AFGE Week in Review (August 11, 2008)

[barstow wiz]

AFGE Criticizes Bush for Threatening to Veto Funding for Veterans: The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) criticized President Bush for threatening to veto a bill that would increase funding for the Veterans Affairs Department to care for veterans. The House early this month passed a 2009 spending bill that would give VA $47.7 billion, which is $4.6 billion above the 2008 level and $2.9 billion more than the White House proposed. Bush said he would veto the bill if Congress did not offset the increase for veterans in the other spending bills. AFGE President John Gage said it's outrageous that the president threatened to veto the much-needed funding for veterans at a time of war. VA has been critically underfunded for so many years and when Congress is trying to close the funding gap, the White House is once again playing political chicken with veterans' care.

AFGE Fights Outsourcing of New GI Bill Benefits Processing: AFGE last week sought help from Virginia senator Jim Webb after VA announced it will outsource the work of processing applications for education benefits under the new GI bill Webb championed. In a letter sent to Webb's office, AFGE's National Veterans Affairs Council President Alma Lee said VA has plans to transfer to other VA offices more than 400 employees working in the Education Division processing applications for benefits provided under the old GI bill. VA will then staff this office with contract workers, who will need to be trained to do the work these 400 employees already know how to do. Lee said this absurd move would waste VA's time and the taxpayer's dollar while uprooting workers, many of whom are veterans. Lee suggested that VA train the current workers to apply the new law while hiring veterans and temporary workers to help with the surge.

AFGE also filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office last week, protesting outsourcing of federal work without competition.

Too Many Questions About VA's Decision to Abandon Plans for Stand-alone Hospital in Denver Remain Unanswered: Things are still unsettled in Denver after VA last month revealed a scaled-down version of a new VA hospital – a significant change to the original plan that promised a replacement stand-alone hospital for Colorado's veterans. AFGE and veterans groups recently sent a letter to VA Secretary James Peake, demanding explanations as to how exactly the agency came up with the new plan to lease space from the University of Colorado Hospital, with extensive use of non-VA employees to deliver medical care and support services, instead of building a stand-alone hospital with a largely federal employee workforce as originally envisioned. Among the questions asked, the coalition wanted to know what factors - external and internal - that may have influenced VA's decision, how exactly the project is going to affect access to specialty care, inpatient care and staffing, and how VA would operate in conjunction with a university health center without losing its identity and independence.

AFGE has also expressed its concerns to lawmakers that sharing space with the university hospital would take away resources that should be dedicated to veterans and eliminate blue collar jobs held largely by veterans. Leasing space and relying on non-VA health care providers is also a first step to privatize veterans' care, which would divert resources and undermine VA's research and specialized services for veterans.

Besides AFGE, the coalition includes AMVETS, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Blinded Veterans Association, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Vietnam Veterans of America.

AFGE Continues to Make a Big Difference in the Work Lives of TSOs: At Puerto Rico Airport, things would have gone down the drain for Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) had AFGE not intervened. Managers had been telling TSOs especially the new ones that they could not join the union. AFGE subsequently brought the issue to the attention of the airport's Federal Security Director (FSD), who promptly issued a memo telling TSOs that they are allowed to join the union in accordance with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)'s policy.

AFGE helps Pregnant TSOs Get the Right Fit: A pregnant TSO at Newark Airport recently sought help from AFGE regarding the new uniform to be distributed at her airport soon. The TSO said management told her that TSA wouldn't provide her with a pregnancy uniform because there was no contract to create that kind of uniform and TSA was not intending on providing any. The TSO was told she would be sent home if she didn't start wearing the new uniform on Sept. 11. It was suggested she get large shirts, but the TSO was concerned because she's small and a large uniform would just hang off her body and wouldn't look professional.

AFGE subsequently brought the issue up with a manager, prompting the Federal Security Director to announce that pregnant TSOs are now allowed to continue to wear the current uniforms, which provide a pregnancy version, until the issue is resolved or they give birth. AFGE is getting this information out to other TSOs as well.

Inside Government: Alvin Felzenberg, author of "The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn't): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game," was a guest on AFGE's radio program "Inside Government" last week. Felzenberg discussed his book, which takes a closer look at how U.S. presidents are evaluated. Felzenberg offered six criteria for rating a U.S. president: character; vision; competence; economic policy; preserving and extending liberty; and defense, national security, and foreign policy. On the show, he discussed which presidents were and were not successful, and qualities to look for and to avoid in presidential candidates.

Inside Government airs every Friday at 10 a.m. EDT nationwide on www.federalnewsradio.com and 1050 AM in the Washington, D.C., area. The one-hour program discusses issues that impact all federal and D.C. government employees. Programs are archived on the Federal News Radio Web site and can be heard on demand (available anytime) at http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=300.
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"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the decision." - Benjamin Franklin

[theLIBERTARIAN]

Didn't anyone tell you?? The Democrats are in congress now. If the Republicans sent him the bill...