Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
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Fighting for Civilian Defense Workers' Rights
21 December 2004
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee is calling for civilian defense workers to be included in the Department of Defense's formation of plans for a new National Security Personnel System (NSPS), and has gathered signatures from over one hundred twenty-five members of Congress on a bipartisan letter demanding that Defense Secretary Rumsfield provide written details about the proposed NSPS to the civilian workers.
By law, the Department of Defense is required to meet with the elected representatives of the its civilian workforce and to provide them with a written description of the proposed NSPS system. Members of Congress were also assured in testimony by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz before the House Government Reform Committee that civilian workers would be an essential part of the process. Unfortunately, the implementation phase of the National Security Personnel System is rapidly approaching, but the Department of Defense has refused to share specifics of the proposal with the workers' representatives, the United Department of Defense Workers Coalition (UDWC). Members of Congress who signed today's letter want to ensure that the Department of Defense's plan is shared before the Department of Defense publishes the proposal in the Federal Register.
Said Inslee, "Our civilian defense workers are an integral part of our defense team, and they deserve to be treated that way-- with the utmost respect. The fact is that the law requires the Department of Defense to meet with civilian defense workers and give them a written description of the plan before implementing the plan, and it should not take over one hundred members of Congress to remind the Department of Defense to follow the law."
The NSPS was controversial from the beginning, because of its degradation of collective bargaining rights and other long-standing worker protections. Inslee offered an amendment to prevent the Department of Defense from weakening civilian defense personnel protections in June 2004, which was narrowly defeated on a mostly party line vote of 202 to 218 (H.R. 4613).
The text of the Members' letter to Defense Secretary Rumsfield is below:
December 21, 2004
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld The Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1155
Director Kay Cole James 1900 E Street NW Washington, DC 20415-0001
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld and Director James:
We are writing to express our concern that the Department may be about to publish the proposed National Security Personnel System in the Federal Register later this month, before discussing the proposal with the elected representatives of the Department's civilian workforce, the United DoD Workers Coalition (UDWC). Such action would be contrary to the requirement that Congress included in Section 9902 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2004, stating that management "shall provide to the [representatives of affected employees] a written description of the proposed system." Failure to provide the employee representatives with a copy of the proposed system would also violate management's duty under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute to provide the union with the information needed for the proper performance of its representational duties.
Although Department management has met several times with the UDWC, our understanding is that it has not yet provided the employees' representatives with the specific details of the proposed personnel system. The Department's actions in developing the system have already led to wide concern by the Department's employees and their representatives, as well as by Members of Congress that the result of the process will be unfair limits on civil service protections and collective bargaining rights for Department employees.
We understand that you have responded to the union's request to review the proposal in advance of publication by stating that unions, Congress and any other interested parties may provide public comments for consideration before implementation of the proposal. We also understand that you believe, however, that providing a copy of the proposal before publication would give the union an unfair advantage over others.
The opportunity, available to all, to submit public comments in the agency rulemaking process is not a substitute for the union's right to obtain and review information in its role as the employee's certified bargaining representative. Nothing in the Administrative Procedure Act, or any other federal statute, prohibits the Department from providing the union with a copy of the proposal in advance. It is essential that you proceed with the development of such an important human resources system in the most transparent way possible.
We urge you, therefore, before publishing the proposal in the Federal Register, to provide a written copy to the employees' representatives. Additionally, we request that you provide a copy to the House Committee on Government Reform. We would appreciate your replying to this letter, including a copy of the proposal, no later than December 31st, 2004 or before the Department's publishes the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, whichever is earlier. We look forward to receiving your response.
Very Truly Yours,
REP. JAY INSLEE REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN REP. WALTER B. JONES Rep. Neil Abercrombie Rep. Gary Ackerman Rep. Robert E. Andrews Rep. Joe Baca Rep. Earl Blumenauer Rep. Leonard L. Boswell Rep. Rick Boucher Rep. Robert A. Brady Rep. Sherrod Brown Rep. Ed Case Rep John Conyers, Jr. Rep. Jim Cooper Rep. Jerry F. Costello Rep. Danny K. Davis Rep. Susan A. Davis Rep. William D. Delahunt Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro Rep. Norman D. Dicks Rep. Lloyd Doggett Rep. Lane Evans Rep. Sam Farr Rep. Chaka Fattah Rep. Bob Filner Rep. Barney Frank Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez Rep. Raul M. Grijalva Rep. Alcee Hastings Rep. Stephanie Herseth Rep. Maurice Hinchey Rep. Michael Honda Rep. Steve Israel Rep. Patrick Kennedy Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick Rep. Ron Kind Rep. James Langevin Rep. Tom Lantos Rep. Sander M. Levin Rep. Stephen F. Lynch Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney Rep. Edward Markey Rep. Jim Matheson Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Rep. Betty McCollum Rep. Jim McDermott Rep. James McGovern Rep. Mike McIntyre Rep. Michael Michaud Rep. Brad Miller Rep. George Miller Rep. Jerrold Nadler Rep. Grace Napolitano Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton Rep. James L. Oberstar Rep. John W. Olver Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz Rep. Major R. Owens Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. Rep. Donald M. Payne Rep. Charles B. Rangel Rep. Silvestre Reyes Rep. Tim Ryan Rep. Linda T. Sanchez Rep. Loretta Sanchez Rep. Bernard Sanders Rep. Janice Schakowsky Rep. Jose E. Serrano Rep. Ike Skelton Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter Rep. Hilda L. Solis Rep. Ted Strickland Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher Rep. Gene Taylor Rep. Tom Udall Rep. Maxine Waters Rep. Diane E. Watson Rep. Henry A. Waxman Rep. Anthony D. Weiner Rep. Robert Wexler Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey Rep. Gene Green Rep. John Spratt Rep. Anna Eshoo Rep. Robert Menendez Rep. Eliot L. Engel Rep. John F. Tierney Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones Rep. Thomas H. Allen Rep. Jim Davis Rep. Martin Sabo Rep. Dennis Kucinich Rep. Ben Chandler Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr. Rep. Peter DeFazio Rep. John D. Dingell Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez Rep. Chet Edwards Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo Rep. Bobby L. Rush Rep. Robert T. Matsui Rep. Robert E. "Bud" Cramer Rep. Christopher H. Smith Rep. Lois Capps Rep. Elijah E. Cummings Rep. Bart Stupak Rep. Albert Russell Wynn Rep. Dale E. Kildee Rep. Shelley Berkley Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. Rep. Brad Sherman Rep. Rush D. Holt Rep. Brian Baird Rep. Martin T. Meehan Rep. Fortney Pete Stark Rep. Mark Udall Rep. Mike D. Rogers Rep. Bob Etheridge Rep. Stephen F. Lynch Rep. Mike Thompson Rep. Steny H. Hoyer Rep. Mike Doyle Rep. William Lacy Clay Rep. Barbara Lee Rep. Tammy Baldwin