Posted on May 11, 2015 by AdminUN

OVERVIEW OF NEW NTEU-IRS CONTRACT

Any time one of the larger, federal sector bargaining units signs a new contract it is a big deal for everyone.   The novel provisions will be cited by unions or management at other bargaining tables around government to help them make their cases for adopting favorable provisions. The NTEU-IRS agreement is no exception.  The two parties have renegotiated their national term agreement over a dozen times since the late 70’s making it a very mature collective bargaining agreement.  Below is an overview of the deal thanks to one of the local NTEU chapters.  Not all articles were opened, and if you want to see what was in the existing agreement, check out the “Compare Contracts” button on our menu bar and scroll down to the last NTEU-IRS contract. We will post a complete copy of the new agreement as soon as we get a copy. Continue reading →

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Posted on May 11, 2015 by AdminUN

HOW TO INTERPRET CONTRACTS AND LAWS

A recent post about two FLRA members declaring the placement of a single letter in the labor law to be so significant as to make clear and unambiguous the answer to three substantial labor law questions has prompted interest in how laws and contracts should be interpreted.  The short answer for those asking, “Are any rules?” is that, yes, there are some rules.  But they are not “rules” as in the disciplinary rules of conduct, where often one toe over the line means discipline.  They are more principles, tenets, guidelines and traditions.  Arbitrators and judges have lots of room to apply personal feelings about how the decision should turn out. For example, it is not very hard cite one of the rules as the basis for their conclusion and ignore even more relevant rules. Nonetheless, in the long run anyone arguing a case before an arbitrator, MSPB or FLRA needs to know the rules and apply them as best they can.  There is a wonderful, easy to understand, and even free to copy guide to the rules put out by the Congressional Research Service entitled, “Statutory Interpretation: General Principles and Recent Trends.”  We recommend it.

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Posted on May 7, 2015 by AdminUN

6 WORK DESKS THAT WILL MAKE YOU HAPPIER-SO THEY SAY

One of the more frustrating things to deal with as a union negotiator is office remodeling.  It seems that at last once a decade the office furniture industry convinces government that if it makes work spaces smaller, employees will smile more, generate more work, live longer, be healthier, adopt a straighter moral path, grow taller, experience less tooth decay, and/or beg to contribute gobs of uncompensated overtime.  We are tempted to call these industry schemes the snake oil of all office maladies, but in reality they are largely just profit makers for the industry. And by the time the agency lets the union know new layouts are coming, the purchasing contracts are often signed, the delivery trucks on their way, and existing walls coming down. So, it pays to stay on top of what the office furniture industry has planned for next and we just saw a good article that scares the bejeebers out of us, “6 Desks That Will Make You Happier And More Productive At Work.” Check it out.

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Posted on May 7, 2015 by AdminUN

MADAME CAROL’S BANGED UP CRYSTAL BALL AND THE MAGIC “S”

J. K. Rowling should be writing this given the elements of wizardry in a recent FLRA decision making it look like it is right out of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Authority confronted an interesting question, namely, should an agency that is excluded from the provisions of the labor law be required to respect the rights that act guarantees to covered employees. When a bargaining unit employee was accused of viewing porn on an agency computer, his employing agency, Hill Air Force Base, sent in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) to interview him.  AFOSI promptly refused to let the employee bring a union rep on the grounds that AFOSI was excluded from the labor law’s obligations. FLRA had to decide whether the employee’s right were violated, and by a 2 to 1 decision it held they were not. AFGE, 68 FLRA 460 (2015) Continue reading →

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Posted on May 7, 2015 by AdminUN

HOW TO KILL A UNION FROM WITHIN

Kodak, Borders, Blockbuster, Lehman Brothers, Circuit City—and the list goes on.  Most business schools will tell you now that they have had a chance to examine the corpse of each of those once great companies that they died from leadership suicide. Their top leaders made it very clear to employees that they did not want to hear any bad news, that questioning the status quo was frowned upon, and that candid, reality-based planning for the future was not worth the leadership’s time. That is a lesson that is even more important for top union leaders because of the very fragile state of unionism in this country.  We can’t survive much more trauma from the outside.  So, the last thing we need is damage from within.  The Harvard Business Review people just put out a short, thought-provoking article that union leaders should read entitled, “Make it OK for Employees to Challenge Your Ideas.”  We all know it is common that when national union leaders meet with local leaders that everyone likes to hear what the national president is up to and the national president likes to hear what a great job he is doing.  If  not a great job, at least no accusations, criticisms or tough questions.  But every one of those national president-local presidents meetings should devote a large portion of the agenda to one request from the national leadership, “So, tell me what I could do better, what I am missing, and what you need from me.”

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Posted on May 5, 2015 by AdminUN

UPDATE ON OGE ADVERSE ACTION REGULATIONS

Not long ago we pointed out a case where MSPB overturned an employee’s removal from FDIC because the agency failed to get approval from the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) of an FDIC-created rule of conduct. It was titled, “MSPB Recognizes OGE Defense to Disciplinary Actions.”  When the Board returned the case to the Regional office judge to conclude, the employer, FDIC, appealed again.  Only this time it asked OGE its opinion about whether FDIC needed to get conduct rules it created approved by OGE before applying them to employees.  FDIC also changed its rhetoric to boost its chances, calling its rule not a conduct rule but a minimum fitness rule. To our surprise, OGE bought into the FDIC change of labels and declared it did not have to approve a fitness rule in advance. Although the OGE decided to ignore the MSPB’s thinking on the issue, the Board decided that politeness, which lawyers call “comity,” required that it respects OGE’s view—even though OGE trashed MSPB’s view first.  The Board adopted the OGE/FDIC argument, reversed its previous decision and upheld the employee’s termination.  (See Jonson v FDIC, 2015 MSPB 36 (2015)) maybe now Jonson appeals arguing that FDIC did not follow the regs dealing with minimum fitness or qualification rules and the Board can deal with this a third time. So if you run into the same wording shell game by an agency imposing a new rule for firing employees, contact the local’s lawyer and start pushing back early, e.g., by demanding bargaining before implementation.

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Posted on May 5, 2015 by AdminUN

INTERESTING DRESS CODE DECISION

Several federal judges have held that the FLRA should follow closely NLRB case law precedent since the private sector law was the model for the private sector one.  The NLRB just issued an interesting decision about dress codes and wearing union pins that was written about in this article, “Board Nixes Honda Dress Policy.” It is a quick read that we recommend.

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Posted on May 5, 2015 by AdminUN

AGENCIES MAY HAVE TO BARGAIN WITH UNIONS OVER EMPLOYEE DATA BREACHES

The NLRB recently indicated it believes employers are obligated to bargain when employee data they hold is hacked. Take a look at this article, Employers May Have to Bargain With Unions Over Response to Employee Data Breaches

Issues can range from the quality of the ID theft protection the agency implements to protect those whose data was stolen to an agency decision to do nothing. So far, nothing blocks a union from demanding changes when it opens its term contract.

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Posted on April 30, 2015 by AdminUN

FLRA REGIONAL OFFICE SEMINARS AVAILABLE

FLRA just distributed the announcement below.  We have found these meetings interesting and helpful.  Sign up fast before all the seats are gone. Continue reading →

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Posted on April 29, 2015 by AdminUN

A PLEASANT PARTICULARIZED NEED PRONOUNCEMENT: Test Yourself

A nice thing happened last week.  The Authority issued an easier to understand than normal, unanimous decision on particularized need.  (AFGE, 68 FLRA 492 (2015))  See if you can predict what the ruling was from the facts below.  It is also an important case because it addressed whether a union can get information merely to examine the validity of a management decision that it had every right to make without bargaining over the substance of the decision. The union had not yet filed a grievance or demanded bargaining. Continue reading →

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