THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1992.

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

WITNESS

JOHN N. STURDIVANT, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFL-CIO)

INTRODUCTION

Mr. MURTHA. The next witness is Mr. John Sturdivant with the American Federation of Government Employees. Mr. Sturdivant.

STATEMENT OF MR. STURDIVANT

Mr. STURDIVANT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will summarize my statement, which has already been summarized several times before.

I submitted my statement, Mr. Chairman. As you know, we represent 700,000 government employees, 300,000 that work in DOD, and there are many issues affecting our members. I will limit myself to some key ones.

CONTRACTING OUT

Contracting out, of course, as you know, is a key issue. AFGE has been critical of the DOD contracting out program as conducted under OMB Circular A-76. Section 8069 of the fiscal year 1992 DOD Appropriations Act continued the requirement to terminate all DOD A-76 studies that have been in progress more than two years for a single function and four years for a multifunction study. We want to commend the Committee for including section 8069 in the fiscal year 1992 legislation and to strongly support continuation of this provision. As a further step, AFGE supports the position that all A-76 contracting out studies should be terminated during the period of DOD downsizing. The rationale supporting this position is evident. This is a turbulent period.

DRAWDOWN OF FORCE

Reflecting last year's Committee action, AFGE supports development of a comprehensive economic conversion effort by establishing a Defense Conversion Committee. Concurrently, we recommend that the Defense Conversion Committee membership include representatives from organized labor.

In addition, health care for displaced civilian employees is an important issue during DOD downsizing. Currently, health care may be continued at the employee's expense. In order to provide adequate health care for these employees and their families during this economic adjustment period, we recommend that Federal Employees Health Benefits Program coverage be extended for one year with full premium payment by DOD.

AIR RESERVE TECHNICIANS

I am sure my colleague, Mr. Esposito, will outline the issues facing the Guard and Reserve technicians, but I would like to point out that a recent policy has had severe negative impact upon Air

Reserve Technicians in the Air Force Reserve. This change, called the High Year Tenure Program, will force many Air Reserve Technicians out of their civil service positions because they have reached age 55 and have 33 years of military service. Our concerns with this directive are, one, that it was implemented without any recognition of the significant contribution that these senior ARTS make to Reserve unit readiness; and, two, there was no analysis of the substantial costs that are generated by this change.

We would recommend that you would take a look at the cost of this change, and we would also recommend that application of this change be deferred until you see what the costs are.

SUMMARY

I would like to summarize our recommendations. Continue provisions similar to section 8069 that required DOD to complete A-76 cost comparisons within reasonable time periods; terminate all A-76 studies during the period of DOD downsizing; include an organized labor member on the Defense Conversion Committee; reduce the number of AGR positions; include language that requires the Air Force Reserve to defer the High Year Tenure Program to Air Reserve Technicians until a detailed report is submitted on additive costs and readiness impacts of that program; extend paid health care benefits to RIFed DOD employees for one year; continue funding job placement, training and relocation programs for displaced DOD civilian employees; and maintain adequate civilian staffing for DOD fire fighting units in accordance with NFPA recommendations and as a critical core function.

I appreciate the opportunity to present this statement, and would be happy to attempt to answer any questions that you might have.

Mr. MURTHA. We appreciate your coming before the Committee. We always work with you and we will look at your recommendations and see if we can't work them out.

Mr. STURDIVANT. We will be happy to give your staff any additional information they need to buttress our recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The statement of Mr. Sturdivant follows:]

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: My name is John Sturdivant. I am the National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, which represents over 700,000 government workers nationwide, including 300,000 in the Department of Defense. I thank you for the opportunity to testify on the FY 1993 Appropriations Bill for the Department of Defense.

There are many important issues affecting our DOD employees which the Appropriations Committee will consider. I will limit my statement today to those issues which we deem to be of greatest importance: contracting out; the impact of DOD base closures; issues relating to civilian technicians; and adequate staffing levels for DOD firefighting units.

Contracting Out

As you know, AFGE has been critical of the DOD contracting out program as conducted under OMB Circular A-76. Section 8069 of the FY 1992 DOD Appropriations Act continued the requirement to terminate all DOD A-76 studies that have been in progress more than two years for a single function and four years for a multi-function study. We want to wholeheartedly commend the Committee for including Section 8069 in the FY 1992 legislation and to strongly support continuation of this provision.

The Impact of DOD Base Closures

Combining the currently legislated base closures, over 116,000 DOD civilian positions will be eliminated or realigned by 1997. This substantial number of job eliminations and realignments is only from announced closures resulting from two Base Closure and Realignment Commissions; it does not include further reductions that will result from additional DOD budget cuts that are now being forecast for the 1990s. In sum, the 116,000 DOD civilian jobs are only openers and we expect that number to be substantially higher by the end of this decade. The magnitude of this problem makes our

efforts of critical importance to individual federal employees, their families, and their communities.

It is important to remember that these DOD employees are not being "fired" because they did something wrong. On the contrary, they are losing their jobs because they did the right thing. That's right; they did their part over the many years of the Cold War to keep our military forces trained, equipped, supplied, and supported. They kept our bases mobilization-ready and in tip-top shape. They are a vital part of the team that won! So, now, we have the opportunity to make sure that we treat these good people like winners, not losers.

As to existing programs to assist displaced federal civilian employees during downsizing, AFGE has evaluated these programs in detail. Our assessment is that current programs provide a basis from which to approach the problem, but numerous enhancements will be necessary to meet the objective. I will later discuss four basic cornerstones which AFGE advocates as a foundation for assisting displaced DOD employees as well as a number of enhancements that we recommend for consideration, but first I would like to discuss the economic value of employee placement and training programs. Effective job placement and job training programs are short-term investments for a long-term skilled labor force which will be vital to our nation in the 1990s. In addition, the relatively low cost of effective job placement programs has the immediate economic benefit of avoiding, or reducing, the costs of job training, unemployment insurance, extended health benefits, and supplemental allowances. For every DOD employee who is placed prior to RIF, the pay-off in cost avoidance is direct and immediate. The key to meeting this challenge is up-front funding and solid planning for on-site placement programs.

I would now like to outline four ingredients that are essential to help DOD civilian employees through the crisis of downsizing. First, current programs related to relocation assistance, severance pay, and other allowances must be improved.