President Bush has said that
he will veto any Homeland Security bill that allows employees of the proposed
department to be included under union and civil service rules.
Why does it matter?
If legislation passes, over 170,000
people will work in the new department.
Supporters of President Bush believe that the Administration needs to
hire them quickly because of the threat of terrorism.
Once the employees are
hired, the department might need to call some of them to duty to address a
security concern on short notice, a personnel move that runs counter to typical
union collective bargaining agreements.
Other employees might need to be transferred to other departments
quickly, which takes time in the civil service.
Opponents, including many
unions, fear that the power of unions will weaken with the changing of rules
not only in this department, but other ones as well. Leading unions are especially concerned about
the Department of Defense and its 600,000 employees.
Furthermore, they raise
concerns about the details of Bush’s plan.
Approval of the executive branch’s ability to transfer employees quickly
may lead to this or future administrations arbitrarily transferring employees.
Bush has frequently cited
“national security” as his reasoning for pushing for these personnel policy
changes. This phrase has been used to
justify secrecy over many
Why exclude Homeland
Security employees from collective bargaining agreements?
It can’t be the rush to hire
the employees. Over one year has gone by
since the event that prompted many in Congress to create the department, the
attacks of September 11.
It can’t be the need to call
employees or to transfer them quickly to respond to threats. Many union contracts allow for such actions
in cases of emergency.
It can’t even be the
cabinet-level status of this proposed department. Bush opposed the idea of making Homeland
Security a part of the cabinet for nine months following the attacks. Besides, no other cabinet department excludes
its employees from labor rules.
The public should not be
fooled into going along with the Bush Administration’s plans for a Homeland
Security Department. Its employees would
be responsible for our nation’s security but would, themselves, be insecure.