| Comment Number: | OL-10510008 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 11:34:43 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:
General Comments "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier" To any red blooded American hearing this quote coming from our countries highest ranking civilian employee should have raised more than an eyebrow. Contrary to the administration’s professed need for so-called flexibility in the name of national security, the creation of NSPS, and the DHS human resources policy before it, are nothing more than an ideologically driven agenda being fueled at the highest levels of this administration. This is not for national security purposes, nor is it for flexibility reasons, as has been claimed by both Secretary Rumsfeld, and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. Instead, it is designed for the purpose of destroying the Civil Service as we know it today. Anyone would admit that the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 needs to be updated and improved. But to trash the entire system in favor of a single-agency personnel system that can be changed whenever the agency head feels like it does not represent progress. The proposed NSPS is narrow-minded and petty. It will not have the effect of attracting and retaining a high quality workforce. You already have a high quality workforce. This new system will alienate them in droves. With great disrespect to Federal employees, OPM and NSPS's claims of negotiation about the new system, and despite Congress’ wishes and DoD unions’ attempts to engage in dialogue, NSPS was created without the input of the DoD unions. NSPS will drastically reduce worker protections, replace the GS system with “pay for performance” system that has yet to be proven successful, and all but eliminate the unionizing rights of the 770,000 DoD civilian workers. Do not be deceived, NSPS is designed for the purpose of destroying Civil Service employment. The United DoD Workers Coalition, a group of 36 DoD unions, filed a lawsuit on February 22, 2005, to halt the labor relations provisions in the NSPS form taking effect. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, argues that NSPS, as currently proposed, directly contradicts the authority Congress granted to the DoD and Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The lawsuit states that DoD and OPM violated the law under which NSPS was created by failing to negotiate with unions when creating the labor relations sections of NSPS. To top it off, it appears that the courts will also have to adjudicate with regards to the Constitution of the United States. The proposed regulations leave a tremendous amount of fundamental information - AWOL. The proposed regulations repeatedly state that more detail will be provided by “implementing issuances” (get someone to explain that) at some point in the future. These implementing issuances will include such items as the identification of “mandatory removal penalties,” the appeal process for performance ratings, the identification and description of premium pay and the procedures to be used by the NSLRB in resolving unfair labor practice charges, negotiability appeals and impasses. These “implementing issuances” are just as much a part of the NSPS as what has been proposed so far. They will be subject to the same collaboration, mediation and notice to Congress requirements the NSPS law requires for these proposed regulations. Even if the proposed regulations became final in 60 days, they could not be implemented until the rest of the NSPS is subjected to the same process. NSPS claims that rigorous and broad-based effort to modernize the personnel system for the Department, while preserving the core, enduring values of the civil service is nothing more than deceit. DOD has completely misunderstood the type of collaboration Congress required in section 9902(f) of the law. This section of the law says that DOD will give the unions 30 days notice of the proposed system and then give the unions’ comments full and fair consideration “before deciding whether or how to proceed with the proposal.” At that point, DOD must accept such recommendations of the unions as it sees fit and notify Congress of those recommendations it has not accepted, and continue collaboration over the “proposal” as described in the law. DOD has short-circuited this entire process by issuing its proposed regulations in the Federal Register. Congress could not have made it clearer that the collaborative process with the unions must occur before, not after, DOD’s decision to propose a new personnel system. Many Senators and Congressmen expressed frustration with the Bush Administration’s refusal to discuss the proposed NSPS with the DOD unions. Noting that the Pentagon and OPM’s position stands in conflict with what Congress approved in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2004, Senator Kennedy urged that the Pentagon and OPM refrain from publishing the NSPS proposal in the Federal Register without first sharing it with Congress and the DOD unions. That did not happen. Regardless, expectations are that every Senate and House representative will follow through on their sworn responsibility to ensure that the Pentagon is properly managing the policies affecting the Defense Department’s civilian workforce and the proper utilization of American tax dollars. NSPS as proposed will be a travesty for the nations fighting force, civilian workers, and hardworking taxpayers.