GSA Council Victoriously Lobbies to Halt Transfer of Contract Specialists
Monday, October 1, 2007(National Federation of Federal Employees)
While this seemed like a reasonable idea to help DoD address the agency’s shortfall of acquisition experts, the plan did not account for the tremendous drain in talent that would be created at GSA by reassigning these workers. The plan was also unclear about what DoD would do with these workers once they arrived at their new agency.
The workers who would be transferred had numerous concerns about the move as well. Would they have to relocate as a result of this change? Would they have the opportunity for advancement in their new agency? Would they be compensated fairly under DoD’s pay pool system? Would they maintain the right to be in a union?
Perhaps the most fundamental question of all was why DoD would try to do a complicated and messy transfer of the workforce when GSA is prepared to provide procurement support to any agency on a reimbursable basis without relocating and disrupting the lives of the workers.
NFFE’s GSA Council took this message to the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, meeting with several key offices before the subcommittee marked up their version of the bill. After making a compelling argument that the plan to transfer these workers was flawed, the subcommittee decided not to set aside $21 million to transfer the 600 contracting officers.
“We are very pleased that the subcommittee saw the glaring flaws in this plan,” said NFFE National President Richard N. Brown. “This move would have been very bad for GSA and the workers who would be transferred. If DoD wants contract specialists, they should hire them or contract with GSA for the services. This plan made no sense at all.”