WHERE DO YOU BARGAIN PERMISSIVE ISSUES?
A lot of local unions think that they can approach their local management counterparts and demand to open bargaining over the permissive topics President Biden just made mandatory subjects of bargaining. NOT TRUE! The statutory right to demand bargaining rests only with the exclusive representative. So, if your local is in a consolidated unit of several or many local chapters only the head of that consolidated unit can make that demand. The only way around that is if the agency agrees to bargain multiple contracts below the level of exclusive recognition, which, ironically, is a permissive right it has that the union cannot force it to give up. See FDA and AFGE Council, 54 FLRA 630 (1998) which says that locals within a larger or consolidated unit only have the right to demand bargaining if delegated that power by the national parties’ agreement. But there are some ways around that. Here are some examples. Continue reading