Thompson Commends Court For Coming to the Defense of DHS Employees
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, for the third time, ruled against the MaxHR personnel system that the Department of Homeland Security developed with authority granted under the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
The Court found that MaxHR granted too much power to the Department and infringed upon the collective bargaining rights of employees. Under the Department’s regulations, the Secretary would have been able to set aside collective bargaining agreements at will.
Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, issued the following statement in light of the decision:
“Apparently, the third time is the charm. This is a great victory for the dedicated and hardworking employees of the Department.
“I am hopeful that Secretary Chertoff will finally see the writing on the wall and redirect the millions earmarked for MaxHR program toward addressing the serious morale, recruitment, and high turnover problems that have plagued the Department since its inception.
“Instead of trying to be a trendsetter in the human resource arena and spending endless amounts of money and time to revamp the civil service system, the Department should be focusing its resources on attracting and retaining a qualified workforce.
“The American people deserve to have the Department charged with protecting them to be chalk full of the best and brightest who are treated fairly and with respect by their leaders, not a bunch of disgruntled and under-appreciated employees,” said Rep. Thompson.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact Dena Graziano or Todd Levett at (202) 226-2616.
