Defense Workers Update: 5 Things Lawmakers Must Resolve During NDAA Negotiations

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 270,000 civilian Defense employees nationwide, is highlighting five priorities for House and Senate lawmakers who will be meeting soon to resolve differences in their versions of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

"The NDAA is a critical piece of legislation that establishes personnel and operational policies for the Pentagon to follow for the coming year," AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. said. "Every civilian and military employee in the Department of Defense should be paying close attention to this bill as it moves through the legislative process, because the decisions made here will affect their jobs."

AFGE has identified five key issues that must be resolved between the House and Senate versions of the NDAA. They are:

1. Pay parity: Ensure equal pay raises for military and civilian workers

Federal civilian employees often work side-by-wide with military personnel and are crucial to ensuring our nation's defense and security. Therefore, they should be afforded the same annual pay increases as those for the military. AFGE encourages lawmakers to retain the House-passed provision that would provide service members with a 2.1% pay raise in 2017 and to maintain the long-held tradition of pay parity between military and civilian employees.

2. Outsourcing: Maintain privatization ban and oppose commercialization of DoD purchases

Since fiscal 2010, Congress has banned DoD from conducting public-private contracting studies under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76. This privatization ban was instituted because of systemic problems with the contracting out process and DoD's failure to produce a full and meaningful inventory of its contractor workforce. Those issues persist, so Congress should reject Senate proposals to remove the A-76 ban and effectively gut the requirement for DoD to produce a contractor inventory.

Lawmakers also should remove provisions in both the Senate and House versions of the NDAA that would allow more defense goods and services to be labeled as "commercial." This would result in DoD paying higher prices for these goods and services, which would hurt taxpayers, civil service employees and the military.

3. Travel costs: Reverse cuts in travel allowances for military and civilian workers

Thanks to a DoD policy change two years ago, thousands of military members and civilian DoD employees who travel for more than a month at a time now have to dip into their own pockets to pay for routine expenses like lodging and meals. Rather than covering 100 percent of an employee's nationally established per diem allowance, like other federal agencies, DoD now covers just 75 percent of the per diem for employees traveling between 31 and 180 days, and only 55 percent for employees on travel for longer than 180 days. A provision in the House-passed NDAA would stop DoD from reducing the per diem allowance. This provision should be included in the final bill.

4. Pay and benefit cuts: Oppose downgrading commissary jobs and privatizing Voice of America

In a misguided attempt to cut the costs of operating military grocery stores, lawmakers have proposed downgrading the pay and benefits of the Defense Commissary Agency's 15,500 civilian employees by changing their funding status from appropriated to non-appropriated. This change would cut employees' pay by as much as one-quarter, force them to pay significantly more for health care insurance, render them ineligible for retirement benefits, and make it easier to fire them and privatize their jobs. Many of these employees are veterans or spouses of active-duty service members. This proposal must be removed from the NDAA.

Lawmakers also should reject a provision in the House-passed NDAA that would create a private, nonprofit organization to carry out all of the broadcasting and related programs currently performed by the Voice of America (VOA). AFGE opposes this provision because it would result in VOA workers losing their federal employee rights and protections. It is also likely to increase taxpayer costs significantly, as a similar move to de-federalize VOA's Arabic Service in 2003 resulted in a 10-fold increase in costs without a resulting increase in benefit.

5. Workforce management: Increase financial incentive for employees to retire or resign

Federal agencies that are downsizing or restructuring can offer employees lump-sum payments as an incentive to voluntarily retire or resign. The maximum buyout has been capped at $25,000 since the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) authority was established in 1993. The Senate version of the NDAA would raise the maximum payment for DoD employees to $40,000 to account for inflation and help DoD efficiently reduce the workforce without affecting mission or readiness. Lawmakers should include this provision in the final bill.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 670,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160805/396014
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131120/MM21150LOGO

SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees

Related Links

http://www.afge.org