Federal Unions Get Some Clout from Congress

 CQ WEEKLY – VANTAGE POINT
By Shawn Zeller, CQ Staff

This spring, the House passed a defense authorization bill that would strip the Bush administration of authority to make changes to collective bargaining rules at the Pentagon. This month, when the Senate passed its version of the bill, it included an amendment that would severely restrict the administration’s authority to put government jobs up for competitive bidding with the private sector. The so-called A-76 outsourcing process — named for a bidding circular from the Office of Management and Budget — has been a central part of the president’s management agenda for the executive branch. The Senate language was sponsored by Democrats Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and approved on a mostly party-line vote. Among its labor-friendly provisions, it would guarantee that federal employees may protest procurement decisions to the Government A-Accountability Office, and it would prohibit procurement officers from using the generous medical and retirement benefits available to union members who work for the Pentagon as a point of cost A-comparison with contractors’ more A-slender benefit outlays. “If this provision goes into effect, it would kill competitive sourcing,” says Alan Chvotkin, senior vice president of the Professional Services Council, a contractor trade group. But union leaders hope it marks a renewed era of pride and solidarity in the federal workforce. “You can’t have a process driven only by numbers and political ideology,” says John Threlkeld, a legislative representative at the American Federation of Government Employees. “And I think Congress is taking a much different look at it now.”

Source: CQ Weekly
The definitive source for news about Congress.
© 2007 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.