VA’s proposal to privatize work would cut 160 jobs in Buffalo
Buffalo Niagara could lose as many as 160 government jobs if Congress goes through with a plan to outsource the processing of educational benefits for veterans.
Teaming up to fight privatizing the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ jobs are Rep. Louise M. Slaughter and Linda Rieck, a local union official, who say it could create delays and other difficulties for veterans seeking enhanced G. I. benefits.
Under a new educational law for veterans, there is a provision that requires that the claims be handled by non-government workers, starting in August 2009.
“Rather than using experienced employees to carefully and competently determine which education program is most advantageous for each veteran, you contend that you will have software up and running that will make this determination in just a few moments without consideration to an individual’s circumstances,” Slaughter, D-Fairport, wrote to VA Secretary James Peake.
Local VA employees currently processing education benefits, according to Slaughter, have been informed that they will no longer be needed. But if the software fails, the congresswoman added, it “bodes poorly for any contingency plan.”
Rieck, president of Local 3314 of the American Federation of Government Employees, said that despite VA plans to provide other employment to the 160 workers, there is no guarantee they will remain at the VA Regional Processing Center on South Elmwood Avenue in downtown Buffalo.
“I’m sure an employee is not going to move to Florida as a VA receptionist for $20,000-a-year less just to be guaranteed a job,” Rieck said of situations these educational specialists may face.
“Where will the veterans turn for help when private sector workers not trained in VA benefits pay them incorrectly or their eligibility is incorrectly determined?”
Slaughter, in expressing skepticism, cited past outsourcing failures by the VA and how it has put the system in jeopardy of delivering care to veterans.
“Your department recently transferred the Education Division Call Center function to a contractor. At the [Congressional] hearing last week, VA witnesses acknowledged that the contractor performed very poorly and the work was brought back to the VA where it has since significantly improved.
“Similarly, in 2003, the Department of Veterans Affairs paid a prominent defense contractor to install a computer system to track supplies in VA hospitals. This contract resulted in so many problems that it ultimately threatened patients’ health and cost U. S. taxpayers $300 million,” she stated.
Slaughter’s letter, which was signed by several other members of Congress, requests a response from Peake by Oct. 15.
The Buffalo VA processing center has about 300 employees, including workers who handle claims for disability compensation and pensions.
In addition to Buffalo, there are three other processing centers for educational claims, St. Louis, Atlanta and Muskogee, Okla., for a total of 850 workers at the four centers. Slaughter said their turnaround time on responses to claims is an average of “just 20 days.”
Efforts to get a response from the VA’s headquarters in Washington, D. C., were unsuccessful.
