Romey wants to reduce federal workforce, align federal pay

Article Title: Romney outlines $500 billion in annual pay, workforce, program cuts

Snippet of Article: "..."I will look to sharply increase the productivity of Washington by reducing federal government employment by 10 percent through attrition, by combining agencies and departments to reduce overhead, by cracking down on the $115 billion a year in improper payments in government programs, and by aligning government compensation with that of the private sector," Romney told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce...."

Source: www.govexec.com

Federal Prison Industries (FPI)

Article Title: Two American Companies Layoff Hundreds Of Workers: Military Uniform Contracts Awarded To Prison Inmates

Snippet of Article: "...Alabama-based American Apparel was forced to close one plant and downsize at others due to the loss of contracts to prison inmates, according to company spokesman and retired Air Force Colonel Kurt Wilson. A total of 190 employees had their hours cut and 255 others were laid off this year.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/333741/two-american-companies-layoff-hundreds-of-workers-military-uniform-contracts-awarded-to-prison-inmates/#60cIUdGz7tUp0rOk.99
..."

Source: www.inquisitr.com

Pay raise freeze unfair to federal employees

Article Title: Unions vow to fight extended pay freeze in spending bill

Snippet of Article: "...It is absolutely unfair to federal employees to delay the pay raise until the expiration of the CR. Federal employees bear no responsibility for the inability of the House and Senate to reconcile ..."

Source: thehill.com Pay raise

Bomb threat closes down several blocks in downtown Kansas City

Article Title: Man says bomb threat was huge misunderstanding

Snippet of Article: "...the man who walked into a downtown federal office building Friday and said something about being on the government's terrorist watch list...."

Source: www.kfdi.com

Sequestration could lead to 270,000 lost federal jobs

Article Title: White House misses sequestration deadline; DoD will see 11% cut

Snippet of Article: "...All in all, sequestration could lead to 270,000 lost federal jobs throughout the government, and the furloughs of thousands more.

“And that’s just the first installment,” said Doug Criscitello, a former chief financial officer at the Housing and Urban Development Department and current managing director at Grant Thornton. “There’s nine of them [years of cuts]...."

Source: www.federaltimes.com

Airline Birthday Prank - FBI informs airline of alleged security threat

Article Title: US Airways security threat hoax was 'pretty nasty trick' played on passenger, officials say

Snippet of Article: "...The man taken off the jet and questioned was the victim of a hoax, apparently performed because Thursday was his birthday, officials said. ..."

Source: nbcnews.com

Unfair labor practice filed against EPA

Article Title: AFGE files unfair labor practice against EPA for firing scientists

Snippet of Article: "...The American Federation of Government Employees filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Federal Labor Relations Authority, saying the firings of the two employees and disciplinary actions against two other employees were to "chill employees in the exercise of their rights to participate with the union." The scientists worked for the Ecosystems Research Division of the EPA's National Exposure Research Lab. ..."

Source: www.federalnewsradio.com

EPA union negotiations update

Article Title: EPA Union Questions Administration's Support For Federal Sector Unions

Snippet of Article: "...even greater concern is more than 28 months after opening negotiations on the union contract in May 2010, AFGE Council 238 and EPA have yet to move past the preliminary step of establishing ground rules for those negotiations. "It's a total failure of bargaining in good faith," said AFGE Labor Relations Specialist Derrick Davis. "In more than 30 years of negotiating these types of agreements, I have never been involved in a ground rules negotiation that has taken so long...."

Source: www.heraldonline.com

Mexico Federal Employee Shooting Details Update

Article Title: Mexico: 2 CIA Agents Wounded in Shooting Go to US

Snippet of Article: "...Mexican officials said Wednesday that two Americans wounded in a shooting attack by federal police on a U.S. Embassy vehicle are employees of the Central Intelligence Agency, and acknowledged they have returned to the United States...."

Source: go.com

GOP: Federal compensation exceeds private sector levels

Article Title: GOP platform takes aim at federal workforce

Snippet of Article: "... "Federal compensation exceeds private sector levels by as much as 30 to 40 percent when benefits are taken into account," according to a statement on Romney's website. "This must be corrected."

Similarly, Romney's choice for vice president, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), has also proposed scaling back federal benefits. ..."

Source: www.federalnewsradio.com

Congress on track for another pay raise for 2013, but not you

Article Title: Congressional pay raise in 2013?

Snippet of Article: "...Members of Congress are on track to receive a pay raise in 2013, unless they vote against it when they return from August recess...."

Source: www.govexec.com

Monitoring of federal employee computers and privacy

Article Title: Monitoring of federal workers’ computers spooks privacy advocates

Snippet of Article: "...Monitoring of federal workers prompts privacy worries: Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the increased monitoring of federal workers’ computers, The Washington Post reported, as agencies work to catch information leaks...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com #FederaEmployeeNews

U. S. Officials Shot by Mexican Police

Article Title: Mexico Says Police Shot U.S. Officials

Snippet of Article: "...The two U.S. officials, employees of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, were wounded but in stable condition in a hospital and didn't have life-threatening injuries, the statement said. ..."

Source: wsj.com

Social Security of Federal retirees can be docked for unpaid student loans

Article Title: Feds Dock Social Security for Unpaid Student Loans

Snippet of Article: "...the federal government is withholding money from a rapidly growing number of Social Security recipients who have fallen behind on federal student loans. From January through August 6, the government reduced the size of roughly 115,000 retirees' Social Security checks..."

Source: socialsecuritynewsgroup.blogspot.com Social Security

More federal employee protections removed by court

Article Title: Appeals court removes key civil service protection

Snippet of Article: "...A federal appeals court ruling that has taken key civil service protection away from government employees involved in national security work will have far-reaching implications, advocates for federal workers say...."
Source: www.cbsnews.com

Financially disconnected congressmen make decisions for working class America

Article Title: The 50 richest members of Congress

Snippet of Article: "...Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California, dropped one notch from 2010 but still placed third. The Hill said his wealth plunged about $80 million to $140.6 million. ..."
Source: www.q13fox.com

V.A. probed over ethics rules violations for costly conference expenses

Article Title: VA ethics probe over conferences, gifts

Snippet of Article: "...The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $5 million last year, and set aside $4 million more, for two training conferences, and now the organizers are under investigation into whether they broke ethics rules by improperly accepting gifts, lawmakers and government sources said...."

Source: www.sfgate.com V.A., ethics probe, government waste,

2013 Pay Raise for Federal Workers

Article Title: Obama Extends Federal Worker Pay Freeze Until Congress Passes a Budget

Snippet of Article: "...President Obama on Tuesday said he would use his authority to give federal employees an across-the-board 0.5 percent pay raise in 2013, but the increase will not take effect until Congress passes a budget...."

Source: www.nationaljournal.com 2013 pay raise

Phased retirement to come ASAP for Federal Employees

Article Title: Federal employee phased retirement details emerge

Snippet of Article: "...The government’s central personnel agency has said that allowing federal employees to phase into retirement is one of its important goals and it will make the option available “as soon as possible.”..."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

2013 COLA for Federal Employee retirees will be...

Article Title: Pay Raises and COLAs

Snippet of Article: "...As of the end of June, the CPI-W had increased 1.6 percent in the previous 12 months. The 2013 COLA for retirees will be determined based on the results posted at the end of September 2012. That means price increases and decreases during July, August and September will affect the COLA that retirees..."

Source: www.govexec.com

Paul Ryan is Federal Workers Worst Nightmare

Article Title: Romney Picks Ryan to Slash the U.S. Government

Snippet of Article: "...For federal, state and local government workers around the country, Ryan is unions’ worst nightmare. He believes unions are antithetical to free enterprise, not a way to protect workers against intolerable working conditions and exploitation by money-grubbing corporations, more concerned about the bottom line than employee welfare. ..."

Source: www.examiner.com Paul Ryan, anti-union, anti-working calss,

Federal workers fear sequestration

Article Title: Federal workers fret about jobs as sequestration looms

Snippet of Article: "...Moten said that most federal employees as well as the union believe that despite hyper-partisan exchanges in Washington, the political parties will come to some agreement to defuse the crisis before the Jan. 2 deadline...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Sequestration: What federal leaders should be doing right now

Article Title: The threat of sequestration: What federal leaders should be doing right now

Snippet of Article: "...Managers are bracing for significant program and service cutbacks and staffing changes, including possible furloughs and layoffs. In some agencies, the impact includes delays in filling critical vacancies and in signing new contracts or renewing existing ones..."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com sequestration

2013 pay raise still silent

Article Title: Senate appropriators OK military pay raise, reject layoff notice proposal

Snippet of Article: "...The Senate’s version of the $604.5 billion appropriations bill does not mention a pay raise for the Pentagon’s civilian employees, in keeping with silence from lawmakers in both chambers of Congress on President Obama’s request for a..."

Source: www.govexec.com

FAA investigates near miss

Article Title: FAA Probes Near-Miss of US Airways Planes in Washington

Snippet of Article: "...U.S. regulators are investigating two near-midair collisions involving three US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) (LCC) regional jets near Washington’s Reagan National Airport on July 31.

An air-traffic controller cleared two planes..."

Source: www.businessweek.com

Veteran's Preference Points and Federal Jobs

Article Title: Veteran's Preference Points and Federal Jobs

Snippet of Article: "...If you are a Veteran you have a couple of different tools that can give you an edge in getting a civil service (Federal) job: the Preference Points and Veteran's Recruitment Appointment rule. ..."

Source: militaryvet.blogspot.com Veteran's Preference Points, Federal Jobs,

Potential federal employee layoffs on the way ...or will layoffs be averted?

Article Title: Tens of Thousands of Federal Employees to Get Layoff Notices Right Before Election

Snippet of Article: "...Moreover, to comply with a separate Congressional law, layoff notices must be given 60 days prior to any federal employee personnel cuts. That means that four days before the election, a bunch of workers in the Pentagon and throughout government, including a large segment working in the swing state of Virginia, are likely to get a pink slip...."

Source: firedoglake.com sequestration budget cuts

2013 Federal Employee Pay Raise Update

Article Title: For federal employees, budget options range from bad to worse

Snippet of Article: "...several plans to avoid sequestration would hit federal employees in other ways. House Budget Committee Republicans are citing as an alternative a bill the House passed in May. That bill would require all federal employees to pay an additional 5 percent of salary toward their retirement annuities, beginning with a 1.5 percent increase in 2013...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

2013 Federal Pay Raise Update

Article Title: Pay raise, maybe. Pay cut, probably!

Snippet of Article: "...for federal and postal workers and for retired and about-to-retire civil servants. At issue are how much (if any) of an inflation-catchup federal retirees will get in January, how much (if any) the 2013 federal pay raise will be and how much take-home pay will be cut if workers are forced to pay more for their future pensions. ..."

Source: www.federalnewsradio.com 2013 Federal Pay Raise

Best financial questions by federal workers

Article Title: Coming up: planning for your future

Snippet of Article: "...some of the best financial questions that have been raised in our seminars by your fellow federal workers. ..."

Source: www.federalnewsradio.com

Fast and Furious: Not the Postal Service!

Article Title: It's The End of an Era: No More First Class Mail

Snippet of Article: "...Beginning July 1, overnight single piece first class mail delivery will end. Henceforth, delivery will take two to three days. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced..."

Source: patch.com

Healthcare ruling means "very little" to federal workers

Article Title: Supreme Court Health Care Ruling Changes Little for Federal Employees

Snippet of Article: "...For federal employees already enrolled in the FEHP, “it basically means very little,” Walton Francis, primary author of the Consumers’ Checkbook Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees, said of the ruling...."

Source: www.nationaljournal.com obamacare, Federal Employee Health Benefits,

Postal Service / Mail Handler Union mediation effort fails to reach a negotiated settlement

Article Title: Mail Handler 2011 Contract Headed for Interest Arbitration

Snippet of Article: "...Several other factors also have come into play as the NPMHU dispute resolution process unfolds. First and foremost, the American Postal Workers Union and the Postal Service reached a comprehensive agreement in March 2011, and that agreement has been held out by some as a pattern or a baseline for future negotiations. Second, the National Association of Letter Carriers is also currently involved in interest arbitration, and has recently announced the selection of Arbitrator Shyam Das as the neutral arbitrator on that panel. Third, and perhaps of most importance, the Postal Service and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association have finalized their interest arbitration hearings, which began in December 2011, and are awaiting the decision from their panel, which is headed by Arbitrator Jack Clarke. The status of the bargaining agreements for our three sister postal unions clearly could have an effect on what is already an exceedingly complicated process regarding the NPMHU-USPS contract dispute...."

Source: www.npmhu.org National Postal Mail Handlers Union

"Fast and Furious": A Primer

Article Title: A primer on the "Fast and Furious" scandal

Snippet of Article: "..."Fast and Furious" is the name ATF assigned to a group of Phoenix, Arizona-area gun trafficking cases under Project Gunrunner that began in fall of 2009. It's the largest of several known operations in which ATF employed gunwalking..."

Source: www.cbsnews.com

USAJOBS App

Article Title: USAJOBS App

Snippet of Article: "...application puts the power of searching for a Federal job at your fingertips. This application is a companion to USAJOBS.gov, the official job site of the US Federal Government..."

Source: android-apps-iphone-apps.blogspot.com
USAJOBS App

Looking Ahead to the Federal Employee 2013 COLA

Article Title: The bad news/good news/OMG not-so-good news!

Snippet of Article: "...There are four months left to go in the retiree COLA countdown. The bad-news-good-news is that if the CPI continues to drop it will be because of lower gasoline prices and reduces prices for key staple items...."

Source: federal-retirement.blogspot.com Federal Employee 2013 COLA

Computation of FERS annuity supplement

Article Title: FERS annuity supplement Computation

Snippet of Article: "...The FERS annuity supplement is computed as if you were age 62 and fully insured for a social security benefit when the supplement begins. OPM first estimates what your full career (40 years) social security benefit would be. Then we calculate the amount of your civilian service under FERS and reduce the estimated full career social security benefit accordingly. For example, if your estimated full career social security benefit would be $1,000 and you had worked 30 years under FERS, we would divide 30 by 40 (.75) and multiply ($1,000 x .75 = $750). The result would be your FERS annuity supplement, prior to any reductions...."

Source: www.opm.gov Computation of FERS annuity supplement

Court sides with unions right to negotiate certain issues surrounding an agency's implementation of a Reduction in Force

Article Title: Court of Appeals Sides With AFGE in RIF Negotiability Case

Snippet of Article: "...In a case brought by the American Federation of Government Employees, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has upheld the right of federal unions to negotiate certain issues surrounding an agency's implementation of a Reduction in Force...."

Source: www.marketwatch.com Reduction in Force

Employment Opportunities: Many psychiatrists needed at Fort Campbell

Article Title: Fort Campbell seeks psychiatrists, 48 needed

Snippet of Article: "...The greatest need is for clinical psychiatrists, said one of the post's psychiatrists, Maj. Joe Wise. "We'd love to have a flood of interest from clinical psychiatrists," he said, "but we're still recruiting and waiting."

On the USA Jobs website, the psychiatrist postings at Fort Campbell offered salaries starting at $96,000 up to $195,000. Competitive benefits packages are included and relocation expenses are paid up to 25 percent of salary...."

Source: www.wtvq.com

OPM contractor mailed postcards to about 3,000 federal retirees with their Social Security numbers

Article Title: OPM contractor accidentally exposes retirees' Social Security numbers

Snippet of Article: "...An Office of Personnel Management contractor last October accidentally mailed postcards to about 3,000 federal retirees on which their Social Security numbers were printed, according to an inspector general report released Wednesday...."

Source: www.federaltimes.com