| Comment Number: | OL-10503876 |
| Received: | 3/8/2005 1:05:39 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:
As a Federal Employee, I am deeply disturbed by the proposed "National Security Personnel System." These proposed regulations far exceed the authority Congress granted in the NSPS statute. The proposals do not preserve Collective Bargaining, as Congress directed. As a matter of fact, the proposals expand management's rights so far as to deny collective bargaining in many cases. The NSPS also does not provide for meaningful 3rd party review, as required in the statute. It will allow the DoD to set up and entirely new board, controlled by the Secretary of Defense, with no oversight from Congress. This will be extremely expensive and will not be a fair, independent review of management/labor disputes. The main purpose of this as it is being implemented is not about National Security, but about denying worker rights. Further, I attended one of the so called "townhall meetings." The facilitator had little to offer besides a video of another townhall meeting, which contained some misleading and questionable information. He was not able to answer most of the questions put to him and made no effort to solict or record comments and concerns. It was clear that this meeting was just a formality and was not meant to gather input from workers. Most people left the meeting with more questions than they had before. DoD and OPM should return to the table and work collaboratively with employee unions to develop a new system in keeping with the law that Congress passed.