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Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union(NTEU) today expressed her disappointment at the failure of the House Homeland Security Committee to approve an amendment that would have restored collective bargaining and due process rights and prevented pay cuts for employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including those in the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The committee rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL) in the markup session for the DHS authorization bill.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said the Meek amendment would have restored rights that will be lost by DHS employees as personnel regulations issued by the department on Feb. 1 are implemented. The new rules severely limit collective bargaining rights and due process protections.

The Meek amendment, she said, “would have maintained the flexibility requested by DHS but clarified the employee rights requirements of the Homeland Security Act (HSA), which have been called into question by the overbroad DHS regulations issued in February.”

Specifically, the amendment would have made it clear, Kelley said, that sections of HSA setting out employee collective bargaining rights are not subject to being overridden by regulation. HSA provides that any new human resource system must “ensure that employees may organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations of their own choosing in decisions which affect them.” The DHS regulations “contravene this statutory directive,” Kelley said.

The amendment also would have ensured that sections of HSA mandating fair due process procedures be followed. The law said DHS could modify employee appeal procedures only to “further the fair, efficient and expeditious resolution of matters” involving DHS employees.

However, Kelley said, the new regulations “provide a unique and virtually unattainable standard for employees to meet in challenging agency determinations” about disciplinary matters. The Meek language would have provided for DHS employees the same due process standards as afforded other federal employees, the NTEU leader said.

She added: “The existing rules create a system that is neither fair, credible or transparent—all critical elements if this department is to succeed in its mission. The failure of the committee to take

advantage of the opportunity provided by the Meek amendment is disappointing to say the least.”

NTEU has filed a federal court suit seeking to prevent implementation of the regulations as moving well beyond the authority granted DHS and the Office of Personnel Management in HSA.

The Meek proposal not only would have restored important employee rights, it would have ensured that the salaries of employees converting to a new pay system in DHS wouldn’t fall below those called for in the General Schedule. What’s more, Kelley said, it would have provided for a number of “good government” initiatives.

These include more than a doubling of the budget of the DHS inspector general’s office to provide sufficient resources to allow it to conduct independent and objective investigations; providing broad authority to the DHS chief information officer to protect and integrate all the department’s data and technology equipment; establishing regional DHS offices which would allow for rapid and coordinated responses to threats and other emergencies; strengthening DHS’s privacy office, including helping ensure the independence of the office-holder by guaranteeing a five-year term for the position; creating an Office of Tribal Security to coordinate federal relations with Native Americans on issues relating to homeland security; and ensuring whistleblower protection for all DHS employees.

“These are all vital matters for the nation, and steps need to be taken to incorporate them into DHS,” the NTEU leader said.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments.