Wildland firefighters and other seasonal federal workers are still being prevented from advancing into permanent government positions, writes National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) National President Bill Dougan in a letter to President Obama.
Dougan is asking Obama to step in because he says the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is refusing to follow a part of the recently-passed Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA), which gives temporary federal workers the opportunity to compete for agency positions on an equal footing with other federal employees if they’ve worked over four seasons.
Despite this, OPM is still prohibiting eligible temporary employees, regardless of seasons served, from applying to vacancies open to all federal employees.
“As it stands, OPM is gutting the much-needed, bipartisan reforms of the LMWFA. The Congressional Record is clear that the Act is designed to provide long-serving temporary seasonal employees with the same career advancement opportunities available to other Federal employees,” said Dougan. “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.”
Click here to read Dougan’s entire letter.
