Five of 36 unions representing Department of Defense
Employees have dropped out of the National Security
Personnel System meet and confer process in protest.
The unions complained that their efforts to engage in
statutorily required meaningful discussions concerning
development of the labor management relations system have
proved “frustrating and next to meaningless.”
The letter was signed by the AFL-CIO’s Metal Trades
Department, the International Association of Machinists
and Aerospace Workers, the National Federation of Federal
Employees, the National Association of Government Employees,
and the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The unions said staying in the 30-day meet and confer
process, which will continue at least into early June, “is
futile given that the last three weeks demonstrated the
this process is a merely a sham.”
The letter comes after written comments from Comptroller
General David Walker in follow up to a Senate hearing on
the proposed system calling for “honest” dialog in the
meet and confer process.
An update on the proceedings published on the NSPS website
in response to union complaints stated, “while the
proposed regulation narrows the scope of bargaining, the
Department believes it strikes the appropriate balance of
providing employees and their representatives the ability
to bargain over important workplace issues and to have a
voice in operational matters, while allowing the
Department to act expeditiously to carry out its
mission.”
Another statement on that site said the Department would
not delay implementation of NSPS even though final
decisions on the proposed round of base realignment and
closure proceedings are months away.