Steve Amitay | Valiant Workforce Management Solutions

Author Archive

January 17th, 2012 by Steve Amitay

DOL Issues Final Rule on Non-displacement of Workers Under Federal Service Contracts

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its long-awaited Final Rule to implement Executive Order 13495, “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts” which was signed by President Obama back in January 2009. EO 13495 requires that in the case of all federal service contracts (covered by the Service Contract Act – SCA) , a successor contractor and its subcontractors must offer those employees employed under the predecessor contract (other than managerial and supervisory employees) a right of first refusal of employment under the successor contract in positions for which they are qualified — if their employment will be otherwise terminated as a result of the award of the successor contract. The Final Rule can be found here: http://federalregister.gov/a/2011-21261

January 10th, 2012 by Steve Amitay

NLRB Adopts Controversial Rule To Speed Up Union Elections

Legal No Comments

Right before the holidays, the National Labor Relations Board adopted a controversial Rule amending its election case procedures that will speed up union elections in what the NLRB has said is an effort “to reduce unnecessary litigation and delays.” The rule was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, December 22, and is due to take effect on April 30, 2012. Links to the final rule are below. The Rule is strongly opposed by business groups, and the GOP led House passed legislation earlier this year to void the Rule after it was proposed for adoption. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce denounced the rule as having “no conceivable purpose but to make it easier for unions to win elections” and has filed a complaint against the NLRB in federal court, seeking to invalidate the final rule and to enjoin the board from enforcing it. Also, Republican members of Congress have said they will challenge the rule pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, which could stop implementation.
Continue Reading…

November 18th, 2011 by Steve Amitay

Constitutionality of Employer Mandate Will Not be Reviewed by Supreme Court

Health Care No Comments

On Monday, November 14th, the Supreme Court announced that it had granted review of all or part of three of the five cases before it on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Oral arguments will be held in March with a decision expected in June. Unfortunately though, left out of the review were the two separate challenges to the employer mandate contained in Act. The employer mandate require that employers with 50 or more employees must provide a minimum level of health insurance to their workers beginning in 2014 or pay a fine. One challenge to the mandate was in the Liberty University case which was not granted review, and the other challenge, contained in the 26 state case (Florida et al v. HHS) challenging various provisions in the Act, was left out of the Court’s grant of review for that case. Continue Reading…

September 15th, 2011 by Steve Amitay

NLRB Issues Final Rule on Posting Union Rights

Authors, Legal No Comments

On Thursday August 25th, eight months after issuing a proposed rule, the NLRB issued a final rule that will require employers to post notices informing their employees of their rights as employees under the NLRA. The rule will go in effect on November 14, 2011. The rule can be found here: NLRB Rule on posting union rights.

Under the Rule, private-sector employers will be required to post the employee rights notice where other workplace notices are typically posted. Also, employers who customarily post notices to employees regarding personnel rules or policies on an internet or intranet site will be required to post the Board’s notice on those sites. Continue Reading…

September 1st, 2011 by Steve Amitay

Three Pro-Union Rulings Issued by NLRB

Authors No Comments

On August 31, the National Labor Relations Board released its decisions in three closely watched cases that were decided days before Dem. NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman’s term expired on August 27th. All three cases were decided on a partisan 3-1 basis and have been derided by business and employer groups. The cases were: Specialty Healthcare, Lamons Gasket, and GL-UNNICO Service Company. Continue Reading…

July 22nd, 2011 by Steve Amitay

TSA Administrator Limits Use of Private Screeners at Airports

Authors, Legal, Legislation No Comments

Recently, TSA Administrator John Pistole announced that he would essentially stop additional airports from being able to use private screeners under the "Screening Partnership Program." While not many airports (17) are involved in the program, and only a handful of security/screening companies are involved, support for the new policy from influential Democratic members of Congress and public unions, demonstrated a clear anti-private security sentiments that are applicable to all cases where the federal government is using private security. In a blatantly false statement, AFGE president John Gage said the new policy stopping further airports from using private screeners means "(t)he nation is secure in the sense that the safety of our skies will not be left in the hands of the lowest-bidder contractor, as it was before 9/11." Continue Reading…

July 6th, 2011 by Steve Amitay

Department of Labor "Persuader Activity" Rule Changes

Authors, Legislation No Comments

By June of this year, DoL intends to publish a proposed rule to expand the scope of employer-consultant reporting required under Section 203 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). Under the LMRDA, an employer must report any agreement or arrangement with a third-party consultant to persuade employees regarding their collective bargaining rights, or to gather certain information about employee activities or a labor organization in connection with a labor dispute. The labor relations consultant must also report information about such an agreement or arrangement. Continue Reading…

June 9th, 2011 by Steve Amitay

House Committee Report/Investigation Supports Private Screeners at Airports

Authors, Security No Comments

Earlier today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a report containing the results of a study/investigation the Committee conducted over the past several months on various issues and current TSA policies related to the use of private screeners at U.S. airports through the Screening Partnership Program (SPP). The report provides clear evidence that private screeners are a cost-efficient and more effective alternative to federal screeners, and its exposes TSA’s current negative stance toward the SPP as a product of unsubstantiated policy rationales, erroneous data and biased studies, and collusion government unions Continue Reading…

June 2nd, 2011 by Steve Amitay

High Road Contracting Policy

Authors, Legislation No Comments

In 2009, the Obama Administration drafted memos that envisioned changing federal acquisition policy to require positive weight in the federal acquisition source selection process be given to bidders for their labor standards for their workforce. Dubbed the "High Road Contracting Policy", each bidder on a federal contract would be assigned a scored based on labor related criteria that would include whether the bidder pays a livable wage, provides "quality, affordable health insurance," an employer-funded retirement plan and paid sick leave. Other factors would include the company’s record in complying with tax and labor laws. In additions, the labor and employment information would also be systematically collected from all contractors and be made available through a public database. Of most significance, a bidder’s "score" would be based not only on the treatment of its employees working on the government contract but to all company staffers.

May 26th, 2011 by Steve Amitay

Specialty Healthcare (Possible changes to how to determine bargaining units)

Authors, Legal No Comments

On December 22, 2010, the NLRB invited parties to file briefs in Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a case that addresses appropriate bargaining unit composition in long-term care facilities. In Specialty Healthcare, the United Steelworkers sought to represent a unit of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at the employer’s nursing home. The employer, however, wanted to include support staff in the bargaining unit. The Board found that a bargaining unit of solely CNAs was appropriate and the employer appealed. The Board granted the employer’s request for review, using this case to determine if the way the Board makes unit determinations is appropriate – not just for health care workers, but for all other industries as well. Said the Board,

Older Entries

Author

Stephen Amitay is the president of Amitay Consulting LLC, a lobbying and consulting firm in Washington D.C. For the past four years, Mr. Amitay has served as federal legislative counsel for the National Association of Security Companies (NASCO), the nation’s largest contract security association. Additionally, for the past twelve years, Mr. Amitay has been counsel to ASIS International, the world’s largest association of security professionals. Through his work for NASCO and ASIS, he is involved in many issues at the intersection of government policy and security.

On behalf of NASCO, Mr. Amitay advises and advocates on national issues of concern for the contract security industry as well as greater labor and employment issues. Current industry issues include; the use of contract guards by federal government agencies and insourcing; the implementation of standards for security officers; and access to FBI background information. For the past several years he has worked with Federal Protective Service (FPS) officials, the Senate and House Homeland Security Committees, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on matters related to the FPS Contract Guard Program. Mr. Amitay has testified twice before Congress on FPS guard related issues.

Previously, Mr. Amitay was a professional staff member on the then Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Federalism and D.C. where his work centered on federal government procurement, pharmaceutical industry oversight, and federal-state assistance programs. Mr. Amitay earned a B.A. at Columbia University and J.D. at Georgetown University, and is a member of the Maryland and D.C. Bars.