FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 17, 2005 (Release Date)

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UNIONS AT TINKER AIR FORCE BASE( OR the complete name of your base of operations ) TO SUE PENTAGON
AFGE and Eight Other DoD Unions to File Lawsuit

(CITY, State OR City or Town Where Base is Located, State) The Department of Defense (DoD) is proposing a new set of regulations that could have grave implications for safety of America's fighting men and women, and for safeguarding the public coffers. In its new National Security Personnel System (NSPS), also known as the Rumsfeld plan, the Department of Defense has significantly narrowed employees' rights to collective bargaining and all but eliminated the due process rights that enable employees to speak with confidence when they see wrongdoing or mismanagement.

Civilian employees at (OR the complete name of your base of operations) are represented by the American Federation of Government Employees which, together with eight other unions, will soon file a lawsuit against the regulations published Monday, February 14, 2005. In defiance of the United States Congress, the Defense Department refused to consult with the unions that represent the department's employees, as called for in the defense authorization legislation that authorized the creation of the new personnel system, and went ahead in issuing its proposed rule changes in violation of section 9902(m) of the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2004.

"You would think that if anybody had an obligation to follow the law, it would be the Department of Defense," said Don Hale, president of AFGE's DEFCON (Defense Conference), which represents DoD workers nationally. "Instead of working with the longstanding representatives of the military's loyal civilian employees, the Pentagon apparently would rather duke this out in federal court."

The proposed regulations for DoD personnel revoke most due process rights (rendering whistleblower protections moot), allow supervisors to punish employees in their paychecks. Also create a so-called "pay-for-performance" system that pits employees against each other for pay increases, and end all meaningful collective bargaining.

"Every day, we hear of more punitive measures taken against government employees more loyal to the American people than to the political appointees who lead their agencies," said John Gage president of AFGE. "The narrowed scope of bargaining in the new regulations allows management to implement transfers and shift changes with impunity. Recent reports cite a lack of accountability in the upper reaches of the Pentagon. These new rules would only intensify that problem."

Unions filing the lawsuit will include Association of Civilian Technicians (ACT), International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Laborers International Union (LIU), Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), and United Power Trades Organization (UPTO). The lawsuit challenging the new work rules, on a statutory basis, will be filed in federal court.

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