Unions rally against personnel changes as Pentagon issues new details

Unions representing both federal and nonfederal employees joined in a rally Thursday to protest limits on collective bargaining in the federal government.

On the steps of the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, hundreds of union members gathered in what they described as a rally for the human right to union representation, giving special notice to federal employees.

"Bush has turned the government into America's No. 1 union buster," AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson said.

Chavez-Thompson was referring to personnel reforms under way in the Homeland Security and Defense departments that, in addition to replacing the General Schedule with a performance- and market-based pay system, are designed to limit union influence. Administration officials argue the limitations provide them with the necessary flexibility to defend the country against terrorist attacks.

On Wednesday, the department released new details on the performance evaluation aspect of the planned system.

The union rally featured two speakers from the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union and an AFL-CIO affiliate.

"The bottom line is that union federal employees have dutifully and successfully protected this country for decades," AFGE member and Defense Department employee Keith Hill said. "Union members are not the enemy."

AFGE president John Gage told the crowd that curtailments of federal workers' union rights will pave the way to limitations outside the government.

"We know that if it happens to us, state and local governments will be next," Gage said, followed by the private sector, including transportation and communications workers.

While the event was notable for its attention to federal employees, it was just one of dozens worldwide coordinated by the AFL-CIO to mark the anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration includes the right to join and form unions.

The Air Line Pilots Association, American Federation of Teachers and Communication Workers of America were some of the unions present at the event.

But even as labor organizations do their best to halt the personnel reforms at Defense and Homeland Security, including filing lawsuits, the Pentagon is forging ahead.

The Defense Department released a new 25-page handbook on the National Security Personnel System Wednesday on its Web site. The handbook addresses the human resources elements of the new system and does not discuss collective bargaining. Its contents are still subject to union consultation.

"The purpose of this primer is to provide you with an understanding of what is proposed in the human resources portion of NSPS," the Web site stated.

The primer clarifies that the performance "shares" employees will earn based on how they are rated in relation to their peers can be paid out in the form of either a permanent raise or in a one-time bonus, at the discretion of supervisors.

The Defense Department recommends that supervisors use bonuses for employees who are paid at the top of the market range for their type of job. Bonuses also could be awarded for good work that is considered a one-time achievement, the handbook says.

Supervisors should recognize, however, "that bonuses do not contribute to employee retirement benefits or Thrift Savings accounts," the guidelines state. "Inappropriate overuse of the bonus could result in morale, recruitment and retention problems."

The handbook also outlines the five steps required for performance-based raises: plan, monitor, develop, rate and reward. The outline calls for objectives to be set from the start, ongoing feedback and reviews, continuing training and development, clear evaluations, and finally, rewards based on good performance. Each year, this process will run from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

According to the primer, pay pools from which the raises will be divided up will have between 50 and 300 employees. The pools could be created based on job function, location, mission or organizational structure.