| Comment Number: | OL-10504648 |
| Received: | 3/10/2005 3:21:25 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:
The bottom line is there would be too much power with no checks and balances, on the Secy of Def. Loss of our bragaining ability and due process rites surely marks a regression for labor to the early 20th century! The proposed Nat'l Security Personnel Sys (NSPS) regulations issued by the Dept of Defense (the Dept) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are deeply disturbing to me as a Dept employee. I believe that these proposed regulations exceed the authority Congress granted in the NSPS statute in the following ways. The Dept’s proposed NSPS regulations 9901.905(a) and 9901.914(d)(5) violate Congress’ explicit order in 5 U.S.C. 9902(b) to preserve collective bargaining by overriding any provision of a collectively bargained agreement through “DoD or Component Issuances.” In proposed NSPS regulation 9901.914(d)(5), the Dept seeks to declare such issuances to be non-negotiable superior to collectively bargained agreements. Essentially, this provision will provide the Dept the authority to make any change it desires through these issuances, while barring any negotiation over these changes, in spite of Congress’ specific orders in the statute to the contrary. The Dept’s proposed NSPS regulations violate the specific Congressional directive in 5 U.S.C. 9902(b) to preserve collective bargaining by expanding management rights so dramatically as to deny bargaining in almost any circumstance. In the proposed NSPS reg 9901.910(a)(2), the Dept declares that management will now have the power “to take whatever other actions may be necessary to carry out the Dept’s mission,” a clause that literally has no definition or limitation in the reg. This proposed management “right” effectively ends collective bargaining in the Department, in direct violation of Congress’ specific order to the contrary, as management can literally apply it to any situation in the Dept to deny bargaining. In 5 U.S.C. 9902(m)(6), Congress required the Dept to ensure that any new labor relations system provided for an independent third party review of the Dept’s decisions. However, the Dept’s proposed NSPS regulation 9901.907 (a)(1) intends to create a new labor relations review board, costing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to invent a structure similar to the existing FLRA. Further, under proposed NSPS regulation 9901.907, the members of this board would be appointed solely by the Sec'y of Defense, with no Congressional or outside oversight. This is the equivalent of the “fox guarding the henhouse,” violating Congress’ specific instructions to ensure an independent 3rd party review. Proposed NSPS regulation 9901.907(a)(1) violates Congress’ specific instructions in 5 U.S.C. 9902 (m) (6) to ensure independent 3rd party reviews of the Dept’s labor relations decisions. In proposed NSPS regulation 9901.907(a)(1), the Sec'y of Defense is provided the unilateral power to appoint as many members to this review board as desired. In other words, if the review board begins to issue decisions the Secretary doesn’t like, the Secretary can “pack” the Board with as many new people as required until the board issues decisions to the Secretary’s liking. This proposal is an emphatic rejection of Congress’ instructions in 5 U.S.C. 9902(m)(6). The proposed NSPS regulation 9901.807(k)(8)(iii) denies employees their right to a fair hearing of their appeals for adverse actions taken against them by the Dept. In this proposal, the Dept reserves for itself the right to unilaterally reverse the decision of an MSPB Admin Judge (AJ), merely because the Dept does not agree that the decision was correct. This is the equivalent of the prosecution being able to tell a courtroom judge that the decision just rendered is not what the prosecution wanted, so the prosecution will overturn the judge’s decision!DoD and OPM should scrap their harmful proposals for NSPS and work collaboratively with employee unions to develop a new system, as Congress directe