A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C. will hold a hearing January 24 on a suit by a group of federal unions challenging the Defense Department’s national security personnel system rules. The unions are asking the court to block implementation of the rules, which otherwise would go into effect February 1 under an agreement reached earlier between the unions and DoD. The suit primarily focuses on what unions consider to be the erosion of their bargaining and representational rights under the regs. However, union rights are intertwined with other provisions of the rules—for example, the amount of union involvement is a key consideration in carrying out pay for performance—and an injunction against the labor provisions could spill over into other areas.