DHS officials meet with labor leaders on personnel rules

Top Homeland Security Department officials met with representatives of the two largest federal employee unions on Thursday to discuss the next steps in the department's personnel reform.

Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson, Undersecretary for Management Janet Hale and Chief Human Capital Officer Ron James sat down with National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley and American Federation of Government Employees General Counsel Mark Roth less than a week after a judge ruled parts of DHS' proposed personnel system were illegal.

NTEU and AFGE, along with three other unions, brought a lawsuit against much of the labor relations portion of the new personnel system. Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Aug. 12 that the system failed to provide binding contracts for employees, because agency officials had the power to override collective bargaining agreements.

On Monday, Kelley wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, saying this decision presents "a new opportunity" to develop a personnel system that NTEU can stand by, and requesting a meeting with the secretary as soon as possible.

"I was pleased with the immediate response from DHS and welcomed the opportunity to sit down with Deputy Secretary Jackson," Kelley said. "He indicated a desire to work with NTEU in the future and listened to my suggestions on how to proceed. NTEU will continue our efforts to achieve a personnel process that helps accomplish the multiple missions of the department while respecting the rights of federal employees."

Kelley said that the two sides did not speak about specifics of the lawsuit; instead she asked the DHS officials to use the occasion of the judge's ruling to "really take a fresh look" at their personnel rules.

Kelley also said that in the course of the meeting she asked for Jackson and other DHS officials to meet with her and "rank-and-file employees" at a port somewhere in the country to help identify the concerns of DHS workers. Kelley said she left the meeting thinking that event was a real possibility.

DHS spokesman Larry Orluskie said the meeting was just one in a long line of discussions the agency has held with the unions about personnel reform, beginning when the draft regulations were first announced and continuing through a lengthy meet-and-confer period.

"The unions have been a partner with us from the beginning," Orluskie said.

He also said he is "certain" future meetings will be held, although no dates have been set.

According to AFGE's Roth, the two sides agreed it is a good idea to continue discussions.

"We had a good meeting in which we put our issues on the table and discussed them in a civil manner," Roth said.

The department has until Oct. 11 to file an appeal. A spokesman for the department said Thursday they were still reviewing the court ruling to make that decision.

Kelley said she hoped the department would even reconsider portions of their plan that were not included in the lawsuit. Collyer's ruling did not touch on the planned pay-for-performance system.