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As labs, storage areas, and offices are packed up and moved, GESTA would like to remind employees that there are established procedures for reporting hazards, close calls, and mishaps. Every year during safety week we're shown examples of what can happen if safety procedures aren't followed. NASA Goddard carries a long tradition of learning from past mistakes so we don't repeat them. Reporting hazards, mishaps and close calls helps all of us to remain safer in our workplace and protect both people and hardware.
Amidst the chaos and frenzy of the building closure timelines enacted by management, a lot of equipment is being excessed very quickly. Below is a quick review of the proper process for excessing government equipment. Additionally, people in labs not impacted by building moves may be interested in the last section on Reclaiming Excessed Equipment to give a new home to equipment that other labs have been forced to excess.
Below we provide a step-by-step walk through of the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Hotline page for reporting information and concerns related to crime, waste, fraud and abuse.
We have heard reports of Goddard-campus civil servants being directed to come onsite during the shutdown to complete building move activities, including moves of both offices and laboratories. We have significant concerns that such activities during a government shutdown may be illegal under the Antideficiency Act, which defines what activities may continue during a lapse in appropriations (see also the NASA shutdown Continuity of Operations Plan). Violating the Antideficiency Act carries potential penalties of suspension without pay, removal from office, fines of up to $5000, or up to two years in prison.
Any work that happens during a shutdown also has to be approved, first at the Center management level and then at the NASA HQ-level by a Shutdown Executive Committee (SEC) led by the Agency Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Stephen Shinn. If you receive instructions that you believe may violate the Antideficiency Act, we recommend that you do the following (note that you can do these in any order, or at the same time). We write to provide an update and advice in response to Associate Center Director Raymond Rubilotta’s recent email announcement of imminent office and laboratory moves that will severely reduce the Goddard campus footprint. We note that unlike what is implied in the Associate Center Director’s email these moves and closures go well beyond what agency leadership had approved in Goddard's 2019 20-Year Master plan. We are very concerned these moves are not being orchestrated in accordance with NASA and GSFC established policies regarding the moving and disposing of equipment and documents. We are also gravely concerned that the unstrategic processes being followed jeopardize human safety, flight hardware and expensive lab equipment, and will compromise GSFC core engineering and science capabilities.
GESTA had previously met and bargained in good faith with Center management on building moves given they constitute changes in employees' working conditions. Due to Executive Order 14343, management is no longer recognizing our Collective Bargaining Agreement, and these negotiations with management have been halted. However, we urge NASA management to ensure that if buildings must be closed due to budgetary reasons, these closures happen safely and strategically. We will be exploring other actions we may take to ensure this. Our advice to employees is: Although we sincerely hope a Reduction in Force (RIF) does not occur at Goddard, we want to share some information on your rights and what you should do if a RIF does occur and you receive a RIF notice. The information below is taken in part from “A Civil Servant's Guide To Reductions In Force” by the Civil Service Strong organization, GESTA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Sect 18., information from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) RIF Website and OPM’s Employee Guide to Career Transition. We encourage you to read the information at those links as well.
At the end of my last article, I promised to write about both the bargaining and grievance Articles in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). That turns out to be an awful lot for one article, so I’m dividing it into two; this article focuses on grievances that can be filed by individual bargaining unit members, the next one will address bargaining and arbitration, unless events change our priorities. Both bargaining and arbitration are addressed by GESTA as an organization representing employees, not by individuals.
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