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.
EMPLOYMENT--"Over the last decade and a half, news stories of corporate downsizings and job eliminations have been featured almost daily. For most of this period, federal employees were only spectators, observing sympathetically from the safety of the last bastion of 'job security' for the American worker." Times have changed (Board of Trade News, December).
IN PAIN-"After more than a year of relative calm, companies are back in the thick of one of the hottest workplace debates of the decade: What is causing the rising tide of repetitive stress injuries -- from tendinitis to lower back strain -- and who should pay for the pain?" (USA TODAY).
THE FEDERAL DIARY--"Although they can't add money to their accounts, thousands of retired federal workers have millions of dollars in the thrift savings plan" (The Washington Post).
CUSTOMER SERVICE--"Agencies that don't have big customer service improvement plans can begin their efforts with small steps," according to an official at the National Performance Review (FEND's Government Performance Report).
MLK HOLIDAY--Plans to reschedule the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the District, and eliminating it as a paid holiday this year, are drawing fire from union leaders (The Washington Times).
WORKPLACE--"The impetus for helping workers find sources of on-the-job meaning may be less altruism than the need to compensate workers for more demanding, but less secure jobs" (The Wall Street Journal).
OTHER VIEWS--Pension fund is solid (San Francisco Chronicle, December 17)...Information available on summer jobs (Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, December 2).
NEXT STORY: Lott's Skepticism on Budget