USPS launches new contract talks with unions

The financially struggling U.S. Postal Service kicked off contract negotiations with its four primary unions.

"We have worked successfully with our unions in the past to help transform the Postal Service and we hope to maintain this momentum during these negotiations," said Anthony Vegliante, USPS's chief human resources officer, in a news release marking the start of negotiations with the American Postal Workers Union, which represents some 211,000 clerks, mechanics, custodians and other workers.

APWU President William Burrus said in a statement that the agency's financial woes should not impede progress on a new contract: "The history of the Postal Service is replete with forecasts of doom and gloom, but such dire predictions have not prevented us from exploring every opportunity to achieve agreement."

Labor contracts with the APWU and the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association expire Nov. 20. Negotiations between the Postal Service and NRLCA are set to begin Sept. 13. Contracts with the USPS's other two unions expire next year.

The Postal Service recently announced it lost $3.5 billion in the three-month period from April to June. It is seeking authority from Congress to defer the bulk of a $5.5 billion payment it must make into its retiree health fund at the end of this month.

GAO: Early deployment hurt ship program

This year's "early deployment" of the littoral combat ship Freedom hurt the overall progress of the full LCS program, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

Freedom's extended homeport change from Norfolk, Va., to San Diego, and its participation in this year's Rim of the Pacific exercises, meant the ship was not available to test key parts of the LCS concept, according to the report, and that caused delays.

And even as Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead has said that the Navy must put a new priority on anti-submarine warfare, GAO found that sub-hunting systems planned for LCS "do not contribute significantly to the anti-submarine warfare mission."

Investigators also found that the Navy continues to struggle with technical problems aboard its first two ships, even as work continues on its third and fourth, potentially requiring the service and its shipbuilders to change designs, redo work or make other late alterations to LCS 3 and 4.

Report details missing Bush-era e-mails

Government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has a new report detailing the Bush administration's failure to archive millions of e-mails.

The report — "The Untold Story of the Bush White House Emails" — sheds light on tens of thousands of Bush-era documents that CREW and the National Security Archive won access to through a multiyear lawsuit. The records show that top White House officials knew about ongoing problems with the e-mail archiving system, but repeatedly refused to take corrective action, according to CREW. Among the missing e-mails was information from the vice president's office during the period when the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson was leaked, according to the report. While attempting to restore the e-mails from individual accounts, the administration didn't restore the mailbox of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff.

New employees encouraged to give to CFC

Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry last week asked agencies to encourage new employees to donate to the Combined Federal Campaign charity drive, which began Sept. 1 and continues through fall.

Berry is concerned that when older feds — many of whom have been donating for years — retire, CFC will see a drop in donations unless younger feds take their place.

He said in a Sept. 1 memo to agency leaders that they should focus on educating newly hired workers about the program and its importance.

"The CFC is a great opportunity to further extend your public service by supporting charitable organizations which often provide services and benefits beyond what is available through the government," Berry said.

Federal employees pledged almost $282.6 million last year, which marked the seventh straight year of record-breaking donations.

Survey: Many view online services as deficient

When it comes to customer service, four out of five Americans think the federal government can do better, according to a new survey from MeriTalk.

An Aug. 31 survey found that 85 percent of the 1,000 respondents wanted agencies to provide more information online, and more Web-based options so they could solve their problems on their own.

MeriTalk, an information technology networking group, was founded by Stephen O'Keefe, of the IT marketing and public relations firm O'Keefe and Co.

More than half of the 1,000 survey respondents felt federal agencies take too long to respond to their concerns, and 41 percent were frustrated because they couldn't get straight answers to their questions. Some respondents also felt they weren't getting consistent information, the people they dealt with didn't care about their problems, or the information wasn't available.

Forty-two percent of respondents said would pay another $10 in taxes each year if it meant better government service.

GAO calls for improved pipeline security

The Transportation Security Administration has made some headway in protecting the nation's vast tangle of oil and gas pipelines, but more can be done, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released last week.

TSA's Pipeline Security Division has identified the 100 most critical pipeline systems and has developed a risk assessment model that takes into account the possible economic impact of a pipeline attack, the report found. But the model does not account for the potential public health and safety consequences of an attack. Although improvements are planned, there is no timetable for doing so.

And although the Pipeline Safety Division "has taken steps to gauge its progress in strengthening pipeline security," the report said, its strategy does not include performance measures linked to objectives.

TSA generally concurred with recommended changes, but in GAO's view, did not fully commit to implementing them.

Commission moves to expand D.C. bike rentals

The National Capital Planning Commission last week approved a final site plan to install 85 new smart bike rental locations in order to expand Washington's smart bike fleet from 100 to 1,000.

The bikes will be available for rent at these new locations as part of a program between the District and Arlington County, Va.

The commission expects to approve two additional bike stations at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and at the Office of Personnel Management headquarters this month.

NIST grant supports green building technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced a $1.5 million grant last week to encourage the manufacturing of energy-efficient building technology.

The three-year grant — to the Delaware Valley Industrial Resources Center and the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Partnership — supplements an Energy Department initiative announced Aug. 24 that provides $122 million to Pennsylvania State University for an energy innovation hub in southeastern Pennsylvania.

The NIST grant recipients will work with regional businesses to help connect the hub's research and development to production and commercial opportunities.

NASA experts help trapped miners cope

As 33 trapped Chilean miners face boredom, fear and depression while waiting two to four months to be rescued, NASA experts and space travel psychiatrists are trying to help them with the same coping mechanisms that astronauts use.

Being honest about rescue progress and providing news and sports updates and communication with the miners' families are among the most important considerations, says Jack Stuster, vice president and principal scientist of Anacapa Sciences Inc. He has worked with NASA for more than 20 years on such isolation studies.

Stuster said the miners should expect exacerbation of minor problems, withdrawal, territorial behavior and possible hostility toward rescuers or the mining company.

Interior drafts rules on scientific integrity

The Interior Department unveiled a proposed scientific integrity policy last week, only to be blasted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility for focusing on the wrong people.

"Significantly, the rules do not apply to agency managers or bar alterations of scientific reports by non-scientists for political reasons," the group said in a news release.

Published Aug. 31 in the Federal Register, the draft policy would apply to department employees and contractors "who engage in scientific activities" and volunteers who assist. It commits them to communicating "the results of scientific activities honestly, objectively, thoroughly and expeditiously." The proposal carries a 20-day comment period.

In an April report, Interior's inspector general found that the department's lack of standards could allow scientific misconduct to go unpunished.