The same workplace rule changes that George W. Bush imposed on federal employees under the Department of Homeland Security will be implemented on 60,000 DoD workers as early as this summer.
It's all part of Karl Rove's strategy to weaken Democratic constituencies: lawyers, unions, and federal employees.
More on the jump.
This article is from trade publication
Government Executive:
The Defense Department will replace the decades-old General Schedule pay and classification system with a new system based on pay for performance, according to proposed regulations that will be published in the Federal Register on Monday.
In a briefing at the Pentagon Thursday, Defense and Office of Personnel Management officials said that the new system also will restrict union bargaining rights and implement stricter disciplinary rules for 650,000 Defense civilian workers.
After the proposed rules are published, Defense will take comments from the public for 30 days and then confer with employee unions about them for another 30 days.
I think we should make sure we join our union brothers and sisters in making sure our opinions of this decision are heard -- not that the current regime cares what we the people think. Here's why:
The announcement of the proposal was met with immediate denunciations from Democratic members of Congress and unions. The American Federation of Government Employees, Association of Civilian Technicians, Laborers International Union, National Association of Government Employees and National Federation of Federal Employees said they would file a lawsuit next week in federal court arguing that Defense did not follow congressionally prescribed procedures in developing the new labor relations rules.
The Bush administration earlier this month announced that it would seek congressional approval to use the Defense system, and another system in the works at the Homeland Security Department, as models for implementing civil service reform governmentwide. The result of such a move would be the end of the guaranteed annual pay raises that most federal employees now enjoy, and the strict career progressions prescribed by the General Schedule's 15-grade, 10-step system.
These people work for us. They're our public servants. As their employer, I want them treated fairly and I want them represented by unions to assure they are treated fairly.
Many of these "bureaucratic" procedures were put in place to prevent the jobs from going as political awards. But if you know anyone in the Department of Justice, they will tell you the career positions there are being treated the same as the political positions any more. What's their next step? Loyalty oaths to the Republican Party for career advancement or even hiring?
These are not minor changes to the federal employee work rules:
Also in July, the entire Defense Department will move to a new labor relations system, according to the proposed rules. Authority to adjudicate labor disputes will shift from the National Labor Relations Authority to a new, internal National Security Labor Relations Board.
Like the Homeland Security Department personnel rules, announced last month, Defense no longer will bargain over the assignment of work, deployments, or the use of new technology. In other areas, Defense management will reserve the right to change workplace rules without a bargaining agreement in place, and then bargain about the changes later.
The department also will retain the right to alter local labor agreements made at Defense facilities around the country if they don't comply with national-level agreements. But local agreements will remain in force unless altered by the Pentagon.
Most of this was developed behind closed doors even though the process in the past has been transparent. (from an earlier article):
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., sharply criticized the Defense Department's refusal to share the plan in a Nov. 19 letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James. Kennedy said the Administrative Procedures Act does not rule out sharing its personnel system plan with unions.
"I also understand that you believe, however, that providing a copy of the proposal before publication would give the union an unfair advantage over others," Kennedy wrote. "Nothing in the Administrative Procedure Act, or any other federal statute, prohibits the department from providing the union with a copy of the proposal in advance."
Kennedy added that the Defense Department's refusal to share the plan violates the legislation that made the NSPS possible - the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act.
"Such action would be contrary to the requirement that Congress included in Section 9902 ... stating that management 'shall provide to the [representatives of affected employees] a written description of the proposed system.' "
Defense officials have said that union representatives can comment on the proposal, along with the general public, when it is published in the Federal Register. Kennedy said the public comment period "is not a substitute for the union's right to obtain and review information in its role as the employees' certified bargaining representative."
The Defense Department did not respond to requests for comment on Kennedy's letter. OPM has not completed its response to the senator, according to an agency spokesman. Kennedy's letter asked for a reply from the agencies before Nov. 24.
"It is essential that you proceed with the development of such an important human resources system in the most transparent way possible," Kennedy wrote.
