2011 FBI CJIS NICS User Conference in Boise, Idaho

[LAGC]

I work at a medium-sized hotel, and we just got an e-mail from our Convention & Visitors Bureau contact about a Government Lead, a RFP (Request for Proposal) for 90 rooms for 4 nights in May 2011 for an FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) "User Conference" involving the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

While our hotel doesn't have any meeting space, so we can't accomodate their conference, I am curious about what exactly is going to be discussed. Is it just a meeting of FBI personnel about compliance? I find it odd that they'd pick such an out-of-the-way location as Boise, unless its supposed to be a northwest regional thing for department heads or something. One thing that really got me though was one of the general questions at the end of the RFP: "Is facility staff part of a union?" Now, why in the hell would they want to know that? Idaho is a right-to-work state, so unions are pretty weak here, and I don't know of any area hotels that are unionized, so I wonder why they are even asking. Seems kind of sinister to me.

Maybe I should sneak over to whichever hotel wins the bid and spy on some of their conferences to see what they are up to? Then again, security could be tight...

Do any of you guys have any idea what they could be discussing?

[davidinalameda]

1. I don't asking whether or not a hotel is unionized is that strange

we do have a Democrat in the White House and I'm guessing it's federal policy to use unionized facilities for governmental meetings

[LAGC]

2. I would hope that would be the case.

I was kind of under the opposite impression, that they wanted to shun unionized facilities for some reason.

The FBI, as with law enforcement in general, always seems to have a conservative bent, being suspicious of leftist causes, and I don't just mean because of the FBI's checkered history (J. Edgar Hoover's legacy, etc.) so I just found it kind of suspect that they'd ask that kind of question.

[leveymg]

3. Send this over to SEIU legal. They can probably shed some light on it. Contact:

Cheryl Alston
Assistant to the General Counsel
SEIU Legal Department
1800 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
[phone] (fax)
[e-mail]

[LAGC]

4. Okay, will do.

I'd hate to think the FBI is discriminating against union outfits.

[RSillsbee]

5. This is related to Guns, how? EOM

[Euromutt]

6. Maybe they have quotas to fill on where they hold their conferences

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out there was some obscure federal regulation requiring federal agencies to spread the money expended on conferences et al. over the several states (rather than keeping it in D.C. and the surrounding area), and it's the turn of the hospitality industry of Idaho's 2nd Congressional District to receive the FBI's largesse. The next conference will, perhaps, be held in Evergreen Park, IL, which is in the 1st District of Illinois (assuming it goes in alphanumerical order).

And since there's a Democratic administration in office at present, and the Democratic party receives a fair amount of support from unions, there might also be a guideline in place that federal agencies must give preference to unionized hotels.

[one-eyed fat man]

7. Union preference policy

http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/lawsprog.htm

Federal contracting law gives Union shops preferential treatment. Similar to the advantages given to those who can bid as "minority owned business" or "women owned business." Akin to the veteran's preference in civil service hiring.

Government Contracts, Grants, or Financial Aid

Recipients of government contracts, grants or financial aid are subject to wage, hour, benefits, and safety and health standards under:

* The Davis-Bacon Act, which requires payment of prevailing wages and benefits to employees of contractors engaged in federal government construction projects;

* The McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, which sets wage rates and other labor standards for employees of contractors furnishing services to the federal government;

* The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act, which requires payment of minimum wages and other labor standards by contractors providing materials and supplies to the federal government.

Administration and enforcement of these laws are by The Wage and Hour Division. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) administers and enforces three federal contract-based civil rights laws that require most federal contractors and subcontractors, as well as federally assisted construction contractors, to provide equal employment opportunity. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management's (OASAM) Civil Rights Center administers and enforces several federal assistance based civil rights laws requiring recipients of federal financial assistance from Department of Labor to provide equal opportunity.

The USERS of the NICS system are FFL holders, i.e. licensed gun dealers. The FBI does the checks at a call-in facility in Clarksburg, West Virginia. This is more than likely one of those training and user conferences the Feds like to hold. Aircraft mechanics, gun dealers, farmers using pesticides, just about anyone who has some kind of license do do something the Feds regulate has had something similar in their field, and located somewhere within a days drive or so. They come tell us the latest way they want us to submit forms, etc, and listen to us bitch about the changes.