WASHINGTON - Employees of Congress' watchdog agency - including those working at a branch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base - will decide today whether or not they want union representation for the first time in their agency's 86-year history.

Employees at the Government Accountability Office will vote on whether to join the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the AFLCIO-affiliated labor union organizing the union effort.

Elections at the GAO's headquarters are scheduled for Wednesday; ballots for the agency's 11 field offices were mailed Aug. 23.

GAO employees began lobbying for a union after Comptroller General David Walker in 2006 restructured the agency's compensation policies, moving toward a performance-based pay system. The change was met with complaints that analysts weren't given enough say in the restructuring and that the decisions were not transparent enough. Some analysts also said they were denied cost-of-living raises despite promises that they would receive them.

Dayton's branch, one of 11 field offices, is the second smallest branch office, with more than 30 in the office and 27 eligible for union membership, according to Jamie Horwitz, an IFPTE spokesman.

Dan Hauser, an analyst in the Dayton field office who lives in West Chester, said Dayton employees hope a union will give them more protection by providing a binding employment contract.

"I don't know (if) anybody has issues with pay for performance," he said. "That's apple pie - who possibly could have concerns about that? But I believe the concerns are about how it's being implemented."