20+ FLRA PRECEDENTS UNION NEGOTIATORS MUST KNOW

Having spent over 30 years as a union’s chief negotiator,  I am convinced that for a union to succeed at the table it needs to know ever bargaining right it has under law. Otherwise, it is going to miss an opportunity, fall for a management trick, or embarrass itself.  For example, a union-hating DHS negotiator convinced the FSIP to take quick jurisdiction over the ground rules (GR) for reopening our term contract that the union did not want reopened anytime soon.  As expected, the Panel screwed the union by ordering us to accept management’s proposed GR despite our argument that they were riddled with gaps and ambiguity. When DHS negotiator called to gloat and arrange a signing date, he offered to clarify some provisions and fill some gaps if we signed immediately. BANG! BIG MISTAKE! I HAD HIM!  I said, “Sure, just send over your proposals and thanks for being so reasonable.”  When he sent his proposed changes, I sent back counter proposals rather than sign them as he expected. Why? Because a little-known piece of case law held that he had just reopened negotiations—something the management negotiator did not know. His error required management to go back to the bargaining table before any FSIP decision had to be implemented.  The agency fired him when it found out how badly he had blundered and the union got the bargaining GR it wanted and ultimately a very good new contract.   We have pulled together almost  two dozen critical bargaining case law precedents that, if used, boost union bargaining power. Just click here