Your Help is Need on NSPS Right Now
An Open Letter from MTD President Ault
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MTD President Ron Ault briefs members of Congress and Congressional Aides on the preils of NSPS |
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
There will be reductions in force this year Navy-wide. After our briefing on NSPS on February 15, it became obvious that the service agencies are tasked with funding the enormous costs of implementing NSPS within their operating budgets. Ft. Knox Army civilian employees have been briefed there will be a 60 day fourlough to pay their share of the costs of NSPS. The retirement of the Kennedy battle group and the reduction of 11,851 civilian employees appears to be the Navy's share.
I asked NSPS Program Director Mary Lacey how these RIF's would be conducted, under what, if any rules. She did not know but promised me she would get back to me with an answer. The proposed NSPS regs, makes your years of service seniority meaningless for RIF, promotions, etc. It is only considered in the event all other considerations are a tie. The proposed regs make most things we have historically negotiated with our employer and in a collective bargaining agreement, null and void. Hours of work, shift assignments, overtime procedures, travel assignments, paydays, special pay, vacation leave procedures...everything that workers care about, will be "non negotiable" under NSPS and will be a retained management right. NSPS will be treated as a law and instructions will be issued from DOD to implement NSPS and declare exsisting union collective bargaining agreement provisions that conflict with NSPS, "Null and Void".
I am asking each and everyone to pass out informational flyers educating our bargaining unit employees exactly what they will lose if NSPS goes in as proposed. We ask that we generate thousands of comments opposed to the removal of workers' right and the workers not have an opportunity to develop NSPS through their representatives. Each activity has authorized employees to respond electronically to the 30 day public comment period (Feb. 14-March 14). We need your help educating our bargaining units that there will be a tremendous impact on them as part of Rumsfeld's DOD "unified force" structure where 330,000 military positions will be converted to deployable civilian federal employees, to be sent when and where needed at a moment's notice. We need you assisting, educating and recruiting our bargaining unit workers to send in comments. Our coalition website has a link to do this as well as the links through the employer's website, so it should be easy access and simple to do. This is but one piece of our overall strategy, but it is the link only you can do. It is within your hands to stop this ill advised threat to workers' rights. Let's get to work!
In Solidarity,
Ron Ault
President, MTD
