GovernmentExecutive.com

A Senate panel on Thursday approved language that would significantly limit the implementation of a controversial personnel system at the Defense Department and authorize a 3.5 percent 2008 pay raise for members of the military.

In a markup of the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill that began Wednesday afternoon, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to repeal the existing authority of the Defense Department to move forward on the labor relations portions of its National Security Personnel System.

The House approved similar language last week. The Senate provision would permit Defense to continue developing a pay-for-performance system, as long as such a system is consistent with existing federal labor relations law.

In the 2004 Defense authorization act, Congress granted the department authority to create a new human resources system, based on the notion that the current system was too rigid and outdated to allow an effective response to modern threats of terrorism.

Federal labor unions have been lobbying the Senate to pass the NSPS repeal language, especially after an appeals court ruled last Friday that the 2004 law grants the agency the authority to curtail the collective bargaining rights of employees until November 2009. That ruling reversed a district court decision that struck down the labor relations portions of the system.

At a briefing Monday, several unions outlined their plans to submit the case for full court review, and they vowed to go to the Supreme Court if necessary. Still, union leaders argued that completely overhauling the system would require a legislative change and expressed hope the full Senate will pass the NSPS repeal provision, despite a veto threat from the White House.

"It has always been our position that it would take a legislative fix to change a bad law," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, earlier this week.

The National Federation of Federal Employees on Friday praised the committee's action.

"We don't think that Congress ever truly intended to eliminate collective bargaining at DoD," said NFFE President Rick Brown. "This provision makes it clear that the Armed Services Committee wants collective bargaining rights for DoD workers left intact."

Meanwhile, the committee also approved a 3.5 percent pay raise for military members. That figure, which is half a percent higher than the raise proposed by the Bush administration, likely will give federal labor unions an edge in pushing for an equivalent raise for civilian federal employees.

This year's civilian federal raise is likely to be included in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, expected to be marked up in June.

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley praised the approval of the raise Thursday, noting that the action is significant for civilian workers who have received pay parity with the military in recent years.

"NTEU plans to work closely with members of the House and Senate to ensure a minimum 3.5 percent raise in 2008 for the federal civilian workforce," Kelley said, "and will continue our work in securing bipartisan congressional support for this increase for civilian and military employees."

COMMENTS

• Patriot posted that for value management that all government civilians must have equivalent degrees to hold a position. That a GS-15 should be a Lt Col. That is just total lunacy. We don't want or need a civilian workforce made up of all retired or seperated officers. There are plenty of procedures in place to ensure qualified people gain meaningful employment in DoD. MANY retired or seperated ENLISTED people are more qualified to hold governmnet positions than our so called elitist officer corps. Quit thumbing your nose at the folks actually performing the mission and join the 'real world'! Chuck Posted November 14, 2007 11:38 AM
• The resources pulled into standing up NSPS's convulted system have been disgracfully wasted -$300 million! Would any other nation, at war, waste so much money and precious time on mindless adjectives, papering files with meaningless narratives and ridiculously poor training classes on nonsense? Glib contractors raking in the money and we have no time or money for this bureacratic blather - good people leave when it takes 16 months to do a 12 month performance eval. The Emperor is naked, pull the plug. GAO hello! Suzanne Posted October 29, 2007 1:19 PM
• NSPS is NOT fair or equitable!! Under NSPS when an employee is now "promoted" from a GS-08 Lead to a GS-10 Supervisor it is NOT considered a "promotion" but a "reassignment" and the employee only receives a 5% pay increase. The equivalent of 1 step or a QSI. So what would have been a promotion from GS-8 step 05 to GS-10 step 01, under NSPS is now a reassignment from a GS-08 step 05 to the equivalent of a GS-08 step 06. Under the GS system when a GS-07 is promoted to GS-08 he receives two steps in his current grade and than moves to the new higher grade equaling about 13% increase in salary. Our people are our MOST valuable resource and under NSPS we are NOT taking care of them. The system simply does NOT work. Under NSPS I have completed two iterations of a final performance evaluation and pay pools. The NSPS system does NOT change the supervisor’s ability or responsibility to hold employees accountable for their performance and in no way makes it more difficult or easier to with-hold or award pay increases. Under the current GS system with the current performance oriented rating system I may still do either, in-fact the current GS system allows me more latitude to award my top performers with special act awards and a QSI and hold my poor performers accountable by with-holding steps. The NSPS system simply does NOT work! Daniel C. Glembot Posted October 22, 2007 8:35 AM