IFPTE e-Activist News Center

Say No to NSPS ONE TEAM -- ONE AMERICA -- UNDER ATTACK How the NSPS Legislation Will Destroy National Security What You Can Do To Stop It After September 11th, to support military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq (the greatest military movements since the Vietnam War), your Department of Defense (DoD) civilian workforce maintained the top-level quality of the military machine, with limited personnel, while working considerable amounts of overtime. Their ability to do their work and sustain America's capability to defend itself is now threatened by the DOD National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The impact of the NSPS will be a sudden and lasting reduction in this country's defense capabilities for years, if not decades to come. Read President Junemann's open letter to the members of IFPTE. Senators and Representatives are elected to defend this country. You must defend America by encouraging Secretary Rumsfeld to pull back the NSPS. What you should know: 1. The NSPS affects over 700,000 Department of Defense (DoD) workers in ninety countries, from nurses to nuclear engineers, welders to intelligence specialists. 2. From the end of the Cold War through today, the DoD workforce has been reduced by over 30%, has aged to an average of over 40 years old, and has downsized its facilities and capabilities. Meanwhile, America has become the world's only superpower, with its military increasingly responsible for keeping peace in the world. 3. DoD management has been scolded by experts for downsizing in ways that put future national defense capabilities at risk. 4. On the heels of the Iraq conflict, DoD management turned its guns on the DoD civilian workforce, a key component in America's national defense team. 5. The NSPS will destroy the ability of DoD personnel to maintain the submarines, tanks, weaponry, and jets, and place in harm's way our country's sailors, soldiers, marines, and airmen, by reducing pay significantly, eliminating safety and quality protections, and more. These changes put all of the military at risk for equipment failures while they are engaged in battle. 6. Specifically, cuts in pay, without increases in personnel or reductions in overtime rates, in some areas as high as 34%, will cause some highly trained employees to leave their jobs at a time when their skills are desperately needed. It takes up to seven months and tens of thousands of dollars to train a single replacement worker. 7. In the meantime, some aircraft carriers will not deploy. Instead, some jets will be grounded and some tanks will be stalled. 8. The military strength of this nation will be limited, thus affecting the efforts in Iraq, the diplomacy with other countries, and the ability to respond to terrorist attacks. 9. Can we accept this future? Our position is we can't. You must defend America by voting to reject the NSPS. Sample Letter for Campaign Subject: Say 'NO' to the NSPS Dear [ Decision Maker ] , As a Department of Defense civilian worker and a member of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), AFL-CIO, I am writing regarding the Pentagon drafted National Security Personnel System (NSPS). I urge you to reject the NSPS as it is currently drafted and insist that the Pentagon go back to the drawing board in creating a new personnel system at DOD. When the legislation granting Secretary Rumsfeld the authority to create a new personnel system was approved last year, the Pentagon assured Congress, DoD workers and union leaders that they would not manipulate that authority to gut union and civil service protections afforded to federal workers. However, to date, the Pentagon has done little in living up to their word! Instead the Department has released a proposal (known as NSPS), that was created unilaterally by DoD and resembles nothing in the way of collective bargaining for union members or civil service protections for the overall workforce. The Pentagon is claiming, among other things, that collective bargaining somehow hinders the DoD's ability to protect national security. In fact, if you were to believe DoD officials when defending NSPS, you would no doubt come to the conclusion that the Pentagon is hiding behind the guise of 'national security' to justify many, if not all, of the egregious provisions within the proposal. Make no mistake about it, the NSPS is reflective of an all out attack on two fronts--against our valuable civilian workforce as well as their labor unions. Keep in mind that this attack is being orchestrated against the very same civilian workers who performed admirably during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and who continue to protect this nation through the ongoing war on terror. To use 'national security' as an excuse to strip the fine men and women serving DoD of their worker protections is an outrage. While the proposal itself clearly helps to define the ideological agenda of the current administration, it does nothing to help in the way of protecting our nation. What it will do, however, is turn back the clock on important civil service protections and eventually harm the effectiveness of the Department. Throughout this debate, Pentagon leaders have thrown around irresponsible and unsubstantiated attacks on worker protections in current law. Among them have been suggestions that federal worker unions are somehow unpatriotic, and hinder the Department's ability to achieve its goals. Yet, to date, the department has not provided one piece of evidence to support their claim that belonging to a union prevents a worker from performing his/her assigned tasks. As a rank and file DoD worker and proud union member, I can attest first hand that these claims are nothing more than smoke and mirrors! The truth is that America is well served by its civilian workforce at DoD. The civil service system protects Americans against a 'spoils' system that would allow politicians to reward their friends and supporters with important government jobs. And, the civil service has only one goal in mind: To provide the American taxpayer with top-notch service in the most cost-effective manner. The men and women of DoD do just that. However, if enacted, the NSPS is sure to destroy it. I urge you to refuse to buy into the false and misleading rhetoric coming from the Pentagon with regards to NSPS. They have misled Congress when pushing through legislation last year giving them the authority to create such a damaging policy, and they continue to mislead Congress in the formulation of NSPS. Instead, I urge you to call on Secretary Rumsfeld to scrap the current version of NSPS and create a human resources system at the Pentagon that not only gives the department the flexibility they desire, but also protects its workforce. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your reply. Sincerely,

Campaign Launched: March 26, 2004

Background Information

An Open Letter to the Members of IFPTE from President Gregory J. Junemann

I am writing to request your assistance in helping a significant portion of IFPTE's membership to maintain its bargaining rights and responsibilities. This issue deals with the potential elimination of unions representing workers in the US Department of Defense, and while this in itself is alarming enough, it surely represents the potential for a subsequent loss of union rights for employees working for Defense contractors and subcontractors.

This matter was discussed at the 54th IFPTE Convention, and a corresponding resolution "Support for Collective Bargaining, Title V Protections for Federal Employees" was proposed and unanimously adopted.

In November of 2003, the Bush Administration and its allies in Congress pushed through the Defense Transformation for the 21st Century Act. Among other provisions within the Act, the new law included a major provision called the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). Under NSPS, management within the Defense Department intends to eliminate the current Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), nullify all existing bargained or authorized grievance procedures, remove management's duty to bargain, invalidate all provisions of any existing collective bargaining agreements that are noncompliant with NSPS, and eliminate union representatives' use of official time. Additionally, the Defense Transformation Act replaces the fifty-five year old General Schedule pay system with a 'pay for performance' merit pay system, the provisions of which have not as yet been disclosed. This is all being done under the premise that such measures are needed to maintain national security.

To combat the unilateral implementation of NSPS, the Federation is working in coalition with other unions representing DoD employees to lobby Congress to overturn the law. IFPTE is also working with the legal department of the AFL-CIO to investigate proper legal avenues to pursue to contest DoD's extensive overreaching in its proposed implementation of the law. We have also constructed a section on the IFPTE website to combat NSPS. Finally, we are reaching out to all of you, our local leaders and members, to seek your help in contacting your respective House and Senate representatives to enlist their support in overturning this law.

Please send the attached draft letter or a similar letter to your respective Congressional representatives. I ask that you do this as soon as possible since DoD is currently in the process of finalizing its implementation strategy.

Please contact your Congressional representatives directly, either at his/her hometown or DC office, or at a town hall meeting. Ask them to involve themselves in overturning this law. Talking points can be found under the 'Short Explanation' within this campaign.

Again, I must emphasize that this direct attack on collective bargaining rights of Defense Department employees is certainly only the beginning of what will be the dismantling of union rights for all federal employees. Moreover, once the anti-union forces have dismantled collective bargaining in the federal sector, the rights of every other union member in the United States, regardless of the employer, are in jeopardy.

Thank you.

In Solidarity

Gregory J. Junemann President

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