[Texgreen] Drafting federal workers/gov't civilians to Iraq considered

[margaret]

Federal Times - Dec 8, 2006
http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2412021

Unions oppose draft of federal workers to Iraq

By DANIEL FRIEDMAN

The Iraq Study Groups recommendation that the Bush administration 
consider
ordering government civilians to Iraq has drawn outrage from federal
employees unions.

Civilian agencies have been seeking volunteers to assist with efforts in
Iraq. But the report states that the potential danger of the assignment
means few qualified candidates have taken the offer.

Therefore: In the short term, if not enough civilians volunteer to fill 
key
positions in Iraq, civilian agencies must fill those positions with
directed assignments, the report says. Steps should be taken to mitigate
familial or financial hardships posed by directed assignments, including
tax exclusions similar to those authorized for U.S. military personnel
serving in Iraq.

Created to advise Congress, the study group has no formal power. It is 
not
clear what chance the groups recommendations have of adoption. But 
American
Federation of Government Employees President John Gage said that while 
his
organization needs more information, we are alarmed at the idea of 
directed
reassignments of civilian agency employees to a military war zone.

The recommendation does little more than advocate a draft for federal
workers, Gage said in a Dec. 7 statement. Its just like getting any 
person
on the street and telling him or her that working in Iraq is now a
condition of employment. The contractors are getting out of Iraq, our
soldiers are getting out of Iraq and now theres an idea to send in 
federal
employees, many of whom are untrained and not prepared for a war zone.
Richard Brown, national president of the National Federation of Federal
Employees, said he opposes mandatory civilian deployments: That doesn't 
make
even a modicum of sense from what I can see, he said.

Defense Department officials have recently said they may seek 
legislation
or other measures to reduce institutional barriers to deploying 
civilians
overseas, including to Iraq. The Pentagon is reviewing how it designates
emergency essential positions, for instance. But officials have stressed
that such deployment would be voluntary.

A department spokesman did not provide comment by deadline. An Office of
Personnel Management spokesman declined to comment.

Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., in line to chair the House Government Reform
subcommittee on the federal work force, called the study groups
recommendation a good idea. More civilians in Iraq could help achieve 
the
stability needed for an overall U.S. withdrawal, Davis said.

Spokesmen for Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Tom Davis, R-Va., whose
districts include large numbers of federal employees, did not return 
calls
about the recommendation.