Defense Workers Win Back Rights

The four-year battle over workers' rights at the Department of Defense (DoD) may finally be over. House and Senate negotiators unveiled legislation Friday that would restore collective bargaining rights to DoD workers and give workers a majority of their cost-of-living raise, reported Stephen Barr in Monday's Washington Post. The legislation changes a Bush administration personnel measure "that sought to sharply curb union rights at Defense and to more rigorously link annual pay raises of civilian employees to job-performance ratings," Barr reports. The Bush measure had been vigorously opposed by a coalition of 36 unions since implementation in 2003. House and Senate votes on the bill are expected this week.