Similarly, the House DoD authorization bill (HR-1585) would repeal the labor relations and appeal rights provisions at DoD, although not going as far regarding compensation policies. It would allow a pay for performance system but only after negotiation with unions.
The bill also contains several other provisions urged by federal unions, including new restrictions on contracting out. It would eliminate automatic recompetition of work performed by federal employees and require new guidance to allow federal employees to compete for new work or work currently performed by contractors in some circumstances.
The bill also would expand several provisions of recent years imposing certain restrictions on contracting out as a response to Circular A-76 changes issued by the administration in 2003. The bill would: apply government-wide the requirement now applying to DoD that work could be converted only if the contractor showed savings of at least 10 percent or $10 million; extend the provision barring contractors from gaining an advantage by offering their employees health insurance inferior to FEHB by imposing a similar requirement on inferior retirement benefits; and grant employees, in most cases acting through their unions, the right to appeal contract awards to GAO, replacing the current arrangement in which management official who prepared the agency offer may appeal.
