Author Archives: AdminUN

About AdminUN

FEDSMILL staff has over 40 years of federal sector labor relations experience on the union as well as management side of the table and even some time as a neutral.

UNION’S OPTIONS WHEN AN AGREEMENT PROVISION IS DECLARED UNENFORCEABLE FLRA long ago ruled that even if an agency agreed to a particular agreement provision (or FSIP imposed it) and the agency head approved it as legal, the agency can declare … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining Law | Tagged | Leave a comment

WHEN IS AN AGENCY PROPOSAL EVIDENCE OF BAD FAITH BARGAINING?  If you are looking for proof that the agency has engaged in bad faith bargaining, be sure to examine the proposals it has made. The courts have held in the … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining Law | Tagged | Leave a comment

ARBITRATING CASES FOR NON-MEMBERS:  MUNCHAUSEN-BY-UNION SYNDROME Any union leader who thinks dues-paying members’ money should be spent arbitrating cases for non-members is —  Out of his/her mind Has a low self-image A coward Uniformed about the law Keeping their own … Continue reading

Posted in Membership Building | Tagged | 2 Comments

A NEW GROUND RULE CONTROVERSY  Given the Trump Panel’s vicious attack on unions, it is no surprise that unions are working hard to reduce the Panel’s power.  One way to do that is to block an arguably illegal Panel final … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining Proposals, Bargaining Tactics | Tagged | Leave a comment

WHAT IS SURFACE BARGAINING?  To begin, it is illegal.  It is also what Trump’s executive orders virtually mandate that all management negotiators do.  Finally, it is something union negotiators should learn to recognize because it could be the key to … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining Law | Tagged | Leave a comment

WHAT DO SELECTING OFFICIALS OWE BQ CANDIDATES–AGAIN?  We can’t say this often enough.  When Selecting Officials non-select BQ candidates, especially those with higher scores than the selectee, the Selecting Official (SO) must provide the non-selected applicant something more than a … Continue reading

Posted in EEO/Discrimination, Promotion/Hiring | Tagged | Leave a comment

THE CHAIRMAN’S FAVORITE MANAGEMENT BLUNDER One of the best ways to teach is to tell a story and our chairman reels off one after another at board meetings.  But he has a favorite and it involves a case precedent that … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining Law, FSIP | Tagged | Leave a comment

UNION REP TEST #9  (Ratifying FSIP Orders) QUESTION: What happens when a union refuses to ratify a term agreement partially based on an order from the Panel?  Can the agency just turn around and ask the Panel to impose the … Continue reading

Posted in FSIP, ratification, Union Rep Test | Tagged | Leave a comment

FSIP BACKS OFF The Panel does not publicize its decisions over whether or not to take jurisdiction, but they are very important to the LR community nonetheless.  In the case of Patent and Trademark Office and POPA, 20 FSIP 045 … Continue reading

Posted in FSIP | Tagged | 2 Comments

UNION REP TEST #8 (Part 2) – Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPP)  This continues the self-assessment of your knowledge of prohibited personnel practices. Read through the hypothetical situations provided under each PPP and decide what you think.  The correct responses are … Continue reading

Posted in MSPB, Prohibited Personnel Practice, Union Rep Test | Tagged | Leave a comment