Now that the U.S. Postal Service and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union are officially arbitration-bound, it seems time for an overview of the state of USPS labor negotiations that will affect both the mail carrier’s bottom line, not to mention the incomes and working conditions of tens of thousands of postal workers. More than a year has passed since members of the American Postal Workers Union ratified a new contract that will run through 2015. But the Postal Service has yet to sew up agreements with its other three bargaining units. Its last contract with the National Rural Letter…
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It’s not looking good for the American Postal Workers Union’s last-ditch attempt to delay a wave of mail processing plant downsizings set to begin next week. In a unanimous decision released today, the Postal Regulatory Commission ruled that the APWU had failed to make the case for an emergency injunction. Although the five-member commission didn’t make a final decision on the union’s complaint filed earlier this month, today’s ruling says that the union “has failed to demonstrate that it has a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits, that it will suffer irreparable harm, or that the balance of the…
You can argue about the effectiveness of the United States’ national security classification program, but there’s no disputing one point: Keeping secrets costs money—lots of it. Last year, executive branch agencies shelled out an estimated $11.4 billion on classified information systems and other facets of the program, according to an annual report released this week by the Information Security Oversight Office, a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration. That’s up 12 percent–or $1.2 billion–from 2010, and more than double the figure from a decade ago. The actual tab to taxpayers is likely much higher, because the report doesn’t…
A Commerce Department agency’s security program is under review, following a January cyber attack that crippled its networks. As part of an annual audit, the inspector general is reviewing the Economic Development Agency’s security program, according to a June memo. The review will determine the program’s effectiveness, significant factors that led to the cyber attack and how EDA has responded. The computer virus was discovered Jan. 20, and the agency shut down employees’ Internet access the following week. Workers were eventually given new computer workstations with access to Internet and email, and the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team…
A House subcommittee on Wednesday passed a bill to ensure vets are quickly notified when their personal information is breached. The Veterans Data Breach Timely Notification Act, , H.R. 3730, requires the Veterans Affairs Department to notify Congress and vets within 10 business days of their personal information being breached. VA could request a five-day extension if more time is needed to identify affected individuals or mitigate a breach. VA contractors that handle vets’ personal information would be held to the same standards under the bill. “In the unfortunate event of a breach of sensitive information, veterans and their families should be notified…
As the fallout over recent leaks of classified information continues to swirl, one consequence will be closer scrutiny of contacts between intelligence community employees and news outlets under two measures announced this week by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. The first involves the counter-intelligence polygraph exam that seven intelligence agencies, (CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, Energy Department, FBI, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office and National Security Agency) give employees when they’re first hired and typically every seven years thereafter when their security clearances come up for renewal. Hitherto, only the CIA has asked about unauthorized disclosures of classified information…
Science Applications International Corp. is protesting a $4.6 billion award to Lockheed Martin to support the Defense Information Systems Network. The protest was filed June 22 with the Government Accountability Office. GAO will issue a decision on the protest by Oct. 1. “We are disappointed in the government’s decision to not award us the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Global Information Grid (GIG) Services Management (GSM) contract. We feel our solution is the best value for the customer and we are proud of our performance history on this contract,” SAIC spokeswoman Melissa Koskovich said in a statement. Lockheed Martin Corp. beat out incumbent SAIC…
The U.S. Postal Service is reporting some temporary upper-management turnover stemming from its chief information officer’s illness. Because of a “serious health issue,” Ellis Burgoyne won’t be returning full-time to his job as CIO before October, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe wrote in a June 20 memo included in a filing today with the Postal Regulatory Commission. In the meantime, Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett has taken over as acting CIO, while Steve Masse—previously vice president for finance and operations—is subbing for Corbett as acting CFO, according to the filing. Taking Masse’s place: Cynthia Sanchez-Hernandez, who has served as headquarters finance…
Letter-writing and phone calls haven’t worked; conventional lobbying hasn’t worked. So, starting this morning, 10 active and retired U.S. Postal Service employees are resorting to a more dramatic tactic: A hunger strike intended to prod lawmakers into dropping a requirement for the beleaguered mail carrier to “pre-fund” a retiree health care benefits fund. “We’re trying to turn up the heat on Congress, which is stuck on stupid,” Jamie Partridge, a recently retired city letter carrier from Oregon who’s participating in the strike, said in a phone interview from outside a House office building. After a news conference this morning with…
The U.S. Special Counsel on Wednesday warned that agencies could be reprimanded for targeting whistleblowers and monitoring emails that report wrongdoing. In the memo, Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner said that targeting emails between whistleblowers and the OSC or inspectors general for surveillance is “highly problematic.” Agencies that deliberately target whistleblowers’ submissions or draft submissions to OSC or IGs could be accused of retaliating against the employees, Lerner said. “This is the first finding that we are aware of in which a government agency has stated that there are limits on how federal agencies can monitor employee email,” Stephen Kohn, executive…