Defense plan for civilian workers disputed

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans and Democrats told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday that his proposal seeking greater authority over 700,000 civilian employees goes too far in eliminating job protections. They are crafting an alternative aimed at preserving worker rights.

Rumsfeld told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that the Pentagon’s outdated bureaucracy makes it difficult to attract new employees, award promotions and fire incompetent workers.

Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she hopes her panel can prepare legislation that would help guide House-Senate negotiators as they work out the final version of the defense bill.

Collins and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, introduced an alternative this week that she said attempts “to strike the right balance.”