AFGE issued a press release stating that “TSA Administrator John Pistole met today with AFGE John Gage to discuss collective bargaining and other workplace issues.” Does that meeting constitute an unfair labor practice?
The author asks the reader to go with him through Alice’s looking glass for a tour of the world of human resources management in our nation’s capitol. Up is down, down is sideways as Agency chief human capital officers thread their way through the minefield of identifying what might be amiss in the U.S. civil service.
The American Federation of Government Employees announced that the FLRA would review its Regional Director’s decision to deny an election based on a precedent set by a prior administration. The Author’s surprise may be a little facetious in that the current FLRA Chairman dissented in the old case.
However the political winds blow, negotiators representing a Federal Agency have the responsibility to advance the Agency’s interests at the bargaining table. The author offers some thoughts for those in Agencies opting into the B(1) Pilot or drawn into such optional bargaining by political leadership.
In a case Fedsmith has been covering since 2007, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s efforts to impose its will on the National Labor Relations Board. In what some might call a slam dunk, the court decided the FLRA once again misinterpreted another Agency’s enabling legislation.
An Agency practitioner prepared this heads-up for practitioners in his Agency and it’s up on Fedsmith as a service to the community. Whether you’re a specialist, lawyer or union advocate, this should be of great interest to you.
The Author takes a look at the Report to the National Council on Labor Management Relations on bargaining B(1) issues. These are matters that until now Agencies had to negotiate only at their election. According to the report, it appears the politicals are getting ready to write a success story in advance of the negotiations. You decide.
Over the course of her term as minority member of the FLRA, now Chairman Pope dissented many times in FLRA decisions. The author identifies those that specifically addressed negotiability issues and asks, can we expect a reversal if the issues come up again?
FLRA’s Regional Director in Chicago, Peter Sutton, rejected AFGE and NTEU bids for elections at the Transportation Security Administration. There are indications that the Authority in DC will reverse him and a prior ruling of its own barring the election. Nothing has changed since that decision except the political leaning of the Agency. Will it reverse itself and order an election? Read and decide for yourself.
As the use of Executive Order mandated Forums starts up, the author asks if Agencies are ready to face union demands to bypass the Federal labor law. While the Order says “to help identify problems and propose solutions to better serve the public and agency missions”, is this a code for expanding the scope of Federal bargaining? Read and decide.
