| Comment Number: | OL-10511973 |
| Received: | 3/16/2005 7:04:35 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:
Below is part of what was reported in the Washington Post. Take their advice and have congress involved in these regulation changes; DOD is not being fair and logical. What does taking away employee rights, overtime, merit system protections and bargaining have to do with national security?? NOTHING, Pentagon Work Reforms, Tuesday, March 1, 2005; Page A14 .....this proposed reform, even more than its predecessors, appears to curtail union rights in unnecessary ways. Although Pentagon officials deny it, some government employee unions say that they were not properly consulted on the new rules, as the law requires, and they have filed a lawsuit. Union officials also say the new rules seem designed to take away workers' rights, without any clear explanation of why this is necessary. At the moment, for example, they say managers are allowed but not required to bargain with unions over job placements and assignments; the new rules appear to forbid any bargaining. The same is true of decisions about overtime. Officials ought to explain what, if anything, these changes have to do with national security, as opposed to weakening the unions. More important, Congress ought to ask for explanations and explore in greater depth the whole issue of civil service reform. Because these personnel decisions involve so many people, and could have such national impact, lawmakers should consider stepping in to help define what performance criteria mean, to preserve a meaningful appeals process and to ensure that unions stay involved in government employee affairs, at least when there is no reason to bar them....