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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) will oppose a government effort to secure an expedited hearing on its appeal of a federal court ruling that enjoined implementation of personnel regulations by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the union’s president said today.

“DHS has been operating under the existing labor relations system since the department was created nearly three years ago,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. DHS chose not to appeal the court’s August decision striking down the regulation and waited more than a month to appeal the court’s October 7 decision affirming the original ruling. “The agency’s own delay undermines any conceivable justification for asking the appeals court to consider its appeal on an expedited basis,” Kelley said.

The system DHS wants to impose—key elements of which the lower court has ruled are illegal—would severely impact employees’ due process, collective bargaining and appeal rights.

DHS has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; NTEU filed a cross-appeal in the case, addressing certain aspects of the lower court’s original decision in which it did not fully adopt the views advanced by NTEU. These issues include the extent to which DHS is authorized to narrow the subjects of bargaining and the legitimacy of the new Homeland Security Labor Relations Board.

Kelley, who previously expressed her disappointment with announcement of the DHS decision to appeal the lower court’s ruling, repeated her assertion that the better step for the agency, its employees and the nation would be for DHS to work with NTEU on a system that addresses everyone’s interests.

Kelley said the agency’s latest appeal—earlier, it sought to have the lower court narrow its injunction, and was turned down—is clear evidence of the administration’s determination to impose its will, no matter the cost in taxpayer dollars or in generating low morale among its employees.

“Rather than attempting to rush the consideration of its appeal,” the NTEU leader said, “DHS should sit down with NTEU to work out a personnel system that will meet DHS’s needs for flexibility without compromising the statutory mandate that employees’ collective bargaining rights be preserved.” The legislation creating DHS—the Homeland Security Act (HSA)—is specific in its direction that employees’ shall have the right to bargain collectively.

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