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Washington, D.C.— A proposed amendment by a bipartisan group of senators is “the best compromise” available for moving forward on homeland security legislation, said National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley.
The compromise amendment offered by Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.) and John Breaux (La.) and Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) would provide for collective bargaining rights and labor-management negotiations over personnel flexibilities in the proposed department.
“This compromise maintains fundamental protections for employees who will be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. NTEU appreciates the efforts of those involved, especially Senator Chafee, who worked so hard to reach a bipartisan agreement in the face of the administration’s extreme positions and total unwillingness to compromise,” said Kelley.
The proposed Nelson-Chafee-Breaux amendment would:
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Maintain collective bargaining and Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) appeals procedures under Title 5 provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act.;
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Provide that human resource flexibilities in the areas of pay, performance appraisal, classification and adverse actions cannot be pursued for unionized employees unless there is a written agreement, similar to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) restructuring law enacted in 1998.
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Does not eliminate the president’s authority to take away union rights through the use of an executive order, but provides additional standards that must be applied with respect to employees transferred to the new department who have union rights.
Kelley said she is hopeful a majority of senators will recognize the value of the compromise amendment in the face of the administration’s refusal to compromise on “issues of vital importance to the employees who will be included in the new department.”
NTEU represents nearly 12,000 employees of the U.S. Customs Service, who are among the 170,000 federal workers from some 22 agencies and departments who would be transferred to the new department.