Six months after the previous general counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority vacated the position, President Bush nominated Colleen Duffy Kiko, of Virginia, to fill the position that was vacated last December by Peter Eide.
Kiko has been nominated to the FLRA post for a five-year term. She currently serves as a member of the employee’s compensation appeals board at the Department of Labor. Kiko previously served as an associate with Ronald M. Cohen & Associates, P.C. in Arlington, Va. Earlier in her career, Kiko started a general law practice in McLean, Va. and served as associate counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights.
Duffy Kiko is very familiar with the federal labor relations program. She was a labor relations specialist with the Labor Management Services Administration of the Department of Labor at the time the Federal Labor Relations Authority was created. She worked throughout the federal labor relations community in investigating unfair labor practice allegations and handling a variety of complex labor relations issues. In this job, she had a reputation for thoroughly researching and understanding the issues under consideration and for dealing fairly and directly with all parties.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University and her J.D. from George Mason School of Law.
If confirmed, the question becomes whether the post she walks into resembles the position that was created with the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. With massive personnel reforms taking place at the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, the role of the FLRA could drastically change as the agencies plan to set up and appoint their own panels to review labor relations cases instead of using the FLRA. With the administration recently announcing its intent to implement similar reforms government-wide, it stands to reason that the role of the FLRA is almost certain to dramatically change.
President Nominates Rose To MSPB
In other news, the president also nominated Mary M. Rose, of North Carolina, to be a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, for the remainder of a seven-year term expiring March 1, 2011. If confirmed, Rose would replace Susanne T. Marshall, whose term had expired.
Rose currently serves as vice chairman of the federal salary council and chairman of the federal prevailing rate advisory committee. She previously served as deputy associate director of the Office of Presidential Personnel at the White House. Earlier in her career, Rose served as deputy undersecretary of management at the Department of Education. She graduated from the Bon Secours School of Nursing.
