According to various news reports, the American Federation of Government Employees has asked the Supreme Court to consider its lawsuit against the labor relations rules in the Pentagon’s new National Security Personnel System. A union coalition lost its appeal before the US Court of Appeals last year. Congress, however, has been sympathetic to the union case and in the 2008 defense policy bill directed DOD to make NSPS consistent with current collective bargaining requirements.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.