Comment Number: OL-10503630
Received: 3/7/2005 10:06:52 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:

I've carefully reviewed the proposed National Security Personnel System (NSPS) regulations. My conclusion, both as a concerned citizen and as an employee of the Department of Defense (DoD), is that the proposed NSPS would not only unnecessarily take away a series of important protections and rights from DoD employees, but it would weaken and undermine DoD's ability to perform its crucial national security mission. The principal defects of NSPS are: 1) NSPS provides DoD management, including the Secretary and his appointees, far too much unchecked power while taking away basic rights and protections of DoD employees. 2) NSPS takes away crucial collective bargaining and representation rights from the DoD employee unions - leaving employees at the mercy of a DoD management not always known for its wisdom or fairness. 3) NSPS would be harmful to the national security by duscouraging whistleblowers from speaking out against management abuses. 4) NSPS would be harmful to the national security by pitting employees against each other - thus severely damaging the cooperation which is essential among DoD emplyees for mission fulfillment. 5) NSPS would allow significant cuts to overall pay for the DoD workforce by allowing pay to be set according to "what would have been paid" under the current system - based on whatever estimates DoD could choose to use. 6) NSPS would undermine the morale of DoD employees. 7) Pay would be determined by what is budgeted, NOT by "performance". NSPS provisions I have strong objections to include: a) Section 9901.921: After making performance appraisals critical for both pay and layoff (RIF) purposes this provision removes such appraisals from the greivance process. b) Section 9901.914: Limits the rights of unions to be present during formal discussions of working conditions. c) Section 9901.912: Prevents certain DoD employees (lawyers, etc.)currently eligible to join unions, from being union members. Also, bars "professional" employees from joining unions unless stringent new requirements are met. d) Section 9901.910(a): Gives DoD management the "sole, exclusive, and unreviewable discretion ...". When in a democracy should any official have "unreviewable discretion"? e) Section 9901.907: Gives the DoD Secretary the right to appoint an unlimited number of new members to the new National Security Labor Relations Board - whenever he wants to! f) Section 9901.807: Limits the information management must provide unions during disputes. g) Section 9901.715: Does not allow employees with poor appraisals any minimum improvement time. h) Section 9901.354: Allows management to set pay anywhere within a payband for those employees who are voluntarily or involuntarily reassigned. i) Section 9901.323 and 9901.334: Allows management to withhold basic pay increases and locality pay increases if an employee is rated "unacceptable". j) Section 9901.342: Allows management to set up "control points" within paybands which prevent employees from progressing within those paybands.