Defense Workers' Unions File Suit Against Rumsfeld

AFGE, Nine Other DOD Unions Challenge New Personnel System Proposed
Regulations Circumvent the Will of Congress, Say Union Presidents

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten unions today joined together to
file suit in federal court against Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and
Dan G. Blair, acting director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
(OPM). The unions claim that Rumsfeld and Blair circumvented the will of
Congress in the design process for the proposed new National Security
Personnel System for the Department of Defense. The defense authorization
legislation that allowed for the creation of a new system to replace the
current civil service structure called for the agencies to engage in active
collaboration with unions and employees' representatives. It also called for
OPM to play an active role in the system's design.
"Instead, DOD has unveiled a plan that it has created unilaterally," said
John Gage, national president of the American Federation of Government
Employees (AFGE). "In the 10 meetings we had with DOD officials, we were
never permitted to go beyond the superficial, resulting in a personnel system
that will compromise national security, and which has grave implications for
safety of America's fighting men and women."
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), together with the
Association of Civilian Technicians (ACT), the International Association of
Firefighters (IAF), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the
International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), the
Laborers International Union of North America (LIU), the Metal Trades
Department of the AFL-CIO, the National Association of Government Employees
(NAGE), the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), and the United
Power Trades Organization (UPTO) filed their suit in the U.S. District Court
of the District of Columbia.
In defiance of the United States Congress, the Defense Department refused
to consult with the unions that represent the department's employees, as
called for in the defense authorization legislation that sanctioned the
creation of the new personnel system. The unions claim that in issuing its
proposed rule changes without their involvement in the system's design, both
DOD and OPM have violated section 9902(m) of the Defense Authorization Act for
fiscal 2004.
"The solidarity displayed in the filing of this law suit by these 10
unions shows that we mean business," said AFGE General Counsel Mark D. Roth.
"No one, not even the secretary of defense, is above the law."
In its new National Security Personnel System (NSPS), also known as the
Rumsfeld plan, the Department of Defense has significantly narrowed employees'
rights to collective bargaining and all but eliminated the due process rights
that enable employees to speak with confidence when they see wrongdoing or
mismanagement.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest
federal employee union, representing 600,000 workers in the federal government
and the government of the District of Columbia.



SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees
Web Site: http://www.afge.org