Commissaries within 501st CSW plan for Tuesdays furlough

Photo By Staff Sgt. Brian Stives | Rita Stives, Alconbury Commissary cashier, rings up a customer at the Alconbury Commissary May 29. When the furloughs are implemented, the commissaries at RAF Alconbury, RAF Croughton and RAF Menwith Hill will close Tuesdays in addition to any day the stores are routinely closed. The closures will be for up to 11 days between July 8 and Sept. 30. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Brian Stives)  

RAF ALCONBURY, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM

05.30.2013

Story by Staff Sgt. Brian Stives 

501st Combat Support Wing

RAF ALCONBURY, United Kingdom - When the furloughs are implemented, the commissaries at RAF Alconbury, RAF Croughton and RAF Menwith Hill will close Tuesdays in addition to any day the stores are routinely closed. The closures will be for up to 11 days between July 8 and Sept. 30.

There are currently no other changes planned for store operation hours. Patrons are reminded that because sequestration is so fluid, Defense Commissary Agency's plan for this budget-cutting measure is subject to change.

"We know that any disruption in commissary operations will impact our patrons,” said Joseph H. Jeu, DeCA’s director and CEO.” We also understand the tremendous burden this places on our employees, who, when furloughed, will lose 20 percent of their pay."

The announcement comes as DeCA follows Department of Defense protocols related to the automatic federal government budget reductions, known as sequestration, which began March 1. Like most DoD activities, DeCA is mandated by DoD to furlough its civil service employees.

DeCA has 247 commissaries with more than 16,000 employees operating in 13 countries and two U.S. territories. Furloughs will impact all of DeCA's more than 14,000 U.S. civilian employees.

As sequestration continues, commissary customers can quickly find out about any changes to their local store's operating schedule by going to www.commissaries.com, clicking on the "Locations" tab, then "Alphabetical Listing," finding their store and clicking on "local store information."

Store staffs overseas include a mix of U.S. and local national employees. Because they are not U.S. government employees, local national employees are not subject to this furlough actions. Select locations overseas will open if they have an adequate local national staff. However, if an overseas store is closed, its local national staff will report to work and perform other store-related duties.

In January, DOD released guidance to allow defense components to plan for potential budget cuts by reducing operating costs. In line with that direction, DeCA later executed the following budget-cutting measures:

-- A hiring freeze on all outside hires;

-- Curtailment of official travel for all conferences, training, and any other events and activities considered noncritical to the agency's mission;

-- Cancellation of the agency's May Worldwide Case Lot Sales for all commissaries. Instead, stores are conducting smaller-scale events such as outdoor sidewalk sales;

-- Curtailment of all overtime and compensatory time unless deemed mission-critical;

-- Review of contract services to restrict any increases;

-- Curtailment of all monetary awards unless legally required; and

"We are in this together," Jeu said, "and though limited in our ability by circumstances we cannot control, I assure you we will do all we can to mitigate the impact of sequestration on our patrons; employees and industry partners; and on our mission."

(Defense Commissary Agency Public Affairs contributed to this article)

• Date Taken: 05.30.2013
• Date Posted: 05.30.2013 09:49
• Story ID: 107766
• Location: RAF ALCONBURY, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, GB