NSPS Message
Years of hard work by NFFE members and our brothers and sisters in fellow unions finally paid off this year.
On January 28th, President Bush signed into law the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill included language which made sweeping changes to the National Security Personnel System (NSPS).
Significant victories in the bill include the restoration of collective bargaining and employee appeal rights for Defense employees. Blue-collar workers are also now exempt from the system. The law left in place the Defense Department’s authority to implement a pay-for-performance system; however, the measure would guarantee that NSPS employees get 60 percent of the annual pay raise given to most federal workers if they perform at a satisfactory level or above. Only the remaining 40 percent of the pay adjustment, which is set annually by Congress, would go toward performance pay.
While the new version of the system is still far from perfect, it is a vast improvement from the previous forms. By relentlessly working together to make our voices heard, we ensured that many of Defense workers’ rights will be maintained under this new system. This is a significant victory for Defense workers, for NFFE, and for the entire labor movement. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to the plate and helped bring about this important change.
Richard N. Brown