Civil Service System on Way Out at DHS -WP

[Rose Siding]

The Bush administration unveiled a new personnel system for the Department of Homeland Security yesterday that will dramatically change the way workers are paid, promoted, deployed and disciplined -- and soon the White House will ask Congress to grant all federal agencies similar authority to rewrite civil service rules governing their employees.

The new system will replace the half-century-old General Schedule, with its familiar 15 pay grades and raises based on time in a job, and install a system that more directly bases pay on occupation and annual performance evaluations, officials said. The new system has taken two years to develop and will require at least four more to implement, they said.
...
Leaders of federal employee unions, however, immediately denounced the new DHS system and any plans to expand it government-wide. They said the system would undermine the morale of homeland security employees and make it harder to attract and keep talented workers. They said they would file a lawsuit to block its new restrictions on collective bargaining and employee appeals. They conceded that such a move would do nothing to curtail the new pay system, however, which by 2009 will cover at least 110,000 of the department's 180,000 employees.

"They are encouraging a management of coercion and intimidation," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. He added: "This is not a modern system. This is a step backward."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39934-2005Jan26.html

[VegasWolf]

1. One of the neo conservative agenda items, eliminate all unions.

[indepat]

2. And fully politicize the entire Federal workforce?

[maryallen]

9. And do away with government pensions ...

[cthrumatrix]

18. the US is being brought down to 3rd world levels so that we will

subscribe to a One World Govt.

Terror is a "trojan Horse" that helps move things along for all.

these guys are pure evil.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Back to the spoils system!

It's a fine system, if you're the bunch in control.

[Rose Siding]

4. and they don't plan on going anywhere, either

[Rose Siding]

5. Four unions have already filed suit!

Four labor unions filed suit today to prevent the Bush administration from adopting a new personnel system that would give officials sweeping power to reward, punish and reassign employees at the Department of Homeland Security.

White House officials said the new personnel procedures were a template for changes they wanted to make throughout the federal government.

The labor unions asked the Federal District Court here to issue an injunction against the final personnel rules, which will be published Tuesday in the Federal Register and will take effect in the next few months.
...
The unions contend that the rules illegally abridge the rights of federal employees to challenge decisions to dismiss , demote or suspend them. Under the rules, they say, unreasonable penalties can be imposed and will be upheld unless they are "wholly without justification."

http://nytimes.com/2005/01/27/politics/27cnd-home.html

That was quick!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Wonderful time and place

to introduce Hitler Youth.

[central scrutinizer]

7. this is EXACTLY the reason why we have Civil Service

If your job is dependent upon a patronage or spoils system, then you vote for the party that will allow you to keep your job. Civil service was created to stop this. Oh well, those who are ignorant of history..........

[shanti]

14. thank you

i didn't know this....i appreciate the history lesson!

[central scrutinizer]

16. it also allowed for continuity and professionalism

can you imagine the chaos, if every time there was a change in the majority party, all of the workers were told to pack up and get out because new workers, loyal to the new party, were coming in?

[starroute]

17. It was a result of the assassination of President Garfield

http://www2.worldbook.com/wc/popup?path=features/presidents&page=html/garfield.htm&direct=yes

James Abram Garfield (1831-1881) was the last president to be born in a log cabin. Nobody knows what kind of president he would have been because he was assassinated only a few months after taking office. Garfield, a Republican, was the fourth president to die in office and the second to be assassinated.

Possibly Garfield accomplished more by his death than if he had lived to complete his term. A major characteristic of national politics in his day was the so-called spoils system, in which thousands of government employees were fired every time a new president took office. Garfield spent most of his short time as president filling these jobs with his political supporters.

Although not a reformer, he wrote in his diary shortly before he was shot: "Some civil service reform will come by necessity after the wearisome years of wasted presidents have paved the way for it." The assassination of Garfield by a disappointed job-seeker shocked the nation into action. Two years later, Congress began civil service reform with the Pendleton Civil Service Act.

[wishlist]

8. Tyrannical to abolish collective bargaining and appeal rights of workers

Bush & Co are chomping at the bit to roll back over 30 years of hard fought progress by federal unions on behalf of fairness and employee rights. This will be a huge step backward if Congress goes along since all federal employees will be vulnerable to wide spread abuse of power, corruption and cronyism with no recourse.

[hector459]

10. More importantly there will be no whistleblower protections or EEO

protections. The modicum of safety that existed before in these areas will disappear along with the best retirement system for employees in the nation.

[flygal]

11. "..make it harder to attract and keep talented workers."

They don't want talented workers - they want SHEEP!!

Civil service out - brown shirts in

[VegasWolf]

12. awol thinks that nepotism is much better than merit. After all, it

worked for awol.

[shanti]

13. they have been wanting to do this in california state government too....

for a long time now. their union busting tactics are so transparent :grr:

[lovuian]

15. Mr.Bush seems to want to attack Workers in General

and if Americans Social Security goes so should the Civil Servant Pensions

We are all in the Mr Bush Hell together!!! Getting totally screwed!!!

[atreides1]

20. Bush And Republicans are also attacking Veterans Benefits

Not only does this bunch of creeps want to do away with Civil Servant pensions, they also want to gut the services to military veterans as well.

But the MSM won't report it, and the kool-aid drinking sheep don't care.

To me, we don't have very many options, talking isn't working, the MSM is bought and paid for, and at least half of the country refuses
to see this administration for what it really is.

What options do true patriots have left, I'm kind of leaning towards
Thomas Jefferson's quote about the tree of liberty and how it must be quenched from time to time, unless someone has a better idea.

[lovuian]

19. Kick

Excellent article!!!