Posted on April 17, 2020 by AdminUN

THE ABBOTT-KIKO ARBITRATION OVERTIME SWINDLE

After 40 years of FLRA upholding virtually all arbitrator decisions granting employees retroactive overtime pay for violations of the labor agreement, regulation, past practices or law, the two Trump FLRA appointees have conspired to swindle federal employees out of this money.  They are doing it to weaken the image of unions—and maybe to earn some bigger personal payoff from their political cult’s backers. These two labor law grifters have vacated several arbitrator awards of retroactive overtime pay by pronouncing that the awards do not draw their essences from the agreements, do not reasonably and proportionately relate to the violation, or do create an excessive adverse impact.  Those conclusions are typically supported only by their personal opinions, not citations to precedent, objective benchmarks, nor even reasoned explanations. But looking through these cases, it strikes us that a very important argument is being left out of the briefs, namely, the force of the Back Pay Act (BPA). It is an argument that should be made even though the odds are against Abbott or Kiko being judicially honorable enough to accept it. Continue reading →

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Posted on April 9, 2020 by AdminUN

WHAT DID THIS UNION DO WRONG?

Here are the facts. See if you can figure out two things the union did wrong.  The agency had a practice of placing a guard at each of its strategically important locations around its property every shift.  When it suddenly changed that by requiring one staff person to cover two strategic locations per shift rather than one, the union charged management with violating the contract.  The clause at issue read as follows: “The Employer agrees to lower inherent hazards to employees to the lowest level possible without relinquishing its management rights.  A ‘strategic location’ is defined as a self-contained area and can only be safely secured by a single officer.”  The union grievance asked for a return to the prior staffing level and that is what the arbitrator ordered. However, FLRA overturned the award saying that it intruded too heavily on management’s right to assign work.  Have you identified the two errors yet? Continue reading →

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration, Test Yourself | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on April 9, 2020 by AdminUN

FEDS OVER 40 CATCH A BREAK

The Trump Administration tried to slash federal employee rights to fight age discrimination, but on April 6, 2020 the Supreme Court slapped them down hard. The Trumpetteers wanted to force feds to have to prove that age discrimination was the ONLY reason an agency took an adverse action or denied a fed a benefit.  The Court tossed that view in the dumpster and held that it is illegal discrimination if age played ANY role in the decision.  So, even if an agency can prove that a younger promotion candidate had a quality the over 40 employee did not, the selection would be illegal if age played a lesser role in the selection decision.

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Posted on March 30, 2020 by AdminUN

VITALLY IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT FSIP’S POWERS 

The statute establishing the Panel gives it the power to “take whatever action is necessary” to resolve an impasse. (5 USC 7119) However, often the Panel ignores the fact that there are a lot of limitations on those five words. Some deal with whether the Panel has the power to take jurisdiction at all over a dispute. Other limitations apply to the content of the final order the Panel can issue, and still others address the enforceability of a final order. Because the Panel tends to ignore these limitations, it is up to the harmed party to mount a proper challenge. Here is a quick review of all those limitations.  Continue reading →

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Posted on March 30, 2020 by AdminUN

ACCOMMODATING THE DISABLED ALMOST EVERY TIME IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH 

Not long ago the Dept. of Defense tried to defend itself against an allegation that it had failed to provide a deaf employee a reasonable accommodation by pointing out that it had done so 11 out of 15 times the employee asked during the period in question. But complying with the law 73% of the time is not a defense, and the EEOC told DOD to figure out how much of a check to give the employee as compensation for the harm done. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 25, 2020 by AdminUN

ARBITRATING EQUAL PAY ACT DISPUTES–EASY-PEASY

What can a Hispanic woman do if she is not getting the same salary as a man performing nearly identical duties? She can file a complaint with the EEOC claiming a violation of the Equal Pay Act (EPA), but she cannot file the same allegations in the grievance-arbitration forum because FLRA said so in DOL and AFGE, Local 12, 63 FLRA 216 (2009).  It claims that because the grievance would seek to have the person reclassified to a higher grade that violates the statutory prohibition against grieving classification matters. FLRA prefers to ignore the more basic nature of the grievance, i.e., a discrimination claim like any other that can be grieved and arbitrated. Moreover, even if an arbitrator ordered a person’s job upgraded law still permits the agency to immediately downgrade the job so long as it follows proper procedures. There is nothing “permanent” about any upgrade.  But how can unions ever get this changed if FLRA arbitration exception decisions on what is grievable are not reviewable in court?  EASY-PEASY! Continue reading →

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Posted on March 25, 2020 by AdminUN

TIME TO QUARANTINE CBP MANAGEMENT?

We have been watching CBP management for a while and it seems as if it is a diseased culture at the top of this vital agency.  EEOC has pointed out all too often that it finds CBP managers who take the stand and testify under oath just do not tell the truth.  That should be a removal offense for a law enforcement supervisor.  And the examples just keep coming. In yet another recent case, a manager filed an EEO complaint when she was not selected for the position of Supervisory Border Agent, National Frontline Recruitment Command, GS-15. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 21, 2020 by AdminUN

FSIP, DE FACTO NEGOTIABILITY DISPUTES & ULP’s

Agencies are obligated by executive order to refuse to negotiate over certain union proposals. So, what happens if a union makes proposals that directly clash with the provisions of Trump’s executive orders? One union has set out to find out with the following term agreement proposals: Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Negotiability, FSIP, Strategy/tactics | Tagged | 3 Comments

Posted on March 19, 2020 by AdminUN

EEOC ISSUES NEW GUIDANCE ADDRESSING THE ADA, REHABILITATION ACT AND COVID-19

Union reps need to stay abreast of information like this that will determine whether and how they can help their members.

Posted in Disability | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on March 16, 2020 by AdminUN

ARE YOU “GETTIN’ ENOUGH”— FROM GRIEVANCES?

One of the first mistakes a union can make when drafting a grievance is to not ask for enough of a remedy. Not only does the grievant potentially lose something she might have been entitled to, but the union misses a chance to raise management’s liabilities and risks. The FLRA has approved over three dozen different remedies arbitrators can impose.  Are you aware of each? Continue reading →

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration, Remedies | Tagged | Leave a comment