In a follow up to a recent Senate hearing on the Department
of Defense’s new National Security Personnel System,
Comptroller General David Walker called for “a two-way
honest exchange” between the department, employees and
unions rather than one that is only about “pushing the
message out.”
He noted that 10 federal labor unions have filed suit
alleging that DoD did not abide by statutory requirements
to include employee representatives in the development of
the labor relation system authorized as part of NSPS. The
suit is pending.
Walker also stressed, in GAO-05-641R, that active, ongoing
engagement and communication with employees and
representatives is crucial to the success of both the NSPS
and the Department of Homeland Security’s new personnel
system because it would increase acceptance of organizational
goals and improve morale.
Federal unions have said that the failure to involve
front-line employees and representatives in meaningful ways
in designing the new regulations accompanied by restrictions
on union involvement risks failure of a system employees do
not buy into. While unions contend that DoD has not been
fully receptive to union input throughout the development of
the NSPS, DoD says it has listened and made changes and that
it is acting within the law.
