Postal Service managers suing for higher pay

In today's Federal Newscast, the National Association of Postal Supervisors has filed a lawsuit against USPS seeking back pay to match private sector pay.

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  • A group of more than 50,000 postal managers say the Postal Service doesn’t pay them what they deserve. The National Association of Postal Supervisors has filed a lawsuit against USPS, seeking back pay for managers, postmasters, and other administrative professionals, to match what their counterparts earn in the private sector. The lawsuit stems from a public-and-private-sector pay comparison the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service completed last year. (National Association of Postal Supervisors)
  • At least one House lawmaker wants to get rid of official time entirely for federal employees. Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) introduced the Do Your Job Act. The bill would eliminate all official time for all eligible federal employees. The Office of Personnel Management says federal employees in 2016 spent over 3.5 million hours on official time. Other members of Congress have made similar attempts in recent years to limit or get rid of official time entirely. They haven’t been successful.
  • There has been another small step closer in the ongoing effort to transfer the security clearance program from the Office of Personnel Management to the Pentagon. Employees at the National Background Investigations Bureau received official offers yesterday to become Defense Department employees. Defense officials say NBIB employees who move will keep their same grade pay and title, they’ll simply become employees of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency under different payroll and personnel systems. All 3,200 NBIB employees received official notices. (Federal News Network)
  • The health records for over 23 million veterans have been migrated to a Cerner Corporation data center. The Veterans Affairs Department says it’s a major milestone in the agency’s initial plans to migrate data to a common electronic health record that’s interoperable with the Defense Department. VA says it’s compiled 78 billion records so far from all of its medical centers. This data will eventually move automatically to a Cerner data center, and then to the Cerner Millennium platform. VA, DOD and community care providers will have access to this data. (Department of Veterans Affairs)
  • If you’re on the hunt for a federal management position, the U.S. Copyright Office has an opening. The agency is currently looking for a new Chief of Operations, who will act as a principal adviser to the Register of Copyrights on all aspects of operations and planning. The position is also be responsible for coordinating and directing certain operational activities of the Copyright Office, including human resources and administrative services, and create short- and long-term goals for each office. Applications are due by September 9. (U.S. Copyright Office)
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has launched a new award and workforce-training program as part of the agency’s 230th anniversary. Pompeo said the agency will now accept nominations for its “One Team Award”, which aims to honor employees who exemplify the agency’s mission. He’s also launched a mandatory training program for new hires, focused around a new “professional ethos” he unveiled in April. (Federal News Network)
  • The Justice Department has made the largest award to date under the new telecommunications contract. DOJ picked AT&T to provide fully managed IP, voice, data, security and cloud access services to more than 120,000 employees. Under the 15-year, $984 million deal through the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions or EIS vehicle, Justice says the contract will serve as a catalyst for its long-term technology priorities. These include making cloud adoption easier across its 43 components and supporting the department’s Joint Cloud Optimized Trusted Internet Connection Service, which will improve security, reliability and speed of a multi-cloud environment. (AT&T)
  • The Army has picked eight vendors to provide mobile and desktop devices under a 10-year, $5 billion contract. The Army Desktop and Mobile Computing-3 vehicle replaces the popular version 2, which received more than $6 billion in orders over its 13-year life. The Army made an initial award of ADMC-3 in February 2017 but unsuccessful bidders protested the decision. The Army pulled back the awards and recompeted it. (Department of Defense)
  • Air Force Major General Glen VanHerck is nominated as the next director of the Joint Staff. VanHerck is currently the vice director of the Joint Staff. He previously commanded the Air Force Warfare Center. VanHerck will take over for current director Vice Admiral Michael Gilday, who if confirmed will be the next chief of naval operations. (Department of Defense)
  • Air Force Lieutenant General Brad Webb takes over as the head of Air Education and Training Command. He is the former commander of Air Force Special Operations Command. Webb will inherit the Air Force’s Pilot Training Next program, which is trying to improve how pilots learn to fly by using virtual reality and big data to track the way they absorb information. Webb is replacing Lieutenant General Steven Kwast.
  • The Pentagon could become more transparent under new Defense Secretary Mark Esper. A memo from Jonathan Hoffman, Esper’s new public affairs chief, tells senior Defense officials to look for more opportunities for public engagement, including through the media. The memo says officials throughout the department should try to stick to their areas of expertise during those engagements, but that local commanders are in the best position to decide how to balance transparency with operational security.

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