Upheld by High Court
Unions Keep Rights At Homeland Dept.

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will not appeal a U.S. Supreme Court ruling blocking the implementation of new personnel regulations that would have drastically altered long-standing worker rights.

COLLEEN M. KELLEY: Preserves workers' rights.

The decision is a victory for the National Treasury Employees' Union, which led a coalition of 10 labor organizations in opposing the new rules. NTEU represents more than 150,000 Federal workers in 30 Federal agencies.

'Put It Behind Us'

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said DHS made the right decision for itself, its employees and the nation.

"It is now time for DHS to put this adversarial proceeding behind it and to join with NTEU in focusing solely on the agency's critical mission of protecting the American people," she said in a written statement.

The Bush Administration sought to alter personnel rules at several agencies, saying the Federal Government needed greater operational flexibility. The regulations would have changed procedures related to employee reviews, promotions and overtime eligibility, as well as implementing pay-for-performance systems.

NTEU was adamant in its opposition to the plan, saying it undercut collective bargaining rights protected by Federal law. The union worked with DHS and the Office of Personnel Management for two years in an attempt to craft regulations that would provide DHS with the personnel flexibility it said it needed, while at the same time preserving employees' rights.

Congressional Guarantee

DHS was created as part of the 2002 Homeland Security Act and is charged with coordinating national security efforts. In establishing the agency, however, Congress stipulated that DHS must "ensure" employees' collective bargaining rights.

The Bush Administration told Federal agencies to push ahead with the new system as it was initially designed despite union opposition. The NTEU won an injunction to stave off implementation while its legal challenges were heard.

Federal courts - including an appeals court panel acting unanimously - three times ruled in NTEU's favor that the DHS rules would gut employee collective bargaining, due process and appeal rights. The Federal courts said the changes were illegal and couldn't be implemented.

'Unreasonable' Shift

The appeals court called DHS's labor relations plan a "flagrant departure" from the meaning of collective bargaining and "utterly unreasonable."

The Bush Administration is trying to enact similar rules in the Department of Defense, and has said it wants to expand the regulations to include all Federal Government agencies.

Ms. Kelley said that since the establishment of DHS, her union has tried to communicate to Federal officials that "its mission can be accomplished without compromising the rights of its employees, [who] welcome the opportunity to contribute their energy and expertise to continuing to secure this country while retaining their longstanding rights."