Feds Win First Protest in Job Competition Energy Department employees won a protest over the decision to outsource logistics operations at the Washington headquarters. The National Treasury Employees Union said the ruling by a department procurement official marks the first time an employee group has successfully protested a decision to outsource work under the Bush administration’s competitive sourcing initiative. The Energy employees designated the union’s national president, Colleen Kelley, as their representative in the protest. In March Energy announced it would award a five-year contract worth $26.7 million to Logistics Applications Inc. of Alexandria, VA. Both the employees and the department’s agency tender official, who supervised the employees’ bid, protested the decision. The department procurement official found that the contractor’s bid, which was higher than that offered by the employees, did not offer additional benefits to the department. The official also ruled that it was unfair to base the decision on the average hourly rate of the workers, because that factor was not disclosed in the solicitation. The public-private competition involved about 70 employees. OPM Workers Win Competition The Office of Personnel Management said 52 information technology specialists won a public-private competition at the agency’s Macon, GA, facility. Using a streamlined competition under OMB Circular A-76, the agency compared the employees’ offer with prices available under GSA schedules. OPM said the employees agreed to reduce their overtime in a move that would save the government $9 million over five years. Employee groups have won 12 of 13 streamlined competitions conducted by OPM and one of two standard competitions, involving units with more than 65 workers. OMB reported that federal employees won nearly 90% of the jobs that were competed governmentwide in fiscal 2004.