They put a damper on the new personnel work rules of Homeland Security, now labor unions have turned to the Defense Department, challenging in court the Pentagon’s new National Security Personnel System work rules issued last month. (DR, 10/28/05) The unions claim they were stiff-armed by the Pentagon. According to Government Executive, they say DOD officials held meetings with union representatives present, but there was no substantive conversation about the rules took place. Unions also argue that the new system, which will govern 650,000 employees, fails to safeguard employee collective bargaining rights.
The Department of the Air Force has begun work on its second review on disparities in its ranks, sending surveys to Airmen and starting interviews focused on barriers to service that some face based on gender and ethnicity. This second Inspector General Independent Disparity Review is focused on disparities that…