Obama tests work policies on federal contractors

WASHINGTON — Sidestepping Congress, President Barack Obama is using the federal government's vast array of contractors to impose rules on wages, pay disparities and hiring on a segment of the private sector that gets taxpayer money and falls under his control.

Obama this week plans to issue an order prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against workers who discuss their pay. He will also direct the Labor Department to issue new rules requiring federal contractors to provide compensation data that includes a breakdown by race and gender.

In a separate action Monday, Obama intends to announce 24 schools that will share more than $100 million in grants to redesign themselves to better prepare high school students for college or for careers. The awards are part of an order Obama signed last year. Money for the program comes from fees that companies pay for visas to hire foreign workers for specialized jobs.

The steps, which Obama will take Tuesday at a White House event, take aim at pay disparities between men and women. The Senate this week is scheduled to take up gender pay equity legislation that would affect all employers, but the White House-backed bill doesn't have enough Republican support to overcome procedural obstacles and will likely fail.

The work policy changes demonstrate that even without legislation, the president can drive economic policy. At the same time, they show the limits of his power when he doesn't have congressional support.

Republicans say Obama is pushing his executive powers too far and should do more to work with Congress. His new executive orders are sure to lead to criticism that he is placing an undue burden on companies and increasing their costs.

Federal contracting covers about one-quarter of the U.S. workforce and includes companies ranging from Boeing to small parts suppliers and service providers. As a result, presidential directives can have a wide and direct impact. But such actions also can be undone by future presidents or by congressional action.

Tuesday's executive order and presidential memorandum on pay equity measures come two months after Obama ordered federal contractors to increase their minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour — the same increase Obama and Democrats are struggling to get Congress to approve nationwide.

Obama in 2012 issued an order that prohibited government contractors or subcontractors from, among other things, charging employees recruitment fees, a practice that some companies have been accused of employing in their overseas operations.

In his first month in office, he required that certain large federal contractors hire service workers who had been employed by the previous contractor on the job. He also has prohibited federal contractors from using federal funds to influence workers' decisions on whether to join a union.

Jeffrey Hirsch, a former lawyer with the National Labor Relations Board, said presidential executive orders that affect federal contracting workforces can demonstrate that those practices are less onerous than initially imagined.

"It's an important step in implementing things in a broader scale," said Hirsch, now a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Obama's go-it-alone strategy is hardly new. And his rate of signing executive orders is similar to that of President George W. Bush and lower than that of President Bill Clinton. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the most active signer of executive orders, issuing them at the rate of nearly one a day. But Obama has the lowest rate of executive orders since President Grover Cleveland, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution.

Tuesday's executive actions are designed to let workers discuss and compare their wages openly if they wish to do so and to provide the government with better data about how federal contractors compensate their workers.

"This really is about giving people access to more information both to help them make decisions at the policy level but also for individuals," said Heather Boushey, executive director and chief economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She has been working with the administration to get compensation information about the nation's workforce.

"This is definitely an encouraging first step," she said.

Federal contractors, however, worry that additional compensation data could be used to fuel wage-related lawsuits, said James Plunkett, director of labor policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

What's more, he said, such orders create a two-tiered system where rules apply to federal contractors but not to other employers. Those contractors, knowing that their business relies on the government, are less likely to put up a fight, he said.

"Federal contractors ultimately know that they have to play nicely to a certain extent with the federal government," he said.

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Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

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Barbara Walters sets May 16 for exit

NEW YORK — Barbara Walters plans to make her final appearance on "The View" on May 16, part of a daylong retirement celebration that will include ABC News naming its New York headquarters after her.

Later that night, ABC will air a two-hour prime-time special on her career. Walters, who is 84, began in television in 1961 and became the medium's best-known interviewer. She announced last year that she will retire from regular TV appearances.

Walters will remain involved behind the scenes as an executive producer at "The View," the daytime talk show she invented.

ABC said Monday that Walters will also be a lifelong member of the ABC News team, and will make special appearances as news warrants.

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Online:

http://abc.go.com/shows/the-view/

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Laclede buys Energen's gas utility for $1.28B

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Laclede Group is spending about $1.28 billion in cash to acquire the natural gas utility business of Energen.

For Energen, the sale pushes it closer to becoming a pure exploration and production company. The Birmingham company said Monday that it will use the proceeds to reduce debt, allowing it to accelerate drilling and development of its Permian Basin assets starting next year.

The deal also comes with about $320 million of debt for Laclede. Energen's after-tax proceeds are estimated at $1.1 billion.

The Laclede Group Inc. is a natural gas utility with about 1.13 million customers in Missouri. With the acquisition of Alabama Gas Corp., it picks up more than 422,000 customers.

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$1B Boston convention center upgrade gets airing

BOSTON — State lawmakers are considering a proposed $1.1 billion expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition center in South Boston.

Supporters of the measure say the facility that opened in 1997 isn't big enough to attract many large-scale national and international conventions. They say expanding the convention center and adding hotel rooms would generate new jobs and other economic benefits for the region.

The House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to discuss financing for the project.

Current plans call for no new taxes of fees. Instead, proceeds from the state's current hotel occupancy tax would be used to support bonds issued for construction.

The Pioneer Institute has warned the convention center expansion could divert capital funds from other state projects.

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Boston's bike share program thrives

BOSTON — Boston's bicycle sharing program, which just opened for its fourth season, is thriving at a time when similar programs in other cities are struggling financially.

The Boston Globe  reports that Hubway opened last week with a positive financial prognosis, a fresh contract between the city and bike-share operators, an expectation that the system will continue turning a profit, and plans for 10 new stations.

Montreal's bike-share program filed for bankruptcy in January. Last month, reports surfaced that operators of New York's program had asked for tens of millions of dollars in aid from the city.

Some have attributed Hubway's success to more conservative choices — closing for winter and launching with a compact system that spread cautiously — as well as its dependence on both public and private money.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com

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APNewsBreak: Obama actions test workplace ideas

WASHINGTON — Lacking congressional backing to raise wages or end gender pay disparities, President Barack Obama is imposing his policies directly on federal contractors, following a long-established tradition of presidents exerting their powers on a fraction of the economy directly under their control.

This week, the president will sign an executive order that would prohibit federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their pay with each other. The prohibition on the wage "gag rules" is similar to language in a Senate bill aimed at closing a pay gap between men and women. That legislation is scheduled for a vote this week, though it is not likely to pass.

In addition, Obama on Tuesday will direct the Labor Department to adopt regulations requiring federal contractors to provide compensation data based on sex and race. The president will sign the executive order and the presidential memo during an event at the White House where he will be joined Lilly Ledbetter, whose name appears on a pay discrimination law Obama signed in 2009.

This week's steps showcase Obama's efforts to take action without congressional approval and illustrate how even without legislation, the president can drive policy on a significant segment of the U.S. economy. At the same time, it also underscores the limits of his ambition when he doesn't have the backing of Congress for his initiatives.

Republicans maintain that Obama is pushing his executive powers too far and that he should do more to work with Congress. His new executive orders are sure to prompt criticism that he is placing an undue burden on companies and increasing their costs.

Federal contracting covers about one-quarter of the U.S. workforce and includes companies ranging from Boeing to small parts suppliers and service providers. As a result, presidential directives can have a wide and direct impact. Such actions also can be largely symbolic, designed to spur action in the broader economy.

"This really is about giving people access to more information both to help them make decisions at the policy level but also for individuals," said Heather Boushey, executive director and chief economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth who has been working with the administration to get compensation information about the nation's workforce.

"This is definitely an encouraging first step," she said.

Federal contractors, however, worry that additional compensation data could be used to fuel wage related lawsuits, said James Plunkett, director of labor policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

What's more, he said, such orders create a two-tiered system where rules apply to federal contractors but not to other employers. Those contractors, knowing that their business relies on the government, are less likely to put up a fight, he said.

"Federal contractors ultimately know that they have to play nicely to a certain extent with the federal government," he said.

Separately, on Monday, Obama will also announce the 24 schools that will share in more than $100 million in grants to redesign their schools to better prepare high school students for college or for careers. The awards are part of an executive order Obama signed last year. Money for the program comes from fees that companies pay for visas to hire foreign workers for specialized jobs.

The moves represent a return to economic issues for the president after two weeks devoted almost exclusively to diplomacy and the final deadline for health insurance coverage. A trip to Asia in two weeks is sure to change the focus once again.

Still, Obama has declared this a year of action, whether Congress supports him or not.

In February, Obama signed an executive order increasing the hourly minimum wage for federal contractors from $7.25 per to $10.10. While White House officials estimated such an increase would affect only a small percentage of federal contract workers, they said the move could encourage states or individual businesses to act on their own to increase workers' wages.

Obama has also pushed his workplace initiatives beyond just federal contractors where possible. Last month he instructed the Labor Department to come up with new workplace overtime rules for all employers, a power the administration has under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

But presidents have most direct power over the workforce that is paid with taxpayers' money.

Obama's go-it-alone strategy is hardly new. The most enduring workplace anti-discrimination laws began with an executive order signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in June 25, 1941, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, creed and national origin in the federal government and defense industries.

President John F. Kennedy broadened that in 1961 with an order that required government contractors to take affirmative action to ensure hiring "without regard to their race, creed, color or national origin."

President George W. Bush also acted on his own when he ordered federal contractors to ensure that their workers were in the country legally by requiring the use of an electronic employment-verification system.

Jeffrey Hirsch, a former lawyer with the National Labor Relations Board, said presidential executive orders that affect federal contracting workforces can over time demonstrate that those practices are less onerous than initially imagined.

"It's an important step in implementing things in a broader scale," said Hirsch, now a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

By employing such executive actions, however, Obama has also drawn attention to areas where he has chosen not to act on his own.

The White House has resisted pressure from gay rights advocates who want have Obama to sign an anti-discrimination executive order that would protect gays and lesbians working for federal contractors. The White House wants the House to approve a Senate-passed bill extending those protections to all Americans.

On Friday, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group, criticized the White House for saying such an executive order would be redundant if Congress were to pass a White House-supported bill. It's an argument the White House has not made when it comes to minimum wage or anti-gag rule orders imposed on federal contractors.

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

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What’s causing RAV4’s tire pressure warning to light?

I have a 2005 Toyota RAV4 with 115K miles. Intermittently the dashboard's tire pressure warning light comes on, even when all tires are within 4-5 pounds. This is the indirect-type TPM system associated with the ABS brakes. I use the "blinks 3 times" method to get the light to stay off after verifying pressures. The dealer has no clue what is causing this and suggested just ignoring the light. The tire store verified that the tires are OK.

Three of my tires pass the "Lincoln's head" test, but should probably be replaced this summer. One is a warranty replacement so is a slightly different diameter than the others. I think the warranty tire was installed after this problem started but I'm not sure. Where would you start to run this to ground?

Toyota issued a brake system service bulletin in February 2006 that indicated that the Low Tire Pressure warning light can illuminate without cause due to a lack of or improper "re-initialization" after tire replacement or tire rotation. The "blinks 3 times" procedure you described is the proper re-initialization procedure, so it's time to check the tires.

Measure the rolling diameter of each tire by one of two methods. With all four tires at equal pressure, put the vehicle on jack stands and measure the circumference of each tire with a tape measure. Or park the vehicle on dead-level ground with the steering straight, mark with chalk the pavement and each tire at the tire's center-bottom point, roll the vehicle straight forward one tire revolution and recheck each tire's chalk mark. All four marks should be at bottom center of each tire. If not, mark the pavement at each tire chalk position and measure the distance between each mark with a tape measure. This will measure the circumference of each.

Since the indirect TPM system on your vehicle uses the ABS wheel speed sensors to "look" for a wheel/tire rotational speed difference caused by low tire pressure reducing the rolling circumference of a tire, I can't help but be suspicious of the warranty replacement tire. If it is more than about 3 percent larger in circumference, it may be triggering the TPM system due to its larger circumference and different rotational speed.

L L L

I would like to know what is going on with my 1998 Toyota 4-Runner. The engine makes this growling, groaning noise. It sounds like a power steering pump but the noise only appears when the weather is cold. During warm weather it hardly makes any noise. It has 160,000 miles on it, has plenty of pep and runs like a champ. I do not have any problems steering the car. Do you have any suggestions?

Have you ever had the power steering system flushed and refilled with fresh fluid? After 16 years and 160,000 miles, aerated and contaminated power steering fluid may well be causing the whine in cold weather. First, try adding a couple of ounces of SeaFoam Trans-Tune or similar power steering fluid additive. Better yet, have the system flushed and refilled with new fluid. I'll bet this stops the whine.

L L L

Recently on a road trip I was passed by a car on which one of its rear tires appeared to be bouncing up and down. A few miles up the road, it was stopped. That tire had blown out and had taken most of the back bumper with it. What causes a tire to be vibrating like that when cruising on the interstate at 75 miles an hour?

An ignorant motorist. I can't imagine the driver not feeling the vibration from that wobbling tire at that speed. Unfortunately, I've seen more than enough evidence of major problems that potentially affect vehicle safety being completely ignored by the motorist, primarily because nothing had happened yet.

In this case, I would suspect two possibilities. First, a tire that has suffered a structural failure or belt separation in the carcass or a progressive separation of the tread, which could explain the rear bumper damage. Secondly, a dead shock absorber/strut on that corner of the vehicle. The uncontrolled up-and-down movement of the wheel could lead to this type of tire failure eventually.

The moral of the story? If it doesn't look, feel, sound, smell or drive right, stop and investigate why. Not sure if anything's wrong? Have it checked out by a professional.

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AP reporter in stable condition in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Associated Press correspondent shot and wounded while covering preparations for elections in Afghanistan was in stable condition Saturday and receiving medical treatment at a military hospital in Kabul.

Kathy Gannon, 60, a senior correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan, suffered three gunshot wounds in the attack Friday that killed AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus in the eastern city of Khost. Gannon was expected to be transferred to a hospital out of the country in coming days.

Niedringhaus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, died instantly of her wounds. She was repatriated to her native Germany on Saturday. A funeral announcement was pending.

An Afghan police commander opened fire on the two in their car with a Kalashnikov assault rifle after shouting "Allahu Akbar" — or God is Great, witnesses said. The officer then surrendered to other police officers on hand to guard a convoy of election workers delivering ballots.

The shooting took place on the eve of the presidential election, a pivotal moment in Afghanistan's troubled history. In what promises to be the nation's first democratic transfer of power, people in large numbers on Saturday defied threats of violence to vote for a successor to President Hamid Karzai.

A Canadian who has been covering unrest in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the AP for nearly three decades, Gannon received injuries to the shoulder and wrist in Friday's attack. She often worked with Niedringhaus, who was 48.

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Startup aims to poach workers at tech bus stops

SAN FRANCISCO — Where some see a queue of engineers awaiting private commuter shuttles, one San Francisco startup sees an opportunity to lure talent from top Silicon Valley tech firms.

Software company Bigcommerce has spent the last two weeks trying to recruit talent from San Francisco's numerous techie shuttle stops and says it's since seen more traffic to its career website.

Bigcommerce executives say they want to poach employees from Google, Facebook and other tech giants, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday.

They come bearing a clever hashtag (#poached), poached egg sandwiches and a $40 million Series C round of funding raised from former AOL chief Steve Case's venture capital firm.

"Are you interested in changing the world of e-commerce?" recruiter Steve Donnelly recently asked some men waiting for the Facebook bus. They declined.

Bigcommerce, based in Austin, Texas, is not the first firm to try to poach people from the bus stops. Roku tried to hire Google employees in Saratoga, Calif., who were waiting for a shuttle.

The company is opening a San Francisco office and needs to hire more than 40 engineers and product developers. Since starting its recruiting campaign at the bus stops, company officials said traffic to its career site has increased by 54 percent and application volume has grown by 150 percent.

Meanwhile, the shuttles have grown controversial in the last year, with some residents who see them as a symbol of neighborhood gentrification protesting their use of municipal bus stops for $1 per stop each day.

Bigcommerce plans to keep the effort up until it fills all of its San Francisco slots, West Stringfellow, the company's chief product officer told the Chronicle. He said he came up with the idea at a previous job when he commuted within the city, passing shuttle stops on the way.

"Every day, I would just see all this top talent hanging out on the sidewalk," he said. "I thought, if I ever have to build a team really fast, I'll just go hit those folks right where they're standing."

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Fishing practices needlessly ravage sea life, study says

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Heaps of dead fish litter the decks of commercial trawlers each summer after boat captains pull nets from the ocean in their search for shrimp.

Sucked into the expansive shrimp nets, small fish and other marine animals are the unfortunate victims of an industry that, for decades, has dragged the sea floor to scoop up the tasty crustaceans so many diners crave.

But one conservation group says fishermen need to be more careful.

Every year, tons of marine animals across the country are accidentally caught in fishing nets and killed — a wasteful occurrence that threatens to deplete marine life, according to a report this week by Oceana. Similar problems are found when commercial anglers drop rows of hooks in the ocean to catch one type of fish, but bring in other marine animals that wind up dying needlessly, the report said.

Sharks and sea turtles are among the animals that die as fishermen try to land seafood for people's tables, according to the report, which relied on federal data. Animals caught in nets or on fishing lines while commercial boats seek other species are known as "bycatch." Oceana wants tighter limits on bycatch to help protect vulnerable species.

"Whether it's the thousands of sea turtles that are caught to bring you shrimp or the millions of pounds of cod and halibut that are thrown overboard after fishermen have reached their quota, bycatch is a waste of our ocean's resources," said Dominique Cano-Stocco, campaign director at Oceana, a national conservation group that focuses on issues involving the sea.

The study by Oceana highlights nine areas of the United States that are among the worst at killing marine life while fishing for other species. Those include fisheries that target snappers and groupers, swordfish and shrimp, according to Oceana.

The study says the Southeastern shrimp trawl fishery, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic Ocean, discards 64 percent of the marine life caught up in nets. For every pound of shrimp landed, one pound of billfish is tossed aside, according to the study. It also notes that thousands of sea turtles die annually in shrimp nets.

Shrimping is the biggest component of South Carolina's fishing industry, which isn't large by national standards but is still a notable part of the state's economy.

Each year, South Carolina's seafood harvest brings in about $25 million, federal statistics show. In addition to shrimping, fishing lands a healthy share of blue crabs and oysters, as well as snappers and groupers. Bycatch from the snapper-grouper fishery also was cited in the report as a problem.

No one disputes that shrimping snares unwanted fish in South Carolina. Typically, fishermen empty their nets on boat decks and pick shrimp from the piles of fish also caught in the netting. The unwanted fish, many of them dead or dying, are then pushed back into the ocean.

Still, shrimpers and several scientists questioned whether the Oceana report represents a fair picture of the bycatch issue in the Palmetto State.

Larry Toomer, a shrimper and restaurant owner from the Hilton Head Island area, said the state has taken steps to reduce bycatch in shrimp nets. Something must be working because sea turtles seem more abundant, he said of the federally protected species.

"I've never even caught a billfish in a shrimp trawler and I've been shrimping my whole life," Toomer said. "Shrimping does absolutely nothing to billfish. And as to turtles, we have more turtles now. We don't catch them anymore. I haven't caught a turtle in 10 years. But I've seen plenty."

The problem isn't nearly as pronounced as it once was — and many of the marine animals being caught accidentally are small, abundant species, said Toomer and officials with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

Federal rules adopted about two decades ago require shrimpers to include "turtle excluder devices" in nets to allow loggerhead, leatherbacks and other sea turtles to escape if they get caught in the netting. That also allows other large species, such as sharks and rays, to get out of the nets.

The study lumps Gulf and South Atlantic shrimping together, but Gulf shrimpers have been less willing to use turtle excluder devices, said Sally Murphy, a sea turtle expert and retired biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

She and others said the amount of bycatch is dwindling because fewer people are shrimping today than they were years ago.

Despite some improvements, Oceana said the issue remains a problem.

Nationally, 17 percent to 22 percent of the marine life caught by fishermen is discarded each year, the study says, citing estimates. In 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service estimated that up to 50,000 sea turtles in the region could be killed annually by shrimp trawlers, according to the Oceana study.

"Fishermen who are required to use turtle excluder devices frequently install them incorrectly or intentionally tie them shut," the report said.

To reduce bycatch, Oceana says the United States should count the amount of marine animals unwittingly caught in commercial fishing ventures; cap the amount of bycatch allowed; and improve fishing gear to cut down on the amount of marine life accidentally killed each year. Fishing also could be done at times of the year when certain marine animals that could be needlessly caught in nets are less abundant, the group said.

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