| Comment Number: | OL-10501959 |
| Received: | 2/28/2005 2:53:56 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:
It strikes me that, fear of change aside, there is a general discomfort amongst civilian workers regarding the NSPS system. Whether or not the system proves worthy in the future, there is a problem to be had with it. Government service has long been perceived as a mutual dedication; agency to employee, employee to agency. The first departure from that seemed to come from the FERS type of retirement plan. Many fear that NSPS will finish the job. It seems to me that it becomes harder to make a career in the government, even if one is performing up to standards (which are themselves suspect, given the nature of supervisors having full control over such things). Given this, NSPS stands to create the least dedicated government workers this country has ever seen. Pay for civil service is already relatively lower compared to the private industry. What made it preferable was the feeling of job security, 'guaranteed' raises, and just a general sense of being part of a family rather than just some worker in a corporation. If you undermine this aspect of civil service, you undermine the spirit of those who work here, not for the pay, but for the feeling of a job well done for their country and brethren. The system may well have merits, but it surely has problems as well. While I agree that no system will ever be perfect, this one seems to take for granted the people who want to serve their country and alienates them to boot. At least, that's the general consensus as far as I've been able to tell. In the government's quest to become more like a business, they have overlooked a very important aspect of private industry: the relatively high levels of apathy and dispassion of private industry workers. I am relatively new to Federal service, but many of my co-workers are not. I have had ample opportunity to listen to their stories of 'how things use to be'. It is hard for me to believe that the installation I work at use to have such a depth of community and warmth. Years of RIFs and hiring freezes have definitely taken their toll. People who have made it through are much more cynical and unfriendly. The great tradition of Federal service was buried in an effort to streamline things in a business-like fashion. The problem is that the Federal government is not a business. It is an institution that forms the backbone of our great nation and it is slowly being chipped away at till there is nothing left. Will people that spend only 3 years in Federal service be as ready to support the soldier in the field as someone who has spent the last 15-20 years of their life in civil service? Whether they would or not, that's what the soldier will get because that is a good average as to how long someone stays with a corporation in private industry. Loyalty and solidarity are virtues of Federal service that cannot hope to survive if the feelings and consideration of the civil servant are overlooked for 'the bottom line'. It's funny how that shifts from the soldier in the field to the pocket book when such programs are considered and implemented. NSPS, be it good or bad, needs to be examined more closely with the feelings and necessities of the civil servant in mind. I thank you for your time.