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Washington, D.C.— Federal employment should not be a choice between “financial security and working to secure our country,” according to a report released today by the Partnership for Public Service. It is a point that should be of great concern to all concerned with attracting the best and brightest to federal service, said National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley.

In its report “Homeland Security: Winning the War for Talent to Win the War on Terror,” the Partnership for Public Service outlined many challenges and recommendations to creating a new Homeland Security Department as proposed by the administration and now being considered in the Congress.

“While the focus of the report is on the proposed Department of Homeland Security, there is a clear and long-recognized need to address the existing pay gap between the private and federal sectors. As the report clearly states it should not be a choice between financial security for your family and security for America. To win this war for talent, the federal government must pay a competitive salary and provide comparable benefits as found in the private sector,” said Kelley.

The union leader said adequate pay and benefits are essential for attracting to federal service the next generation of Americans to replace the projected loss of mission-critical employees to retirement, with fully 50 percent of the federal workforce eligible for retirement in the next five years.

Kelley said that much of what the report recommends is included in the current Senate version of the bill creating the new Homeland Security Department, including the creation of a Chief Human Capital Officer, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP), and use of categorical rankings in hiring.

The report also correctly recognized, said Kelley, that in the private or public sectors “employee involvement in the design and implementation of human resource management improvement activities is a proven method for achieving positive results.”

“At a time when ‘freedom to manage’ has become the latest bumper sticker catch phrase in an assault on the merit-based civil service system, including the right to collectively bargain, it is refreshing to see a fair assessment of the important and positive roles employees continue to play in safeguarding America,” said Kelley.