| Comment Number: | EM-019821 |
| Received: | 3/10/2005 9:18:41 AM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
March 10, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: I'm disappointed with the proposed DoD NSPS changes. I've worked for DoD for 27 years, but now it seems that this country is turning its back on the very employees who have helped us win every war we ever fought in. Employees are being stripped of the very rights, freedoms, and protections we have worked so long to defend. I am angry that these proposals seem to treat the employees who help defend our country as the enemy. I believe that mistreating DoD employees will make our country more vulnerable. Just as it did in Iraq, and as its trying to do with Social Security, the Bush Administration has sold us a bill of goods that is founded upon lies and deceit. NSPS is not going to lead to a stronger DoD workforce. Instead, there appears to be a hidden agenda, which is to create an environment which will lead to the demise of the DoD workforce and result in almost all defense jobs going to big businesses such as Lockheed Martin and Halliburton. The Bush administration has done a very good job of taking care of his core constituancy - THE RICH - but in the meantime it is destroying everything this country once stood for. The Pendleton Act was passed in 1883 to end the "spoils system" and to provide for a professional civil service system. Since that time, there has been been much civil service legislation which has led to substantial improvements in the way the civil service workforce is managed and which has helped make us the only military super-power in the world. But now, with the passage of NSPS, everything we've fought for, and all the improvements that have been made, are being stripped from the Civil Service workforce. We will no longer even be considered civil servants. NSPS changes the way workers are paid, evaluated, promoted, fired, scheduled, and treated. And all of the changes are for the worse. These rules create a system in which federal managers are influenced by favoritism rather than serving the concerns of the American people. With the new ?Friend of the Supervisor? Pay System, which DoD mislabels as "?pay for performance?, worker's salaries will depend almost completely on the personal judgment of his or her manager. This system will force workers to compete with one another for pay raises, which will destroy teamwork, increase conflict among employees, and reward short-term outcomes. There is no guarantee that the best workers will receive a pay raise or that the pay offered will be fair or competitive. This system will create a situation in which workers are in conflict with one another and afraid to speak out about harassment, violations of the law, and workplace safety problems. Furthermore, there will be no impartial appeal system to assure that everyone is treated fairly. Schedules and Overtime NSPS will allow managers to schedule employees to work without sufficient advance notice of schedule changes. This will make it extremely difficult for working parents to care for their children and family. It will also mean that abusive managers could harass employees with bad schedules or short notice. Overtime rotations can be canceled, which means that employees may not be able to plan adequately for childcare and other important responsibilities. DoD employees will be subject to deployment anywhere in the world, including war zones, with little or no notice. I'm proud to serve my country but I am also responsible for caring for my family and my personal obligations at home. I'm in a civilian job. I did my military time during Vietnam, when I was young. But now it seems we're subject to a back draft which can be used to compensate for the fact that the neo-conservatives in the Bush administration is in the process of destroying its Army with the war in Iraq? Well how about that? Why are we only allowed a limited amount of space to comment? And I have so much more I wanted to say. That stinks... and NSPS stinks. Sincerely,