Unions Oppose Idea

Of the four panel members dissenting from the idea, two were the heads of federal unions — Bobby Harnage of the American Federation of Government Employees and Colleen Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union. Kelley said the panel majority’s approach “would allow contractors essentially to write gold-plated government work requirements and then reward the contractors with lucrative contracts for services the government does not need.” Said Harnage: “The panel’s recommendation to replace A-76 with an entirely untested and subjective approach, and to do so immediately and without a trial period, is irresponsible.” Members of the panel majority included Bush administration officials, representatives of the contracting industry and David Walker, head of the General Accounting Office, who chaired the panel during its year-long work.