FLRA Trend: Will Every Union Proposal be an Appropriate Arrangement, if Tested?
A new decision appears to set up FLRA as arbiter of Agency efficiency and effectiveness.
FLRA
Is An FLRA Regional Director Going to Violate the Law in TSA Union Recognition Case?
In 2003, the Federal Labor Relations Authority found that the Transportation Security Administrator had the absolute right to decide whether a union could represent TSA employees. The author asks what has changed except politics and whether a regional official can violate a legal precedent on his own. You be the judge.
FLRA Proposes New Unfair Labor Practice Regulations: Reverses Bush Era Hands Off Policies and Eliminates Neutrality Provision
In reviewing what, on the surface, appears an innocuous change to the FLRA General Counsel’s Regulations, the author suggests there may be more involved.
FLRA Puts Personnel Specialists in the Bargaining Unit: Does the FLRA Need Remedial Reading Training?
After 30 years under the Federal labor law, the FLRA has ruled for the first time that personnel specialists are in a bargaining unit as their work is routine.
The New Federal Labor Relations Authority: Ten Suggestions that Might Really Improve Federal Collective Bargaining
FLRA has a new website and, according to its Chairman, a new “season” based on “Revitalization, Reinvention, and Re-engagement”. Her message is the keynote on the cosmetically altered site. Taking on the prior Authority (of which she was a member) claiming it’s “performance, along with employee morale, had suffered” and sounding a lot like Al Gore, she wants to reinvent the FLRA but how she plans to do so is a bit hazy.
A Dispute That Could Only Arise Between Public Employees and a Governmental Agency
Federal agencies and federal employee unions have their own agendas with the result being disputes going on for years that seem to defy logic. The appeals court calls this case the “sort of dispute that could only arise between public employees and a governmental agency.”
Evidence in Negotiability Cases? The FLRA Greases a Slippery Slope
On remand from a court decision, FLRA was instructed to revisit a record. In a decision blaming the Agency for not rebutting the Union’s lousy evidence, FLRA relies on unsupported emails to decide the case. The author suggests that this case offers the parties an opportunity to dramatically affect future negotiability proceedings.
Working with the ‘Covered By’ Doctrine: Making Management’s Obligations in Federal Labor Relations a Little Lighter
The exact origins of the current “Covered By” Doctrine are somewhat shrouded in the fog of early 1990s case law. Now that this doctrine has been fleshed out by subsequent FLRA and Court decisions, the author asks if it’s time for agency management to look at and, perhaps, take advantage of the opportunities the case law offers.
FLRA Has a Quorum but Still No General Counsel
FLRA Chairman and member confirmed by the Senate providing a quorum that permits decisions to be issued. The nomination for General Counsel at the FLRA is still pending.
Senate Holds Hearings on FLRA Nominees: Acting Committee Chair Thumps Bush Administration
Thomas Beck and Carol Pope’s hearings for appointment to the FLRA were held on September 11. Amid some Bush bashing, hints on the Democrats future plans for Federal labor relations were provided by the only Senator present for the hearing.
