The Department of Defense has declined a request to disclose
the cost of implementing its proposed National Security
Personnel System, the American Federation of Government
Employees has said.
The union filed a request with Defense in August for details
of the new system as a freedom of information act request
that’s still pending.
“Despite the reams of paper outlining details and procedures
under the proposed system, little information has been made
available to the public on the costs associated with
implementing the new system,” said AFGE president John Gage
in August when filing the requests.
Gage balked at a $175 million contract given to Northrop
Grumman to design the new system for the Department of
Homeland Security, when DoD’s total estimate for NSPS is
$158 million through fiscal 2008.
“When has the design ever cost less than the final product?”
asked Ron Ault, president of the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department.
He speculated that the NSPS could cost billions to implement
given estimated implementation costs for a similar plan in DHS.
“We simply want to know how much this system is going to
cost,” says Gage after DoD tuned down his first request.
“It’s a simple question that deserves a straightforward answer.”
DoD recently issued a statement in response to a federal
judge’s ruling that the Department of Homeland Security’s
proposed new personnel system violated collective bargaining
rights, by saying that it was moving forward with finalizing
regulations and that it plans to implement the NSPS later his
year.
