With work wrapped up on the 2010 Defense authorization bill, federal workforce representatives are focusing on what could be the next big fight on Capitol Hill — the civilian pay raise.

The House passed an appropriations bill in July that would give civilian employees a raise of 2 percent — a figure President Obama has supported. The Senate has yet to take up its version of the bill, which includes a 2.9 percent hike. With no vote scheduled on the Senate version, some labor groups are wondering how the issue will be resolved.

Those pushing for a bigger pay hike are hopeful that the 3.4 percent raise for military service members, included in the final version of the Defense authorization bill, will help their chances. The bill passed both chambers and now awaits Obama’s signature. But many consider pay parity among military and civilian workers unlikely.

Full Story

Related posts:

1. Senate passes bill to kill NSPS, cut sole-souree contracts
2. Tobacco bill heads to Obama without sick leave fix
3. White House Calls for Discretionary Spending Freeze; Impact on Federal Workers Unclear

Today, President Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. Included in the bill was a provision to repeal the controversial National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The bill also contained several small provisions impacting retirement benefits for the federal workforce.

The NSPS provisions in the bill dictate a repeal of the system, and a conversion of the over 200,000 covered employees back into existing pay systems by January 1, 2012. NSPS workers will be guaranteed the full annual GS pay adjustment over the transitional period.

Also included in the Defense Bill are provisions offering employees enrolled in the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) credit for their unused sick leave upon retirement, and extending locality pay to workers stationed outside of the mainland United States – both critical NFFE priorities.

Full Story

Related posts:

1. House Approves Defense Authorization Bill Repealing NSPS; Senate Nearing a Vote
2. With Defense Bill Passed, FERS Employees to Receive Retirement Credit for Unused Sick Leave
3. Tobacco bill heads to Obama without sick leave fix

The Senate has passed a bill that would end the National Security Personnel System.(NSPS) and make it more difficult to award sole-source contracts. The measure would authorize spending $550.2 billion on Defense Department programs in fiscal 2010.

On Oct. 22, the Senate approved the fiscal 2010 National Defense Authorization Act’s conference report by a vote of 68 to 29 after the House passed the bill Oct. 8. The legislation now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature. The conference report is a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the same bill.

The report contains an important provision to end the NSPS, a pay-for-performance compensation system for federal employees. The National Treasury Employees Union and others say NSPS curtails employee rights in the workplace, including the right to collective bargaining.

Full Report

Related posts:

1. House Approves Defense Authorization Bill Repealing NSPS; Senate Nearing a Vote
2. NSPS Officially Repealed as President Obama Signs Defense Bill
3. Prospects for higher federal raise remain murky

Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the conference report on the FY 2010 Defense Authorization Act, which includes provisions to repeal the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) and convert the over 200,000 employees enrolled under the program back into existing pay systems.

The legislation also contains provisions giving retiring employees enrolled in the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) credit for their unused sick leave and extends locality pay to workers stationed outside of the mainland United States.

Full Story

Related posts:

1. NSPS Officially Repealed as President Obama Signs Defense Bill
2. With Defense Bill Passed, FERS Employees to Receive Retirement Credit for Unused Sick Leave
3. Senate passes bill to kill NSPS, cut sole-souree contracts

The ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee quietly offered the amendment that would boot all federal employees, including members of Congress, as well as federal retirees from their current health insurance plans beginning in 2013. For now, it appears that feds have dodged a bullet as the amendment was modified to eliminate the word ‘require’ and replace it with language that says they “may” purchase on the exchange.”

By Jaime L. Hartman Sep 24 2009

Full Article:
Federal Employees Health Benefits Threatened

Related posts:

1. OPM Director Introduces Plan to Increase Telework among Federal Employees

Click Here to take survey

If you have any questions or comments, please email Chief Steward David Zanoni

Related posts:

1. New Chief Steward
2. Survey Results
3. Fitness Program

“President Obama on Tuesday nominated U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court, tapping the daughter of Puerto Rican parents to succeed retiring Justice David Souter and become the first Hispanic to serve on the high court.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 54-year-old judge will bring nearly 17 years of experience on the federal bench and a history of bipartisan appeal to the high court. She was first appointed to federal bench in the Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and was named to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 54-year-old judge will bring nearly 17 years of experience on the federal bench and a history of bipartisan appeal to the high court. She was first appointed to federal bench in the Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and was named to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

One of her most prominent rulings came in 1995, when she sided with Major League Baseball players in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of that season’s World Series.

From 1984 until her appointment to the bench, Sotomayor practiced international business law at the New York-based firm of Pavia & Harcourt LLP. There, she focused on intellectual property issues and litigation and arbitration of commercial and commodity export trading cases, according to her appeals court biography.

Later, Sotomayor became a member of the 2nd Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, which was established in 1993 to examine the effect of bias on court employees and litigants. She has also remained active in legal education, serving as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law from 1998-2007 and as a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School since 1999.”

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104542828

No related posts.

“The House quickly passed in a 307-97 vote the Senate’s version of H.R. 1256 on Friday — ending hopes that a conference committee between the two chambers could add federal workforce provisions that were stripped from the bill during legislative wrangling.

Unions including the National Federation of Federal Employees had urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule a conference committee to add language from the House’s original version, which would have allowed workers in the Federal Employees Retirement System to count unused sick time toward their annuities.

Other provisions that didn’t make it into the final bill included measures to make it easier to rehire federal retirees part time; modified how the Civil Service Retirement System calculates annuity payments for employees who retire as part-time workers; and moved federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories from cost-of-living adjustments into the locality pay system.”

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42937&dcn=todaysnews

Related posts:

1. With Defense Bill Passed, FERS Employees to Receive Retirement Credit for Unused Sick Leave
2. NSPS Officially Repealed as President Obama Signs Defense Bill
3. Key Committee Approves Federal Employee Parental Leave Bill

New claims for unemployment benefits over the past few weeks indicate a possible tapering off of layoffs, but leaves little evidence new jobs are being created.  A weekly report from the U.S. Department of Labor shows the total number of people who filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week fell by 34,000 to 601,000.  Still, the total number of unemployed persons remains at a record high. New numbers to be released by the Labor Department Friday for the month of April are expected to keep in sync with the three previous monthly reports released so far this year – indicating the U.S. economy still has quite a way to go. Economists estimate another 600,000 or more people lost their jobs last month, which would push the unemployment rate to somewhere around 8.9 percent.

Related posts:

1. President Obama’s executive order creating labor/management forums

Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (FEPPLA), H.R.626/S.354, a bill that will give federal workers a minimum of four weeks paid leave to care for a newly born, adopted, or fostered child. Under current law, expecting parents may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for their newborn, forcing them to use sick and annual leave to make up for the lost time.

Related posts:

1. With Defense Bill Passed, FERS Employees to Receive Retirement Credit for Unused Sick Leave
2. House Approves Defense Authorization Bill Repealing NSPS; Senate Nearing a Vote
3. Tobacco bill heads to Obama without sick leave fix