June 27, 2006, 5:59PM
Court: Homeland Improperly Limited Workers
By WILL LESTER Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department can't implement proposed personnel rules because they improperly limit the ability of labor unions to bargain over working conditions, a federal appeals panel ruled Tuesday.
The system of regulations proposed early in 2005 by the federal agency "renders collective bargaining meaningless and is utterly unreasonable and thus impermissible," the unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said. Their strongly worded ruling upheld portions of federal District Court rulings last year and also expanded the protections of unions to bargain for worker rights.
The department's proposed rules gave agency management the power to override agreements reached in collective bargaining, removed many issues about work rules from bargaining discussions and created an internal board to hear labor disputes.
The ruling said the agency's ability to unilaterally cancel parts of labor agreements and the limiting of issues on the bargaining table "plainly violate the statutory command" in the law creating Homeland Security that the department ensure collective bargaining for its employees.
The Bush administration has argued that Homeland Security managers need flexibility if they are to improve national security after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4007479.html
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