Bush administration plan to reform civil service draws union ire
By Shawn Zeller
szeller@govexec.com
Federal employee union leaders reacted with anger Thursday to news that the Bush administration will begin a governmentwide push to dismantle current civil service rules.
On Wednesday, Clay Johnson, Office of Management and Budget deputy director for management, announced the decision to replace the General Schedule with a new personnel system, arguing that it would be unfair to leave other government agencies without the flexibility the Homeland Security and Defense departments have to limit union bargaining rights, set pay based on performance and discipline workers.
But union leaders, already furious over the new DHS pay for performance personnel system released Wednesday, said they would continue to fight a civil service overhaul.
"This isn't any modernization," said American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage. "This isn't any improvement. This is gutting the civil service."
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