PRESS RELEASE FROM:
The AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department
815 16th St NW • Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 508-3705 • Fax: (202) 508 3706
Contact: Ron Ault, President • (202) 508-3705
Metal Trades Hails Congressional Action
Final DOD Authorization Strips Away
Many of the Worst Aspects of Pentagon’s Personnel Plan
Congress has acted to strip away many of the most unpalatable provisions of the controversial National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The final version of the Defense Authorization bill, which was approved by Senate and House conferees on December 7th, is on its way to the White House.
“We have been struggling with this monster for more than four years now and we’re very hopeful that this congressional action will eradicate the worst of NSPS permanently,” declared AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department President Ronald Ault.
Ault praised the efforts of the members of Congress who have worked since 2003 with the Metal Trades and the 36-union United DOD Workers Coalition to preserve essential rights for DOD personnel.
“NSPS is a vestige of the Rumsfeld era containing all of the mean and vitriolic attitudes he held toward workers and their unions. We are pleased to see that a significant number of veteran members from both houses of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, agreed with our concerns about the negative long-term consequences that the worst provisions of NSPS would have generated.”
Ault singled out Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jay Inslee (D-WA), Tom Allen (D-ME), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), John Murtha (D-PA), Armed Services Committee Chair Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Walter Jones (R-NC) in the House; along with Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin and Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) for their willingness to battle for workers rights.
The measure approved by the conferees prohibits the Pentagon from moving forward with a revised labor-management relations system that restricted collective bargaining. It specifically directs the Pentagon to abide by adverse action and appeals procedures as established under the Federal Labor Relations Act, and to restore independent appeals for employees facing disciplinary action.
The final bill repeals NSPS coverage for DOD Wage Grade workers (blue collar) and requires DOD to institute a truly independent appeals process.
Although the conferees did not repeal pay for performance for unionized white collar DOD personnel, management must be willing to negotiate the impact and implementation of such a system.
Ault pointed out that the most draconian elements of NSPS—including those directed against collective bargaining, reduced appeal rights in disciplinary actions and threats to seniority and veterans preference—were slated to be imposed on the entire federal workforce. “Stopping these threats at the Pentagon also means that workers in other federal agencies won’t have to endure them either,” Ault said.
“It’s a genuine shame that the Bush Administration chose not to make a legitimate effort to make positive changes in DOD personnel practices. Add NSPS to the long and embarrassing list of failed opportunities to improve government performance, but they came at this process from a totally negative and adversarial direction,” Ault declared.
The Metal Trades Department is an umbrella organization with 17 AFL-CIO affiliates that represents DOD personnel in federal shipyards, research facilities and in DOD operations and maintenance units throughout the U.S. The Metal Trades negotiates and administers private and public sector collective bargaining agreements in multi-craft bargaining units in shipyards, nuclear facilities, petrochemical plants, manufacturing, operations and maintenance facilities.
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Metal Trades Department, AFL-CiO • 815 16th Street, NW •Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-508-3705 • Fax: 202-508-3706 • email: metaltradesweb@aol.com
