During this time period, the Agencys Facilities Department was engaged in numerous communications with the WDG architects regarding the drawings. The FLRA is the federal public sector counterpart to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which governs labor relations between private sector employees and employers. High-profile cases in which the NLRB has been involved include when it helped to end a baseball strike that culminated in the 1994 playoffs and World Series being canceled. Fine, were obligated to bargain. 428, 477. Unfortunately, we were not able to reach agreement. GC Ex. Tr. The Understanding Law Video Lecture Series: Monthly Subscription ($19 / Month) part 2423. . Tr. So what we decided to do . For all of the above reasons, the Agency failed to bargain in good faith and violated 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute. at 327. The Board is composed of 3 members, nominated by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of 5 years. . Tr. . The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) protects federal employees' rights to organize, bargain collectively, and participate in labor organizations of their choosing - and to refrain from doing so. At the FLRA, decisions have been made on representation cases despite the union-petitioner withdrawing and mooting the cases; and, Employers in the private sector routinely hire union busters and use legal strategies to stall representation elections, and even after unions win an election, employers delay the bargaining process to frustrate workers efforts to secure a first contract; and. Our bottom line view at this point is that we have fulfilled our obligation to bargain under the terms of [the] ground rules agreement. The NLRB is an independent federal agency enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, which guarantees the right of most private sector employees to organize, to engage in group efforts to improve their wages and working conditions, to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative, to engage in collective bargaining, and to Let us know what you think about our new and improved website by emailing us at EngagetheFLRA@flra.gov. Unfortunately, the record developed by the parties is far from ideal, making choosing between Presence with a Purpose and the 8-2 schedule difficult. Tr. But I find the determination of the Authority in the, situation strikingly similar to ours, to be instructive and persuasive. The General Counsel contends that the ground rules agreement does not excuse the Respondents actions. (d) Pursuant to 2423.41(e) of the Authoritys Rules and Regulations, notify the Regional Director, Chicago Region, Federal Labor Relations Authority in writing, within thirty (30) days from the date of this Order, as to what steps have been taken to comply. Jones responded to Durkins request on February 10, providing a timeline for the move and floor plans of the Franklin Court building. The parties will conduct two bargaining sessions at the Agencys current headquarters on the following dates: April 23, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. April 24, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 7. Concepts we will address include: Nonetheless, when the Union requested mediation, the Agency refused to participate. And hiring an attorney who dabbles can lead to bad outcomes. 1(c). 236, 238. With regard to Proposal 1, which required the Agency to keep the Union informed about the relocation, Jones said it has always been our intention to keep the Union informed. . 3 at 2. A ULP is conduct by agencies or unions that violates rights that the Statute protects or the rules that it establishes. NLRB Deputy General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and Chief Financial Officer Ron Crupi then informed the union officials about financial aspects of the move. As an initial matter, the GC asserts that the Respondent had a duty to bargain over the relocation, and that this duty arose when the Agency signed the lease for the new office building on January 29. 98-99. 401. GC Ex. Collective bargaining is the process of negotiating terms of employment between an employer and a group of workers. The duty to negotiate in good faith includes the obligation to approach the negotiations with a sincere resolve to reach a collective bargaining agreement and to meet at reasonable times and convenient places. Tr. Labor Board Calls for Revote at Amazon Warehouse in Alabama in Major Victory for Union., National Labor Relations Board. At the same time, negotiations were also underway with the Union, Agency and FLRA to settle the Unions ULP charge. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) no longer deliver on their respective statutory mandates to protect the rights of workers to form, join and support a union and encourage the practice and procedure of collective bargaining; and, Pro-worker decisions were issued under the Obama-era federal labor boards, but we are seeing significant retrenchment under the current NLRB and FLRA. Employment laws are essentially all employment-related laws that are not labor laws. The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) has a similar mandate to the NLRB. Tr. While private-sector employees are entitled to collectively bargain . During bargaining, Jones would be joined by Jessica Graham, Assistant Chief of the Space Management Section, Facilities Branch; Andrew Krafts, Deputy Chief Counsel to Member Nancy Schiffer; and Rachel Lennie, an Assistant General Counsel. A conference call discussing furniture issues was conducted on that date, although the Union told Jones it did not consider the discussion to satisfy the Agencys statutory duty to bargain. In other words, the paragraph simply specified the dates on which bargaining would be conducted. 41, 217-18); Donna Nixon, an attorney in the Detroit Region and a district vice president of the Union (Tr. 221. Three of the Unions counterproposals were identical to the Agencys, and the other two were very close. NLRB, the National Labor Relations Board, is an independent federal agency vested with the ability to safeguard employees' rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative. Employee Relations and Labour Relations are different, but with significant overlap, in principle, to ensure greatest success within any organization. immediately as to whether there was a fixed deadline for the end of bargaining suggests strongly to me that there was never a meeting of the minds on that provision. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our. 32 at 1. . Where they mainly differ is in the portion of the workforce they serve. "The FLRA's decision to adopt the NLRB's substantial-impact test also fails to account for the agency's own past assessments of how the differences between the public-sector and. Graham, who attended the meeting and who worked closely with the GSA contract officer, testified that once the comments on the preliminary drawings were submitted, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for architects to change certain aspects of the design, such as the location of walls or the number or size of workspaces. The obligation to bargain over a relocation arises when a lease is signed (if not earlier) and the union requests to bargain. Thus, paragraph 2 states, The parties will conduct two bargaining sessions at the Agencys current headquarters on the following dates: April 23 and 24. . was to see where there was common ground, to see what we could agree on. The FLRAs one-stop shop for all things training with upcoming in-person events near you, YouTube videos, agency training contacts and more. Although it kept the Space Advisory Committee apprised of what was happening with the construction and allowed the committee members to express their opinions at certain times, many of the committee members were not part of the Unions bargaining unit, and this process was not bargaining. Tr. But I, again, reiterated to them that we were willing to stay late to try to hammer out an agreement. GC Ex. at 1, 5; The Respondent contends that it fulfilled its bargaining obligation under the Statute. According to Durkin, Jones said no, were not going to continue bargaining. Tr. We didnt get them I didnt get them till April 14th, when Troy Crayton passed them out to everyone. Tr. In an exchange of emails between the Union and Saunders on May5, Luther reiterated the Unions interest in mediation to assist us in resolving the issues with the Agency, and she suggested the week of May 13th for that purpose. In the proposed ground rules, the Union called for an initial bargaining session. 166. . (Despite receiving the floor plans on February 10, the Union would not receive information listing the size and type of each bargaining unit employees workspace at Franklin Court until May 9. It could be by teleconference or videoconference. The Respondent alleges that after meeting with the Union negotiating team on April22 and then bargaining with them on April 23 and 24, the parties had reached impasse, as neither party had budged an inch on its proposals on the size and configuration of space. Resp. Durkin and Luther complied. 32, 264. The Union is most certainly willing to continue negotiations by any reasonable means . Jones replied, Not on April 10th. Find a listing of all of the FLRA's current job openings. That AFSCME will publicize how the current NLRB and FLRA are enforcing our federal labor laws to hinder, rather than promote, collective bargaining. At that point, it was apparent to both parties that these decisions could not be made until much later in the relocation process, and indeed Union Proposals 35 and 36 sought to commit the parties to negotiations when they possessed the necessary information to resolve them, rather than in April, when both sides were buying a pig in a poke. Tr. The primary way in which the Respondent violated its duty to bargain in good faith was (as already discussed) its premature termination of negotiations on April 25. However, in an attempt to reach an agreement or at least narrow the issues, the Agency offered to continue bargaining into the night. 30 at 3) were highlighted by the Union team in the late afternoon of April 24, because these were issues where there was common ground . 32 at 1. Although both laws cover labor relations and rights, they . Frequently, the two are used interchangeably and, in most day-to-day usage, the interchange of the two words is accepted and appropriate. The Board is supported by a General Counsel, who is also nominated by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of five years. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. We had stated directly in our proposals for a tentative agreement that we were willing to bargain by any. $19.95 Buy and instantly download this paper now. . During its negotiations with the Union in April, Agency negotiators told the Union team that all issues relating to the relocation had to be negotiated and finalized before the May 9 deadline given to them by GSA. He repeated managements view that if the parties had continued negotiating, they might have been able to reach an agreement, or narrow the issues . 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These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. In this vein, the Agency continued to submit changes to the design drawings to GSA and to make decisions about furniture options (most significantly, adopting GSAs FIT program, which drastically limited the remaining furniture choices), window and glass treatments, lighting, and cubicle height. Tr. GC Ex. All events occurring after April 25 are tainted by the Agencys termination of bargaining on that date, and all events after May 16 are similarly tainted by the Agencys refusal to join in mediation. Tr. With regard to Proposal 14 that interior office windows have an opaque glaze or frosted glass Jones said, we havent chosen yet to frost or not frost, but we want it to be uniform, so we cant have individual people in individual offices choosing whether to have theirs frosted or not. Tr. 129. Accordingly, the evidence does not support the notion that in negotiating the ground rules, the Union made a conscious choice, after a full discussion of the issue, to establish a strict time limit of April 24 for negotiations. cubicles. I guess we will have to agree to disagree about any further bargaining. . The Respondent notes next that the Union withdrew its five initial counterproposals on April 29. 39. This is an unfair labor practice (ULP) proceeding under the Federal Service. (All communication between the parties was by email, unless otherwise noted.) The most important decisions allocating space to each of the Agencys various departments, determining the size and number of offices, cubicles, and break rooms had already been made by the time the Union first saw the floor plans on April14. Labor-Management Relations Statute, Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code, 5 U.S.C. The participation of employees in the formulation and implementation of employee policy and procedures affecting them contributes to the effective conduct of public business. Ex. On February25, Jones provided Durkin some additional information about Half Street, but still did not provide any drawings. AFSCME councils and locals must educate their members about the unfairness of labor laws governing workers' right to organize and the need for reform; and, That AFSCME will continue to build coalitions with community, civil rights and religious allies to demand that employers obey existing protections found in labor laws; and, That AFSCME will demand that elected officials and candidates for office publicly support workers' rights to choose representation free from coercion. The General Counsel argues that the Agency violated 7116(a)(1) and (5) when it refused to negotiate with the Union over the headquarters relocation on and after April 25. Learn more about federal labor-management relations, including unfair labor practices, representation matters, impasses, and negotiability. The parties had only begun to discuss the many issues on the table, neither side had submitted a full range of counterproposals, and the Agency inexplicably refused even to attempt mediation. 113. 14 at 3. . Tr. 134. Bargaining on Thursday, April 24, began with Jones and other members of the Agency team giving their initial reactions to most of the Unions forty-one proposals. Tr. And then Harry Jones turns around and emails and suggests that we werent willing to continue bargaining, and suggested that our ground rules agreement somehow limited bargaining to those two days, which we disagreed with. After lunch, Jones stated that the Agency was willing to bargain late into the day on April 24, but they would not bargain after that day. 472. GC Exs. Each year, a new board member is appointed by the president, with the blessing of the Senate, for a five-year term. This is especially true for proposals calling for future bargaining over specific issues, such as furniture (Proposal 36), boxes for moving personal items (Proposal37), and commuting grace periods (Proposal 37). Labor law governs union and management relationships and employee collective bargaining rights. Jones also stated that he was relying on Crayton and Graham to provide him the drawings. Each has its own procedures and rules that if an attorney does not know could result catastrophic error. In response to an inquiry about the Unions recent information request, Jones told the Union team: Once again, I want to make our position clear that we have fulfilled our obligation to bargain over the effects of the headquarters relocation under both the Statute and the ground rules agreement. If the Union had had the opportunity to argue for its proposals in February or March, it might have been able to persuade management, the architects, and GSA that the Agency needed an additional 10,000 or 12,000 square feet, rather than 8,000. In light of the fact that the bargaining offers were made in the midst of trilateral settlement negotiations, and that the Respondent was unwilling to settle the underlying ULP complaint against it, the offers were inadequate, using the NLRBs own case precedent as a benchmark. 51 at 7. 25. Know Your Legal Rights Before Your Start, Positive Communication: How to Elevate Customer Experience, Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), The Myth of the Two Weeks Notice Requirement. Workers who believe their rights have been violated, or who have witnessed an employer or union engaging in unlawful conduct, can contact one of these offices and file a charge. . 127-28. 12 at 1. In the afternoon, our team worked as quickly as possible to prepare a good-faith counterproposal in which we tried to address the Unions concerns. The Agencys counterproposals, presented to the Union late on April 24, addressed some of these non-size-related issues, and the Unions response two hours later laid out compromises on five of them and promised to submit others within a week. 43-44, 323, 404; GC Ex. President John F. Kennedy (Memorandum to the Heads of Agencies on Employee-Management Relations in the Federal Service, June 22, 1961). Therefore, the Agency violated its duty to bargain and deprived the Union of a proper opportunity to negotiate the impact and implementation of the move to a new headquarters. In this regard, the GC asserts that there was no clear and unmistakable waiver of the Unions right to bargain to agreement or impasse. Substantive bargaining did not begin until the second day, at which time the parties discussed most of the forty-one proposals submitted by the Union. Meanwhile, Nixon and Luther pressed Jones about their need to obtain the drawings and review them in advance of negotiations, and about the Agencys failure to respond to the Unions proposed ground rules. 288), and Graham and Jones both acknowledged that no agreement was reached. . Tr. 110-12, 363-64. . GC Ex. informed the Union that the Respondent had fulfilled its obligation to bargain over the effects of the Headquarters Office Move, and that [s]ince on or about May15, 2014, the Respondent has failed and refused to negotiate with the Union over the Headquarters Office Move to the extent required by the Statute, in violation of 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute. Tr. He said today and tomorrow; thats it.. Find a listing of FLRA contacts that you can call for more information. The Respondent did not object to the motion, and I granted it. So I dont know we didnt know where to go from there with the Agency rejecting its own proposals; how we could have productively bargained fully that night. Because the ground rules agreement cannot reasonably be interpreted as limiting the parties bargaining period to two days, I conclude that the Union did not waive its right to bargain until either an agreement was reached or the parties had come to an impasse. Without strong labor unions, there can be no equity for working people. LEARN MORE Introduction to the FLRA Register for Training eFiling Getting Started FILE A CASE 233), and officials of both unions asked that they be given copies of the exercises that had been done, so that the unions could evaluate the feasibility of different alternatives. . 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