to combat sexual assault is to prevent it,” said Clifford L. Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

Army Up 13 Percent—The Army reported the largest number of assaults in FY 2009, with 1,512 unrestricted reports and 283 restricted reports of sexual assault. The total number of reports increased 13 percent from FY 2008, but the Army noted that the increase was mitigated by a comparable increase in the active-duty soldier population. The rate of reported sexual assaults per 1,000 active duty soldiers was 2.6 in FY 2009, unchanged since FY 2007.

Navy Up 21 Percent—The Naval Criminal Investigative Service reported 334 unrestricted sexual assault investigations for the Navy in FY 2009, which reflects an increase of 71 unrestricted reports—21 percent—from FY 2008. NCIS recorded a 10 percent jump in restricted reports, to 173, in FY 2009. NCIS recorded that the Marine Corps reported 83 more unrestricted reports in FY 2009 compared to the previous year.

Air Force Down 29 Percent—The Air Force initiated 300 investigations for unrestricted reports of sexual assault during FY 2009, compared to 387 in FY 2008, a decrease of 29 percent. The number of unrestricted reports in FY 2009 is the lowest number in the last three fiscal years. Air Force officials could not identify a cause or contributing factors to explain the drop in total reports and unrestricted reports, the report said.

To see more, go to: www.sapr.mil/media/pdf/reports/fy09_annual_report.pdf.

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