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Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today welcomed agreement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to a judge’s request for a delay of two weeks, until Aug. 15, in its planned implementation of new personnel rules.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley called the DHS decision “a good step in that it will allow the court time to address this very important matter on the merits” of union arguments that key portions of the regulations are illegal.

NTEU, leading a coalition of five unions challenging the DHS rules, had filed a motion asking the court to stop implementation of the rules until it could consider the union’s legal challenge. President Kelley noted that the government’s agreement to delay implementation at the court’s request has the same effect as a preliminary injunction because it postpones the regulations until the judge can rule on the merits of the unions’ challenges.

Kelley, who has been leading the effort to ensure that DHS employees’ collective bargaining, due process and appeal rights are preserved, said that no one would be well-served, including both DHS and the public, if the agency moves forward with regulations that are contrary to law.

At a hearing yesterday on the unions’ preliminary injunction motion, Judge Rosemary Collyer of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia suggested the delay, which would allow her time to issue a decision on the merits.

During the nearly two-hour hearing, NTEU argued in considerable detail that the new rules far exceed any authority granted DHS and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) by Congress in legislation establishing the new department.

NTEU the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments, including about 14,000 in DHS.