FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2001
January 26, 2001
Magda Lynn Seymour
John Irvine
(202) 639-6419
AFGE Calls on President Bush to Halt Mistreatment in Justice Department of Guard & Reserve Employees
“The National Guard and Reserve are an integral part of our defense forces, as well as welcome relief to millions of Americans during times of national emergency,” said AFGE National President Bobby L. Harnage. “DoJ is dissuading men and women from serving their country in this capacity with these burdensome personnel regulations. AFGE is calling on President Bush to correct this terrible wrong.”
The primary issue in the MSPB appeal is the charging of military and annual leave for non-workdays and holidays that fall during a period of reserve duty. Current DoJ personnel regulations authorize this discriminatory practice.
According to the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), more than half of the men and women serving in our armed forces are members of the National Guard and Reserve. They meet the same standards as their active duty counterparts. However, because they do not serve full-time, the cost to the government is far less.
BoP employees are particularly committed to the military. Of the 30,675 BoP employees, 33.1 percent have veteran’s status. Total federal civilian distribution by veteran status in the executive branch (non-postal) agencies worldwide, as of September 30, 1998, was 468,817—26.7 percent. (Source: OPM)
AFGE, representing 600,000 federal and D.C. employees in the U.S. and overseas, is the largest federal employees union in the United States. Go to www.afge.org and learn more about AFGE.
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