The Department of Defense announced today that it was in talks with the public employee unions that represent its civilian employees over exactly how the sequester-based furloughs will affect those workers:

The department asked commands to identify civilians who would be excepted from furloughs. That information is back in the Pentagon, Hale said, and officials are reviewing the recommendations. Their goal is to complete that review by March 15, he added.

After notifying Congress, the department began legally required bargaining with unions. About a dozen unions have national consultation rights, Hale said, and local commanders are in the process of notifying several local unions. “The unions, in this case, don’t have the right to bargain not to do the furloughs, he said. “They do have the right to bargain how they are implemented.”

Public employee unions have been asking their members to cut deals with each other themselves to lessen the impact of the furloughs.