New Year, New Opportunities
This past year was a time of great progress and achievement for NFFE and its members. We have seen vast improvements in our organizing, stepped up our communications and secured a series of significant legislative victories.
Now, with 2010 in full swing, we are looking to build on these successes and bring our union to even greater heights. In this spirit, I would like to share with you some of the many priorities that NFFE will pursue as 2010 continues to unfold.
In the early days of this year, we announced the formation of the Federal Workers Alliance (FWA), a coalition of 21 unions representing federal workers. FWA members will work together in solidarity to promote favorable legislation and personnel policies for the more than 300,000 combined federal employees it represents. Working side by side with our union brothers and sisters on these matters benefits us all.
Another important relationship we are looking to cultivate is that between labor and management at the many agencies we represent. We intend to play a very active role in the formation of new agency partnership councils. Our goal is to build a strong foundation for robust and productive dialogue to take place between workers and their managers.
We have an ambitious legislative agenda for 2010. Among our numerous legislative priorities this year, we hope to secure pay parity between military and civilian employees, establish a paid parental leave benefit, and to obtain the benefits that many temporary federal employees are denied.
Lastly, NFFE will continue to focus on organizing and engaging new members. With the new Organizing Strategic Plan in motion, we are committing significant time and resources to growing our union. By year's end we anticipate greater growth in members than we experienced in 2009.
With your help, I am looking forward to making 2010 the best year ever to be a NFFE member.
William R. Dougan
NSPS Conversions Put on Hold Pending DoD, OPM Review; President Richard N. Brown's Statement
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
(National Federation of Federal Employees)
After
years of fierce opposition from NFFE and other
federal employee unions, the beginning of the
end of NSPS may be in sight. In a DoD press
release issued earlier this week, Deputy
Secretary of Defense William Lynn announced
that DoD will delay any further conversions of
defense workers into NSPS, pending an extensive
review of the much-maligned personnel system.
“This
administration is committed to operating fair,
transparent, and effective personnel systems,
and we are undertaking this review to assess
whether NSPS meets these objectives,” said
Lynn.
DoD and
OPM leadership are currently engaging in
discussions with key personnel in the
administration to determine the overall
framework, scope, and timeline of the review,
including identifying an appropriate individual
to lead the review. It is expected to take
several months for a review team to gather the
necessary information and data, reach out to
stakeholders, and develop recommendations for
leadership consideration.
National President Richard N.
Brown’s Statement on Review of NSPS:
“We
are still committed to repealing NSPS this
year. We have all the information we need to
demonstrate that NSPS is a flawed personnel
system and a huge waste of tax-payers’ dollars.
We are glad to see that DoD and OPM are
reviewing the program, but we aren’t going to
let that stand in the way of our effort to
repeal the personnel system this year. NSPS was
never meant to be a good government personnel
plan. It was designed to eliminate federal
employee unions and suppress Defense workers’
pay. Our mind is made up, NSPS needs to
go.”
