REGISTER NOW FOR AFGE LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE: There’s still time left to register for this year’s Legislative and Grassroots Mobilization Conference taking place in Washington, D.C. February 12–15, 2012. The DEFCON annual conference will take place before the legislative conference (Feb. 11-12). This is a crucial moment for federal and D.C. government employees. We must educate our elected officials about the value of our work and the importance of our workplace rights. Together we will create campaigns to build a stronger pro-worker bipartisan coalition in the 112th Congress. To register, visit www.afge.org and click on Legislative Conference under the Legislation & Politics tab.

AIR FORCE ANNOUNCES SECOND ROUND OF JOB CUTS: The Air Force on Jan. 12 announced the second round of civilian employee job cuts, totally 4,500. Click here for more details, as well as a 15-page chart detailing where the cuts are taking place at installations across the country.

AFGE APPLAUDS PENTAGON GUIDANCE ON DIRECT CONVERSION BAN: The Defense Department has issued guidance reminding managers of the ban on converting work last performed by civilian employees to service contractors. The guidance is a good first step, AFGE Legislative Representative John Threlkeld tells Government Executive. Now OMB needs to issue similar guidance governmentwide.