AFGE files unfair labor practice against Bureau of Prisons

Federal Newscast

On top of the base pay raise, housing allowances are increasing by 5.4%.

Michele Sandiford

January 7, 2025 5:59 pm

< a min read

The American Federation of Government Employees filed an unfair labor practice against the Bureau of Prisons for its decision to close seven facilities. AFGE said this decision impacts more than 400 union members in seven states. AFGE said the bureau made the decision to close the facilities without warning or consultation with the union, which violated the terms of its labor-management agreement. In the unfair labor practice, AFGE is asking the Federal Labor Relations Authority to halt the implementation of this reorganization and require BOP to bargain with the union.
(AFGE files unfair labor practice against Bureau of Prisons - American Federation of Government Employees)

A federal buildings disposal board is getting more time to address underutilized space. The Public Buildings Reform Board helps the federal government’s landlord, the General Services Administration, to identify properties that agencies no longer need, and to sell or repurpose them. The board was originally scheduled to sunset in May 2025. But President Joe Biden signed a bill last week that gives the board another year and a half to complete its work. The board is finalizing its third round of recommendations. It expects to complete a fourth round by December 2026.
(Federal buildings disposal board gets more time to address underutilized space - Federal News Network)

President Joe Biden plans to sign a proclamation that would create two new national monuments in California. The order will establish the Chuckwalla National Monument near Joshua Tree National Park in southern California, and the Sattitla National Monument in the Cascade Mountains of Northern California. Two more swaths of public land are about to be added to the National Park Service’s inventory.
(Pres. Biden to sign proclamation creating two new national monuments - Associated Press)

One of the longest serving agency CIOs is retiring from federal service. Guy Cavallo, the Office of Personnel Management’s chief information officer, is retiring from federal service after more than 23 years. Cavallo’s last day is Jan.10, Federal News Network has learned. Cavallo has been OPM’s CIO since 2020, taking over for current federal CIO Clare Martorana. OPM deputy CIO Melvin Brown is expected to be named acting CIO until the agency names a permanent replacement. Cavallo will remain in the federal sector, working for an IT consulting firm, where he will be doing a mix of federal, state and local work. During his tenure, Cavallo led the agency's two-year sprint to the cloud, replacing or migrating over 50 applications from on-premise data centers.
(OPM CIO Cavallo retiring after 23 years in government - Federal News Network)

The first military paycheck of 2025 includes one of the biggest increases in decades: 14.5% for junior enlisted service members, and 4.5% for everyone else. But some troops will get even bigger raises in the New Year. On top of the base pay raise, housing allowances are increasing by 5.4%. But those raises vary widely depending on troops’ duty stations. Some are as high as 20%, and some areas will actually decrease compared to 2024.
(https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-report/2025/01/heres-where-military-families-will-see-the-biggest-housing-allowance-raises-in-2025/ - Federal News Network)

Veterans Affairs is expanding access to GI Bill benefits for reenlisting veterans. A Supreme Court ruling last year means veterans who served multiple periods of military service are eligible for 12 more months of education benefits. The VA estimates more than a million veterans are eligible for the expanded education benefit. Under VA’s earlier policy veterans with at least two periods of military service were limited to 36 months maximum of GI Bill benefits. Veterans under the new policy can now qualify for up to 48 months of these benefits.
(VA expands access to GI Bill benefits for Veterans who served multiple periods of service SOURCE: Department of Veterans Affairs - Department of Veterans Affairs)

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is shedding more light on the Treasury Department hack. CISA said there is no indication at this time that other agencies beyond Treasury were hacked as part of the incident uncovered last month. The cyber agency said it’s working with both Treasury and BeyondTrust, the vendor at the center of the hack, to understand and mitigate the impacts. Late last month, Treasury notified Congress that China-connected hackers had accessed some agency workstations and unclassified documents. The hackers had compromised BeyondTrust, a cloud-based software service, to break into Treasury systems.
(CISA update on Treasury breach - Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency)

The chairman and CEO of cybersecurity firm Tenable, Amit Yoran died unexpectedly on Friday. In an announcement, the company said Yoran had been battling cancer. He was 54. Yoran joined Tenable as CEO in 2016. He had previously served as president of RSA Security. In 2003, Yoran was named founding director of the National Cyber Security Division at the newly created Department of Homeland Security. Tenable said it had appointed CFO Steve Vintz and COO Mark Thurmond to serve as co-CEOs for the immediate future.
(Tenable announces the passing of chairman and CEO Amit Yoran - Tenable)