WP: Union Fights Pentagon Rules Changes

Washington Post

The largest federal employee union is preparing to do battle today with the Department of Defense over a proposal by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to overhaul longstanding work rules for the department's 749,000 civilian workers.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 600,000 federal civil servants, is encouraging Defense employees to oppose the plan today in meetings with members of Congress and in faxes and phone calls to their offices. Since Friday, the union has aired radio ads in Washington and 17 other cities decrying what officials describe as a threat to collective bargaining rights that will consolidate power in the office of the defense secretary.

"Defense employees must take a stand now -- there may not be a tomorrow," AFGE President John Gage said in a statement yesterday.

The union has dubbed the lobbying effort "D-Day for DOD Employees." ---

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