FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         Monday, August 6, 2007

CONTACT: Matt Biggs (240) 535-3321

House Again Votes to End NSPS
Amendment Calling for Defunding
of NSPS Passes House

WASHINGTON, DC – The full House of Representatives has approved an amendment to H.R. 3222, the Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) House Defense Department Appropriations bill, to defund the National Security Personnel System (NSPS).  The amendment effort was led by three of the staunchest supporters of our DoD workforce, Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA), Walter Jones (R-NC), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).  The legislation passed without opposition on a voice-vote.

This past weekend’s House action is a major rebuke of the controversial power grab initiated by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and, by the end of this legislation year should go a long way in closing the books on what became an effort to strip away collective bargaining and due process rights for 750,000 Pentagon workers. While the Senate has yet to vote on the measure, the 36 member United DoD Workers Coalition (UDWC) is optimistic that the Senate Leadership will match the House’s undeniable rejection of NSPS.

The so-called National Security Personnel System is a draconian re-write of DOD personnel regulations which its authors claim was authorized by the 2004 Defense Appropriations Bill. The United DOD Workers Coalition (UDWC), a coalition of some 30 unions, has challenged DOD’s personnel initiative since it was unveiled, testifying before Congressional committees and filing suit in federal court to try to block implementation. The Coalition charged that DOD grossly exceeded the authority that Congress granted it, attempting to implement tight controls on collective bargaining, employee protections against unilateral actions to curtail pay, and as an effort to ignore statutorily guaranteed protections—including Veterans Preference—in the face of reductions in force.

Member unions of the United DoD Workers Coalition (UDWC) reacted to Saturday night’s House of Representatives vote to defund NSPS.

In a press release from the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department, President Ron Ault, offered the following comments:

“The AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department applauds the action of the House of Representatives to defund the Pentagon’s ill-advised National Security Personnel System. Under the bipartisan leadership of Representatives Chris Van Hollen, Jay Inslee and Walter Jones, the House of Representatives has acted to restore fairness and balance for Defense Department personnel. We also appreciate the leadership of DOD Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-PA) for his support of DOD civilian workers. We encourage their colleagues in the U.S. Senate to uphold this amendment.

“We are hopeful that this is the beginning of the end in what has been a four-year fight to protect constitutional and statutory rights for 750,000 DOD civilian workers. We remain cautiously optimistic that Congress will act and the President will sign a final measure that ensure bilateral labor relations and recognizes the legitimate rights of DOD workers to preserve their voice on the job.”

Gregory Junemann, President of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), also weighed in through an IFPTE press statement, saying, “IFPTE applauds the House’s action and is hopeful that tonight’s vote will finally lead to the end of this costly and ideologically driven policy.”

Michael Priser, President of the Federal Education Association/NEA said, “The initial version of the NSPS created by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is an affront to the men and women at DoD who work so hard to support our troops and safeguard our country everyday.  In creating the NSPS, the Pentagon ignored guidelines set forth by Congress and sought to create an arbitrary system in which workers were stripped of their collective bargaining rights and left with no real protection or recourse from cronyism and other abuses.  The House vote to defund this ideologically driven and costly system was clearly in the best interests of the DoD and the dedicated men and women who serve our nation!”

Chico McGill, Director of the IBEW Federal Employees Department said, “We are extremely pleased to see that the efforts of the UDWC have paid off and that Congress has supported the amendment by Congressman Van Hollen, Inslee, and Jones that stops the funding of NSPS, a personnel system that has been the largest threat to organized labor that we have faced in many years in the Federal Sector. Conceived as a wolf in sheep’s ‘dialogue, NSPS used word play to fool you into a false confidence for nothing more then a way to kill unions and take away workers rights to collectively bargain.   NSPS cared not whether you are a veteran or have years upon years of seniority.  I am grateful for the grass roots efforts of our 325 IBEW members who were in town on the Wednesday before the vote and rallied to Capitol Hill to ask for support of the amendment.”

In rounding out the comments of the Coalition, UDWC Chairman Byron Charlton provided the following comments:

 "Again the Congress has stated clearly through its inclusion of the NSPS defund amendment in the DoD appropriations bill  that it will not accept the Administrations attempt to circumvent workplace democracy and due process rights of workers through the establishment of a personal system that is anti-American and anti worker.   The labor movement and its allies will continue to fight against this and every other attempt to mute the voice of labor."

To learn more about NSPS and the UDWC, please visit www.uniteddodworkerscoalition.org .