| Comment Number: | OL-10502556 |
| Received: | 3/2/2005 12:21:45 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:
Here We Go Our "reward" for President Bush?s reelection is the coming implementation of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) in the Department of Defense. This is the new personnel system authorized by Congress about a year ago, which permits DOD to disregard almost every civil service law in Title 5 of the U.S. Code in developing its own personnel system. On December 14, 2004, DOD announced that NSPS will be implemented in "spirals" ? spiral 1, spiral 2 and spiral 3. DOD expects this to start on July 1, 2005, after it has issued proposed regulations, allowed for comments, and issued final regulations. Spiral 1 is divided into three phases ? spiral 1a, spiral 1b and spiral 1c, which will be implemented in six month increments. Perhaps the most interesting (or outrageous) part of the plan is that the new labor relations system will be in place at the very beginning, July 1, 2005, at every DOD installation. It is the employee relations system, including provisions for employee appeals, employee pay and benefits, that will be implemented at more and more installations with each "spiral." No surprise that DOD wants to try to silence the Unions first before the rest of the program proceeds. Another interesting feature of DOD?s plan is that not all employees at an installation will necessarily go under the NSPS at the same time. For example, GS employees might be covered in spiral 2 and WG employees might be covered in spiral 3. We have a hard road ahead. It will take all of our intellectual, emotional and political strength to fight our way through to the day when employee and union rights are restored. Law Firm News