Long an outspoken critic personnel reforms being
implemented at DoD and DHS, the National Treasury
Employees Union criticized the draft bill as
“counter-productive and fatally flawed.”
The union’s president, Colleen M. Kelley said the
system would not provide for fair and objective
compensation and goes beyond setting up a
pay-for-performance system to “stripping collective
bargaining rights and employee appeal rights.”
NTEU also objected to White House plans to expand the
reforms at DoD and DHS before they are even implemented
— especially without having a look at the outcome
they would have on its main concerns, namely employee
collective bargaining, due process and appeal rights,
which it sees as jeopardized.
For example, the union fears an employee playing by
the rules could find there is no guarantee for an
annual pay increase if agency funding is lacking or
funds are diverted for another purpose.
Kelley maintained that unions need the right to
bargain over pay if basic federal pay is to be changed
government-wide.
