HOW TO AVOID THE “EXCESSIVE INTERFERENCE LITE” TRAP
Now that Trump’s two operatives on the FLRA have made clear their intention to weaken unions and collective bargaining, unions would be wise to counter the pending onslaught of precedent-trashing decisions from these two. One way they can do that is to write grievances to undermine the impact of the Kiko-Abbott scheme to overturn more arbitration decisions. We believe it will benefit both labor and management to focus on what the revised grievance will look like. So, we have drafted one below that addresses the hypothetical situation of an agency apparently deciding to deviate from the clear language of an agreement clause dealing with the equitable distribution of overtime assignments. The draft is annotated with footnotes/endnotes that explain why certain passages are included. Given that FEDSMILL does not provide legal advice, union leaders should check with their attorneys before using this model to ensure that it conforms to their own contract and to see if the attorney has suggested improvements. However, if the attorneys tell you that detailed grievances like this alleging contract and statutory violations is not needed at all, get a second opinion. Given that Kiko and Abbott appear to be primarily motivated by politics and anti-union animus, the best way unions have to push back is to rely on the subtle counter-tactics embedded in the statutory scheme that only a seasoned actual practitioner of labor-relations, who respects the value of collective bargaining, is likely to know. For our part we will try to outline how to respond to Kiko-Abbott decisions as they come spitting out. Continue reading →
