Management representatives often have access to the best electronic legal research tools to help them deal with the union. However, it is unusual that a union can afford services such as Cyberfeds, Lexis or Westlaw, or even has the training to get the most out of them. But union leaders can make up for that disadvantage by making good use of several free web sites that provide very useful information. Continue reading
Don’t miss reading this week’s NY Times article that exposes how contracting out work costs the government more than having its own employees do the work. One federal agency just disclosed that it paid outside private contractors about $80 for every hour of guard service it received. Given that security guard normally earn between $15 and $25 an hour, with few benefits, and low equipment/uniform costs, obviously some private sector vendor one is pocketing a good profit at the cost of the efficient use of tax money. And you if you want to see the video explaining the original research, click here.
We all owe the trio of Members Pope, Beck and Dubester a long and loud round of applause for what they accomplished the last two years. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that they pulled federal sector labor-management relations out of the dark ages and into an age of enlightenment. OK, maybe that is a little more than a slight exaggeration. So, let’s look at the hard facts—starting with the alleged dark ages, which are also known as the Cabaniss years. Continue reading
Hello. We’re FEDSMILL, we’re glad to join you, and we hope we can help. FEDSMILL is designed for union representatives and the employees they represent. It will present tips on how to enforce and expand their rights, highlight new developments in law and practice, and challenge some of the accepted wisdom, legal and otherwise, about how unions, federal employees, and management should interact. Most critiques will be aimed at areas of the law that the courts and FLRA have made too complicated for the thousands of union-management practitioners to administer. (If managers and HR specialists also learn how to engage with employees and their unions more productively that will be gravy.) Continue reading
Here is another example to give those employees who refuse to join the union by asking, “What can the union do for me?” Continue reading
While lots of things happen at NTEU conventions, one of the best is the identification of the top performing locals in several categories. This year’s winner of the Best Web Site award went to the local of Securities and Exchange Commission employees. You can hardly blame NTEU, but others unions show excellence too. Continue reading
While the traditional place to file a ULP allegation is with the FLRA, there are considerable advantages to grieving it—especially if you make some small changes in your contract grievance procedure. Continue reading
No one will ever accuse FLRA’s (or the courts’) “particularized need” concept of being clear and easy to apply. In fact, it is closer to a full employment program for labor lawyers than it is a workable concept in the hands of everyday L-M practitioners. But that is why two fairly recent FLRA decisions are worth remembering, i.e., they give practitioners useful and concrete advice. Continue reading
If you deal with a lot of FMLA questions, take a look at the new case law guide from the American Bar Association. It has a great table of contents and very helpful summaries of precedent setting FMLA cases. It is worth reading through just to see if you have been doing something wrong or missing an argument. And it is free to print or bookmark on your favorites. http://www2.americanbar.org/calendar/ll0223-2011-midwinter-meeting/Documents/b_fmla.pdf