AFGE Week in Review (Dec. 24, 2007)   Consolidated Appropriations Bill Passed to Give Feds 3.5% Raise, Restore Federal Protective Service: The 2008 omnibus spending bill is ready for President Bush’s signature after it passed the House and the Senate Dec. 17 and Dec. 19 respectively. The $555 billion spending bill contains several AFGE-backed measures, including one that would give federal employees a 3.5 % raise, which is 0.5 % more than what the White House had proposed.  Included in the bill is a requirement for full funding for the Federal Protective Service, which was threatened with a massive downsizing by the Bush administration. The bill ensures that there will be no fewer than 1,200 full-time employees at the agency tasked with providing security for federal buildings.       No Layoffs at DoD: The omnibus bill also provides $70 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ending a year-end drama between Congress and the Defense Department which used its workers as pawns in the budget dispute by threatening to lay off more than 100,000 civilians if the agency didn’t get funding for the war by mid-December.   No Funding for Max HR: In another victory for AFGE, the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to move forward with its new personnel system, originally known as Max HR, came to a halt as Congress provided no money for the program. In the 2008 consolidated spending bill, the department will instead get $10 million to address morale and other issues identified in the 2006 employee satisfaction survey. Homeland Security ranked nearly dead last in the survey.     Historic A-76 Reforms Become Reality: Thanks to AFGE, the 2008 omnibus spending bill would also bring about several major reforms in the federal government’s outsourcing process, known as A-76 job competitions. Specifically, the bill would:  Allow individual employees, for the first time ever, to appeal an outsourcing decision to the Government Accountability Office without going through the in-house team’s formal representative, who is often part of management.   Prohibit the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from telling agencies to conduct outsourcing studies. Agencies will also be prohibited from carrying out OMB’s direction to conduct outsourcing studies. Exclude health care and retirement costs from the cost comparison process so that contractors won’t get an unfair cost advantage by providing their workers with benefits inferior than what federal agencies are required to provide to federal employees. Make it a permanent requirement for the contractor’s bid to be cheaper than that of the in-house team by $10 million or 10% of personnel costs before any work can be outsourced. Make it a permanent requirement for agencies to allow the in-house work force to submit its most competitive bid, known as a Most Effective Organization, before work performed by more than 10 employees could be outsourced. Prohibit direct conversions of work performed by more than 10 employees at the Veterans Affairs Department. Ban A-76 job competitions at the Labor Department until 60 days after the GAO has looked into the abuse of outsourcing rules at the agency. Ban A-76 at agencies funded by the Commerce-Science-Justice appropriations bill until federal employees get the same appeal rights as contractors. Ban implementation of A-76 competitions and High Performing Organizations at the Army Corps of Engineers. Prohibit the Forest Service from conducting A-76 studies. Ban A-76 at the Bureau of Prisons. Senate Passes Bill to Strengthen Feds’ Whistleblower Protection: In a rare bipartisan effort and by unanimous consent, the Senate on Dec. 17 passed the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act to protect federal employees who blow the whistle on fraud, waste, and abuse on the job. The passage of the bill is in response to 13 years of federal court rulings that have made if very difficult for federal workers to seek protection from retaliation by supervisors under the Whistleblower Protection Act when they report wrongdoing.  The bill clarifies that federal workers are protected for all lawful communications of disclosures, and allows whistleblowers additional protections when they disclose classified information to members of Congress.    The House in March passed its version of the bill with similar language. The House bill, however, would also expand whistleblower protections to the workforces currently not protected – Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), government contractors and employees at the FBI and intelligence agencies. The granting of protections to TSOs is also a part of H.R. 3212, a bill introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. earlier this year that provides TSOs the same rights as other workers in the Department of Homeland Security, including the right to bargain collectively.  AFGE will work with members of Congress during the conference to resolve differences between the two versions of the bill and ensure that the final version includes important reforms, including whistleblower protections for TSOs. AFGE Wins $3.7 Million in Settlement for 700 Army Employees Exposed to Toxic Chemical: The Army at the Corpus Christi Army Depot agreed to pay a total of $3.7 million to about 700 current and former employees who were exposed to hexavalent chromium while working at six work areas on the base between November 2003 and November 2006. The six work areas are: Hanger 43, Hanger 44/45, Hanger 47, Cowling Shop, Blade Shop, and the Can Shop. This is a result of grievances filed by AFGE Local 2142 in November 2005. Inside Government: AFGE’s Communications Director Enid Doggett and Women’s and Fair Practices Departments Program Manager Sherri Bracey appeared on AFGE’s radio program, Inside Government, on Dec. 21 to discuss the latest from inside their departments and plans to celebrate AFGE’s 75th anniversary in February 2008. Also appearing was Augusta Thomas, AFGE’s 6th District National Fair Practices and Affirmative Action Coordinator, who discussed recent Equal Employment Opportunity cases in her district. 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.