The National Federation of Federal Employees has long had a bone to pick with the Office of Personnel Management over its guidance related to a land management law.
It’s now taking the grievance to President Obama.
The union penned a letter to the president on March 15, asking him to personally intervene in a dispute over an OPM guidance on how agencies apply the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act.
The law, which passed on Aug. 7, allows for temporary seasonal workers, namely seasonal wildland firefighters, to apply for permanent federal agency jobs.
But an OPM guidance released on Dec. 29 limits the temporary employees to only agency-specific jobs, meaning if the position is open to federal employees from other agencies, temporary employees are barred from applying.
The OPM interpretation has been a great source of frustration for NFFE, and union president William R. Dougan said as much in a March 17 statement.
“As it stands, OPM is gutting the much-needed, bipartisan reforms of the LMWFA,” he said. “In direct opposition to Congressional intent, entrenched bureaucrats at OPM are keeping in place the very barriers to meaningful career advancement the LMWFA was enacted to break down. We are calling on the President to intervene once more on behalf of wildland firefighters to correct OPM’s flawed implementation guidance. To support wildland firefighters, President Obama must step in to rectify OPM’s major mistake.”
The law, seen as a legislative achievement for NFFE, has hit a number of roadblocks since. The union last penned a letter to Obama on Sept. 16, asking the president to fast-track the OPM guidance, which had yet to be issued. Now, with the guidance in hand, it continues to battle what it says is an incorrect interpretation of the law.
“The Federal wildland fire organization exists and operates across agency lines. Therefore, essentially all recruitment for vacancies under merit promotion occurs across agency lines,” Dougan said. “For firefighters, OPM has constructed a wall that is just as intact as it’s ever been. This wall cannot be allowed to stand.”
