News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

The following news summaries are from OPM AM, the daily newsletter of the Office of Personnel Management. OPM AM is available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board, at 202-606-4800.

THE FEDERAL DIARY--"From a legislative standpoint, 1996 could be a vintage year for federal workers and retirees. For instance: Workers can look forward to more tax-deferred investment options. Retirees will get inflation adjustments sooner rather than later. Feds worried about losing seniority protection during layoffs can relax" (The Washington Post).

SHUTTLE STARTS SHIFT INTO PRIVATE VENTURE--"NASA yesterday began the formal transfer of many space shuttle operations to a private venture, a move it announced last year. At a ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced the signing of a $7 billion, six-year contract with United Space Alliance, a joint venture of Rockwell International Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. The two contractors are already responsible for much of the work associated with the construction and operation of the winged space planes. The shift is to be gradual, with flight safety remaining the top priority and maintaining the shuttle flight schedule second, NASA will continue to own the four shuttles, control launch decisions, hire astronauts and monitor safety issues....The move is part of a government-wide effort to privatize' more activities, mainly to save money" (The Washington Post).

CONFEREES URGE CLINTON TO GET RID OF EX-IM HEAD--"The chairman of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Martin A. Kamarck, has been strongly rebuked by Congress, which warned president Clinton not to reappoint him and sent legislation yesterday to the White House ordering the elimination of Kamarck's salary next summer....The lawmakers were punishing the Ex-Im chief for the allegedly improper payment of as much as $1 million in extra salary to about 200 of the agency's employees. The overpayments, disclosed by the Office of Personnel Management early this year, averaged nearly $5,000 a year for scores of workers whom the agency said it could not afford to lose" (The Washington Post).

NEW HARD LINE BY BIG COMPANIES THREATENS GERMAN WORK BENEFITS- "Shrugging off wide-scale workers protests over the last few days, Germany's biggest industrial corporations plan to trim back some of the most generous employee benefits in the world. In a hard-line stance that marks a major departure form Germany's tradition of collaboration between management and labor, companies ... plan to take advantage of a new law that goes into effect Tuesday and immediately cut sick pay by 20 percent--even though their workers are covered by labor contracts that do not expire until later next year" (The New York Times).