WASHINGTON - February 9 - The Department of Defense has announced a new plan which essentially lays out the road map for how President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld plan to strip thousands of federal workers of their basic freedom to have a voice and a union on the job.

The plan is outrageous and flies in the face of basic American values concerning democracy and freedom. This is especially unconscionable considering that these workers have been supporting our brave men and women in Iraq.

Clearly, the Bush Administration would like to dictate that federal workers have no more options and rights than the typical WalMart worker — they plan to drive down working standards to the lowest level possible, and they’ve put the workers’ union in their sights to do it.

The Department of Defense proposal would mean that workers’ current contracts would not be renewed and would effectively eliminate the grievance procedure.

These provisions are wholly undemocratic. Without the basic protection of a contract and grievance procedure, too many workers will wind up victims of favoritism, discrimination, and arbitrary policy making. Consultation is not a realistic alternative to collective bargaining. Consultation is just that — consultation. It carries no real rights and no checks and balances.

If this plan is executed — where will be the accountability? How likely will whistleblowers be to come forward under this new plan?

The Department of Defense claims that the plan it has issued is just that — a plan. But we’ve seen how the Bush Administrations’ “plans” work when it comes to workers. We’ve seen their “plan” to strip nearly 8 million workers of overtime rights pushed through the process without any significant changes based on workers’ comments. We’ve seen their endless “plans” stop any real ergonomics reform. And now we’re seeing their “plan” at the Department of Defense follow that same path.

America’s workers and their communities deserve to be treated better. Workers deserve to have the freedom to improve their lives through their unions.

This attempt by the Bush Administration to strike at the heart of this freedom is deeply troubling for all those who believe in basic civil liberties and workers’ rights.

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