NSPS: Just Get Rid of It

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On Friday, June 12, the House Armed Services Committee will begin to mark up (write) next year’s Defense Authorization Bill. AFGE will attempt to get language in that bill to repeal NSPS. Lawmakers need to hear from you that the time for talk is over. Repeal NSPS now. Please use the form below to contacct your lawmaker.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Repeal NSPS

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

For over seven years the Bush Administration attacked and eroded the civil service protections and collective bargaining rights of federal employees. There is no better example of this indefensible and misguided erosion than the Department of Defense's (DoD) National Security Personnel System (NSPS).

DoD employees have soldiered on during this dark age, insuring that our troops are deployed and supplied despite the morale-busting environment created by DoD. But enough is enough. It's time to honor DoD employees, to rebuild morale, and to end the endless debate and review of NSPS. It does not work, it will not work and it should be repealed once and for all.

I urge you to support the repeal of NSPS as the House takes up the FY 2010 Defense Authorization Bill. A bad idea is not improved by seven years of debate over its merits. The repeal of NSPS is long, long, overdue. I would appreciate a response to my request.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 09, 2009

Background Information

10 Reasons NSPS is Bad for You

1. The pay distribution process is not transparent.

2. You are rated by managers who don't work with you.

3. Your payout is not based on your real performance because ratings are forced into a bell curve.

4. Your share of money is given to somebody else because NSPS is budget neutral.

5. The amount of money put into different pay pools is decided arbitrarily. Even if you are a top performer,you might get less money simply because your pay pool has less money than others.

6. Two employees with identical ratings may not get the same raise and bonus.

7. The secret rating process is lengthy and you end up with only a short time to improve your performance for next year's payout.

8. Managers can promote whomever they want to higher level duties and authorize a pay raise of up to 5% without competition. You might not even know there's a new position, let alone compete for it.

9. Because of pay caps, you can’t reach the top of your pay band, so the extra pay potential is just an illusion.

10. Your retirement benefits will be smaller because part of your payout each year may be a bonus instead of a raise. Bonuses are not counted toward retirement.