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Federal Workforce Statistics Sources: OPM and OMB
Full text link[Excerpt] According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal workforce is composed of an estimated 2.1 million civilian workers. Several federal agencies collect, compile, and publish statistics about this workforce. Sources may vary in their totals due to differences in the methods used to compile these statistics.
For example, some sources rely on “head counts” of employees (OPM), some on total hours worked (such as the Office of Management and Budget [OMB]), some on surveys of employing agencies, and others on self-identification by workers surveyed in their homes.
In addition, federal civilian employee databases may exclude particular departments, agencies, or branches of government. Some may also account for temporary or seasonal employees (such as those employed by the U.S. Census) depending on the time of year the statistics are generated.
This report describes these sources and identifies key differences in methodologies, including data collection used by OMB and OPM. Understanding these sources and their differences will facilitate selecting appropriate data for specific purposes
Benefits for Service-Disabled Veterans
Full text link[Excerpt] The federal government, through Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), supports a number of benefits for qualified former members of the Armed Forces. Some of these benefits are targeted to veterans who, in the course of their service, incurred or aggravated an injury or contracted a disease, qualifying them as service-disabled veterans.
This report discusses major benefits that are provided to individual service-disabled veterans by the Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA). In some cases, it may omit smaller VA programs. This report divides benefits into four categories:
1. Disability Compensation is a monthly payment for veterans who have been determined to have a service-connected disability.
2. Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment benefits typically support service-disabled veterans in obtaining and maintaining suitable employment.
3. Housing grants and benefits can assist veterans in modifying their homes to accommodate a service-connected disability.
4. Other grants and benefits are available to qualified subsets of service-disabled veterans, including grants for automobiles, or clothing
Direct Federal Support of Individuals Pursuing Training and Education in Non-degree Programs
Full text link[Excerpt] This report provides an overview of existing federal programs and benefits that support individuals engaged in the pursuit of training and education in non-degree instructional and work-based learning programs. It informs consideration of additional or revised policy approaches aiming to support pursuit of training and education through non-degree programs. The report begins with a brief description of employer demand for individuals who have completed non-degree programs. This is followed by a discussion of the landscape and key characteristics of non-degree programs, from those offered through work-based learning to those offered through more formal instructional means. The report concludes with a detailed description of six federal programs and three tax benefits that currently provide direct financial support to students pursuing training and postsecondary education in non-degree instructional and work-based learning programs. Each program and benefit description highlights potential gaps and limitations in the scope and extent to which the program or benefit supports individuals pursuing non-degree programs, as well as student eligibility requirements and federal administration and oversight
DXC Dandelion Program: 2019 in Review
Full text link[Excerpt] In 2019, five new DXC Dandelion teams were implemented in organisations across Australia. In addition, based on its success and benefits, five existing clients with programs that had reached maturity, renewed their respective programs and extended the partnership. These forward-thinking organisations recognise the benefits that neurodiversity brings to their business. One of the most significant milestones achieved during the year was the establishment of an Enterprise Centre with Autism New Zealand aimed at helping individuals gain jobs in industries such as hospitality, accounting, agriculture, and IT. This new Enterprise Centre in New Zealand offers one of the world’s first on-site training and learning facilities aimed at preparing young autistic people for the working world
Immigrants in Shifting Times on Long Island, NY: The Stakes of Losing Temporary Status
Full text linkIn July 2017, President Trump held a rally on Long Island, New York and—amidst sweeping national efforts to curb immigration flows to the United States and to limit the rights of those already here—he invoked notions of Long Island’s “liberation” from the influx of immi-grants. Then, following a string of other restrictionist moves, and through a series of announcements from September 2017 to January 2018, President Trump announced the termination of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program—a long-standing humanitarian immigration program. The termination of TPS meant that the documented status and work authorization of thousands of Central American migrants—on Long Island and across the United States—could suddenly shift to undocumented status. Currently, the termination of TPS is on hold due to court injunctions; however, its future is unsettled. This Article assesses forty-two in-depth interviews with Long Island-based TPS holders who may soon become undocumented and identifies what these TPS holders will lose if TPS is terminated. This Article argues that TPS itself is an unstable and precarious status and poses significant challenges to beneficiaries. However, Long Island TPS migrants’ retrospectives about their previous undocumented lives suggest that their wages and working conditions would suffer were they to lose the legal presence and work authorization that TPS provides. Cutting the TPS program would also have destabilizing effects on other domains such as family life and TPS migrants’ sense of community safety
Economic Development on Common Ground: Two Bipartisan State Policies for Defunding Low Road Infrastructure
Full text link[Excerpt] On the backdrop of civil unrest and the nation’s politically discordant handling of COVID-19, these alarming figures bode poorly for the prospects of overcoming partisan gridlock to pass progressive, High Road legislation. At face value, members of opposing political parties seem too unwilling to cede any ground to their rivals to come together to enact meaningful change. To be sure, lawmaking bodies are even unable to agree that a global pandemic, which has thus far killed over 125,000 Americans and left tens of millions jobless, demands additional government intervention.
Nevertheless, there is at least one domain where the two sides of the political divide appear to share common ground. Organizations and authors from right-leaning free market think tanks like the Mercatus Center to the left-leaning Good Jobs First have made the case to end targeted economic development subsidies and tax incentives. The next section explores the rationale for this position. From there, the memo highlights two opportunities to reform – and ultimately phase out – economic development incentives in New York State. Both opportunities were introduced to the New York State Assembly in the 2019-20 legislative session. Thus, the legislation already exists and does not need to be drafted anew. The bills are available to be reported out of committee and put to a vote (or, since the session has ended, reintroduced in 2020-21 and then reported out of committee for a full Chamber vote). They accordingly represent near-to medium-term actions that the State legislature can take to wind down and then end a practice that, as detailed below, is roundly derided across the political spectrum. Finally, the memo concludes with an even more immediate policy target: a federal COVID-19 relief package for state and local governments that might help end the “interstate economic development arms race.
Erasing Red Lines: Epilogue - Where Do We Go From Here?
Full text linkWhile the Erasing Red Lines reports spoke of “distressed communities” and places experiencing “decline,” the core message—threaded through all three reports—is that patterns of “distress” and “decline” are products of a flawed and discriminatory political economic system. The formal act of mid-20th Century redlining was chosen to animate this core message because it is tangible and recognizable, and because its legacy is still so visible on the map today. Yet, to conclude that redlining is the sole reason, or even the main reason, for contemporary patterns of spatial inequality would be to misread the reports. Rather, redlining is merely one, albeit (in)famous, example of a biased system at work, reinforcing its biases.
On that note, how should the reports be used? And where do we go from here? This Epilogue tries to succinctly answer these two questions by recapping the essential themes, tools, and takeaways from Erasing Red Lines
WNYCOSH Issues REVISED Guidance for Grocery Stores
Full text linkGrocery stores across Western New York have made significant changes to encourage social distancing and hand washing. Additionally many stores have gone beyond our recommendations by issuing PPE and installing plexiglass shields. However, these changes require additional training and procedures to protect worker and customers alike and limit community spread. WNYCOSH is releasing the revised guidance to include the additional recommendations
Milking Outdated Laws: Alt-Labor as a Litigation Catalyst
Full text linkEven though alt-labor does not have significant labor market power when compared to labor unions, its impacts are manifold. Alt-labor has given rise to novel state and local legislation improving wages and working conditions for low-wage workers across the country. It has fostered new collaborations with government enforcement agencies to improve the implementation of rights on the books—to “make rights real.” It has promoted new bargaining and worker organizing strategies, outside of traditional models. This article highlights another achievement of alt-labor. Alt-labor has served as a catalyst for creative litigation efforts that argue for application of existing workplace protections to non-traditional populations of workers and their organizing efforts. In this way, it has pushed to reinterpret, and thus to revitalize, what many perceive to be outdated labor and employment laws. We focus on initiatives that reimagine the interpretation of these laws in light of new organizing strategies and new global economic realities, all the while staying true to the existing laws on the books. Along with raising questions, and proposing new interpretations of New Deal and civil rights era gains, sometimes alt-labor’s litigation efforts are successful and lead to case law “wins.” To build its approach, the article draws from literature on litigation as a social movement strategy and provides an in-depth analysis of the ways courageous dairy workers in upstate New York have inspired innovative litigation theories and successes. Alt-labor’s achievements as a litigation catalyst are laudable—given the challenge of enacting federal legislation to address income inequality and the decline of labor union power—in the current era
Keeping Members United in Contentious Times
Full text link[Excerpt] In contentious times, members often don’t see eye to eye, generating division and rivalries that undermine solidarity. Increasing membership diversity can lead to misunderstandings, which can escalate to disrespect. As a steward, you play a critical rol