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A coalition of Defense Department workers unions filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the implementation of the controversial National Security Personnel System.

Unions leaders allege that the creators of the NSPS did not follow a congressional requirement to consult with employees and their representatives while developing the personnel system.

In 2003, Congress granted Defense the right to dramatically overhaul its personnel system to provide increased flexibility. Pentagon officials recently unveiled a proposal that would scrap the General Schedule pay system, implement performance pay, limit collective bargaining opportunities and loosen employee termination policies.

Labor leaders have charged that the department and the Office of Personnel Management withheld vital information about the new system and refused to incorporate union input.

The lawsuit - which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia - names Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Acting OPM Director Dan Blair as defendants.

The suit was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the National Association of Government Employees, among others.

The Pentagon was required "to consult with employees and representatives of the employees," said Joseph Goldberg, assistant general counsel at AFGE. "The Department of Defense has absolutely failed on that statutory obligation."

On Wednesday, NSPS officials said they could not comment directly on the lawsuit but offered a more general statement defending the development of the new system.

"The proposed NSPS regulations are the product of a broad-based, collaborative effort across the department that began last year," said Bradley Bunn, NSPS deputy program executive officer. "This included a number of meetings with employee representatives involving extensive and fruitful discussions on potential options for the design of the system. In several areas, the proposed regulations reflect the interests and concerns that were voiced during those consultation sessions."

The department is required to respond to the lawsuit within 60 days.

The lawsuit asked the court to force the defendants to disclose details on what it termed "secret working groups" and block the implementation of the NSPS. The suit also asked the court to effectively force Defense and OPM to develop a new personnel system with union input.

"For 10 meetings we got zero responses, except pious platitudes," said Ron Ault, president of the Metal Trades Department. "We need to go back to square one, sit down and start talking."

Union officials said the proposed regulations are unacceptable and illegal in their current form.

"The whole proposed system is built on sand," Goldberg said. "They need to build an appropriate and legal foundation for their system."

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• I get a chuckle out of the constant references by DOD and OPM officials to their meetings with union representatives. If only the 740,000 employees these rules will affect could have sat in the back of the room and listened. In reading the proposed rules, they stink of change to cover managment weaknesses. Why is it the problem of 740,000 that management can't hire quickly? By Charlie Abell's own admission, they have over 35 different hiring systems. WHY? Why do hiring actions sit so long on a supervisor's desk, or in the personnel office, or get returned because the right name didn't come down on a referral list. Why does DOD cite non-DOD cases claiming bargaining takes too long. Last time I sat at the negotiation table, it takes two to tango. If it takes too long, both parties are at fault. Pay for Performance - well golly Gomer. Now instead of working together, folks will watch out for number one. The unions are prepared to discuss fixing the things that are really broke, but DOD has got to own up to the fact that part of the problem is how they manage and their attitude towards workers. Mark Gibson Posted March 5, 2005 7:37 PM
• Dear David, Thank you- you have made a very, very good point regarding the employees who will drown when the sandcastle gets washed away. I'm sorry if I appeared callous. I don't mean to belittle the anguish and suffering that DoD and DHS employees will endure in the next few years under these draconian HR programs. I mean't to push the idea that the Unions have other avenues for addressing these issues. It is very doubtful the Courts will intercede to stop this experiment. Happily though this is a big wide open government and in the next few years I suspect DHS and DoD employees are going to vote on these new systems with their feet. David, being in HR in a less draconian environment I promise you I will do what I can to give some of my HR brethren who bail from DHS/DoD a safe landing. HR Specialist GovExec.com reader Posted February 25, 2005 2:20 PM
• To HR Specialist, Continuing with your analogy what happens to all the people that get drowned when the first sandcastle is washed away, i.e. Spiral 1 victims? It leaves too much at stake for the people that are harmed by this first experimentation test and those caught in the wave may never be able to regain or return to what they presently had gained for their vested service over the years. This system should not be allowed to ever start just to fail, which I agree likely will unless major modifications are negotiated. But even if it does fail, it will be the employee’s fault. Next, bring on Spiral 2, in come the contractors to begin replacing the federal work force as we are now considered inept to accomplish the mission, or better yet a threat to National Security if we stand up and dispute the new system after it has become Law. Read carefully the proposed regulations that take away our once guaranteed basic rights that protected us from unjustified removal…In my opinion and I’m sure many others, that this is a total planned and orchestrated setup to implement my Spiral 2 comment with complete, total, and legal ease (if NSPS is allowed to become law) to dramatically downsize the federal employee workforce. Everyone needs to contact their proper State Representatives and ask them to immediately intercede. But unfortunately, many of them could very well be part of the orchestra. Let’s see how they respond to act upon our concerns. David Posted February 24, 2005 8:59 PM

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