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Some federal employee union officials are accusing the Defense Department of reneging on a promise to show them the blueprint for the new National Security Personnel System before it is published in the Federal Register.

In a statement released Wednesday, Defense officials said they never promised to share the plan and cannot do so because of legal restrictions.

Last year, Pentagon officials asked Congress for the right to develop a new personnel policy in order to deal with a wave of long-term military deployments and unexpected threats. Congress granted sweeping personnel powers to the Defense and Homeland Security departments. Pentagon officials since have proposed a performance pay system for civilian workers, limited collective bargaining rights and a streamlined appeals process for disciplinary matters.

Union officials and some lawmakers have complained that Defense officials are not taking employees' concerns about the new system seriously. Last month, unions said the negotiations over the system were about to be curtailed.

The talks were not cut short-and both sides continued to meet-but some union representatives said the negotiations are far from satisfactory. Foremost among the complaints is the sharing of the NSPS plan before it reaches the Federal Register and is opened for public comment.

"They agreed to share their NSPS proposal with us," said Matthew Biggs, legislative director of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. During a meeting in early October, however, Pentagon officials said they would not be providing a copy of the plans, according to Biggs.

According to Defense Department officials, they considered sharing the plans, but were not able to because it would disadvantage other constituencies.

"The coalition of unions did request that we share a draft of the proposed NSPS regulations prior to publication in the Federal Register. They were advised that we would determine the legal and regulatory implications and would notify them whether we would comply with their request," the NSPS Program Executive Office said in a written response. "At the Oct. 5 consultation meeting with [a coalition of unions], we advised them that providing them with the draft in advance of publication would depart from the intent of the Administrative Procedures Act process, which provides all interested parties an equal opportunity to comment."

Biggs said he has taken his complaint to Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine.

"Sen. Collins has been absolutely terrific on this issue," he said. "We've been very pleased with the response and the attempted oversight of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee."

Collins' office released a statement confirming the meeting with IFTPE and reiterating the senator's support for continued dialogue.

"Sen. Collins continues to monitor the negotiations carefully to ensure that there is adequate transparency in the process and that all voices are heard," the release said. "She has consistently urged DoD and OPM to involve the unions as much as possible and to provide as many details as possible so that employees will understand the new system."

Biggs also alleged that the negotiations are simply an attempt by Pentagon officials to placate lawmakers.

"They are not really negotiations, [Defense] and [the Office of Personnel Management] are still meeting with us because they want to appease Sen. Collins," he said. "They don't want to deal with Congress or the unions ... they are being very secretive."