| Comment Number: | EM-023241 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 9:01:28 PM |
| 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 15, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: Sir, I am a duel status (Title 32)Technician with the 102`d Fighter Wing at Otis A.N.G.B. Cape Cod. I have over 8 years Active Duty, and over 14 years as a Technician. I would just like to point out some of the past accomplishments this current system has undertaken proffesionally and honorably since I have been employed here. Operation Coronet Nighthawk, to provide Drug Interdiction Sorties in the South American country of Panama at Howard A.F.B. for 17 days. Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) to Keflavick N.A.S. Iceland to provide Air Soveriegnty for our NATO ally for six weeks. (AEF) Operation Northern Watch, supporting the Northern No Fly Zone over Iraq at Incirlick A.F.B. Turkey for a six week deployment. (AEF) Operation Southern Watch, supporting the Southern No Fly Zone over Iraq at Prince Sultan A.B. Saudi Arabia for 19 days to inlude Thanksgiving. Both of these deployments were in support of sanctions against the county of Iraq following the first Gulf War. Lest we never forget the modern term for the day that will live in infamy, September 11 2001. On that bright sunny morning two Civil Servant Technicans launched two Alert Aircraft to Intercept the the highjacked Airliners headed for New York, unfortunately they were 8 minutes behind the second plane. On that afternoon all Technicians reported to work for what would be for some a sixteen hour day to re-configure all Aircraft for the new mission of the 21`st century, Cover Air Patrol (CAP) missions 24 hours a day, seven days a week over New York and Boston for the next eighteen months which my Union Brethren and myself carried out proudly for the first 30 days before being activated to continue the mission now known as Operation Noble Eagle. Today this mission is still carried out by Civil Servant Technicians under the new moniker of Operation Enduring Freedom. Through the examples given above is what the Title 32 workforce is capable of, it is my opinion that this system is not broken, therefore does not need an expensive, destructive, uneffective fix. I implore you to review the caustic changes proposed by the NSPS and thier effects on the workforce listed below. Annual Pay Raises Under the General Schedule and FWS, employee pay was clear. It was funded by Congress and could not be taken away. However, NSPS will take away this certainty. Given the agency?s miserable record on this issue, how can employees feel confident that our salaries and bonuses will be funded in the future? ?Good O`le Boy Network? Pay System With the new patronage pay system, which DoD calls ?pay for performance,? the amount of a worker's salary will depend almost completely on the personal judgment of his or her manager. From our Senior most leadership to the most recent new hire our Mantra is Team work, not competition. This way of doing buisseness is fine if you work for commission in a Fortune 500 Company, However this will inevitably lead to looking after oneselfs bottom line, not the important mission at hand, which I feel will ulimately lead to the loss of a vital Aircraft and quite possibly an Aircrew member his life. 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. 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. Civilian Deployment Federal employees could be assigned anywhere in the world, even into a war zone, with little or no notice. I am proud to serve my country, and have done so Honorably for the last nineteen and a half years, but I am also responsible for caring for my family and my personal obligations at home. I Joined the Ma. Air National Guard after serving 8 years active duty Air Force, I joined to keep on serving and protecting this great country in my home state of residence without the worry of being packed up every 2-4 years to be stationed in another state or country. The Technician work force works extremely well, in any workcenter the combined knowledge, experience level in a five man shop far exceeds 100 years, compared to less than 30 if you were to enter the same shop in the active duty Air Force. We signed on for the carreer, not 4 years and get out like our Active counter parts. This volenteer system has worked , and will continue to work for these sane reasons. America is at war. We are all (management/bargaining members) fighting for democracy abroad. But the proposed NSPS regulations will start a different war. A war for workers basic rights in the workplace to be treated fair and equitably, and the right to be represented fairly by thier Bargaining Unit officials. I urge, implore you to force DoD to rethink this proposal. We need work rules that preserve fairness, serve the American people, and respect the rights of Defense Department workers, not the personal objectives of poor Managers. Sincerely, Sincerely,