Rollout of DHS personnel system delayed for two weeks

By Karen Rutzick krutzick@govexec.com July 15, 2005

The Homeland Security Department agreed to comply Friday with a judge's request to delay the implementation of new personnel rules from Aug. 1 to Aug. 15.

The schedule change comes after Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asked the department for additional time so that she could rule on the merits of the case, rather than on a temporary injunction to halt the process until the case could be decided later.

Mark Roth, general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the five unions who brought the issue to court, said the delay is "in everyone's best interest because on Aug. 15 we'll have a final decision."

Collyer heard more than two hours of argument Thursday on the unions' motion and the department's response. Some of the arguments centered on whether the law creating DHS, which legislators say was designed to give the department greater flexibility to respond to terrorist attacks, gave enough weight to collective bargaining rights.

Collyer now has a month to decide on the legality of the DHS system. NTEU lawyer Gregory O'Duden said he does not expect the judge to ask for further arguments on the case.

According to O'Duden, Collyer has an extensive labor relations background, including time served at the National Labor Relations Board.

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  • Way to go AFGE and all the other unions for standing up to these draconian regulations!! Although this is only a delay, it at least gives the judge and the American public a chance to see what fantastic waste of time and money this new personnel system has been. Not once in the 40 plus years federal employees' bargaining rights have been in place have they ever interferred with national security. The GS system has never been the problem. It's the lack of training for supervisors and managers to use the system correctly. Putting a new system in place will only perpetuate what's percieved to be the problem now. To say nothing of the opportunity for cronyism to establish itself once again. The issue of protecting the American public from terrorism runs deeper then being able to post one employee on one port or another. Until this administration realizes that we are in for more curtailments of rights and freedoms in the name of security. Mike H. Posted July 15, 2005 10:23 PM
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Office of Personnel Management Director Linda Springer will be presenting a keynote address at the Excellence in Government conference, co-sponsored by Government Executive, July 25-27 in Washington. For more information about the conference or to register online, click here.

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At 12 p.m. EST on Wed., July 20, National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley will respond to your questions and comments about pending personnel changes at the Defense and Homeland Security departments, as well as the Bush administration's governmentwide personnel reform proposal. Feel free to submit your questions and comments early or during the hour-long discussion.