Tr. 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). The issue before me is whether, by participating in the two days of negotiations called for in the ground rules agreement, the Agency fulfilled its statutory duty to bargain concerning the relocation. LEXIS 15827, 266 U.S. App. It then listed five Union counterproposals (which are set forth in the appendix). The Union team found several of the Agency proposals vague, as the Agency offered to use its best efforts to obtain certain design features (for example, Proposal 8) and agreed to other features only to the extent [that] the architects [WDG] can incorporate them into the drawings (for example, Proposals 19 and 20). 418. The FLRA claimed that judicial review was barred by the sixty day statute of limitations. 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. Let us know what you think about our new and improved website by emailing us at EngagetheFLRA@flra.gov. But this interpretation requires an emphasis on selective phrases in the agreement, at the expense of its context. GC Ex. I believe that by deleting the word initial from the Unions draft language of paragraph 2, Jones intended to phrase the ground rules to suggest a fixed period for bargaining, but there is no evidence that this point was actually discussed by the parties during the negotiation of the ground rules. Are You Covered?, Federal Labor Relations Authority. 264). Jones added that bargaining other than face-to-face bargaining would present a number of practical difficulties, saying, We couldnt possibly try to negotiate a subject as complicated as the complete relocation of the Agencys headquarters by email or telephone. Jt. Since seven months went by after that declaration, with no negotiations, the Agencys limited offer to bargain in November was far too little, and extremely late. 30 at 3. to be incorporated into the final Design Intent Drawings by May 9. Br, (2) the Unions proposals were focused almost entirely on the maintenance of the size of current office space and configuration[,] the Agency rejected the Unions space proposals, the Union did not retreat from its position on maintaining current size and configuration of office space in its partial counter, and the Agency rejected the Unions counterproposals (. Griffin also referred to competing concerns from the different divisions within the Agency. Tr. Further, almost half of the Unions original proposals (the same sixteen that I enumerated above) were not tied to the May 9 deadline. Tr. The boards job is to determine whether labor violations have occurred, while the general counsel acts as a supervisor and prosecutor. 141; GC Ex. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress in 1935 to enforce the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). 2. Vikki Velasquez is a researcher and writer who has managed, coordinated, and directed various community and nonprofit organizations. That AFSCME reaffirms our commitment to lead the battle to fight for a National Labor Relations Board and a Federal Labor Relations Authority which supports workers rights. Introduction to the FLRA.. . In response to the unions argument that excluding it from negotiations with the prospective landlord would prevent it from contributing to the important decisions affecting the relocation, the judge said: Since it is the responsibility of an agency seeking to make the change to insure that it has fulfilled its bargaining obligation before implementation . [I]t was not necessary to explicitly lay out those types of bargaining, because they dont involve the same logistics that face-to-face bargaining does. Tr. Federal Labor Relations Authority", "Patco Decertification Vote Is Switched From 2-1 to 3-0", "Biden Names Acting FLRA General Counsel, Ending Critical Trump Era Vacancy", "Biden picks 2 officials for federal labor office with a case backlog", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Federal_Labor_Relations_Authority&oldid=1141357105, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 17:23. 129. . Nonetheless, when the Union requested mediation, the Agency refused to participate. But since this is the agencys problem and not the unions, the union often has only a more or less passive interest in how the agency arranges to fulfill its obligation as long as it does fulfill it. 2; Tr. . 121, 413, 448-49; GC Ex. . 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. Tr. 6. What is the difference between NLRB and FLRA? Tr. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our. . at 327. The National Labor Relations Board will be soliciting public input on the use of videoconference technology to conduct, in whole or in part, all aspects and phases of unfair labor practice case and representation case proceedings, and on potential amendments to its procedural rules regarding the use of videoconference technology. Ex. Lauren M. McFerran, Chairman. The GC and the Charging Party argue for a retroactive bargaining order, while the Respondent argues that a retroactive order would be inappropriate. Jones suggested meeting April 15-17, with the first day spent touring Half Street and hearing from officials involved in the move, and Durkin agreed. Tr. 116. The primary responsibilities of the FLRA are to: Resolve complaints of unfair labor practices (ULPs). According to its website, the NLRBs core duties are: The NLRB is a fairly small agency, with 26 regional offices dotted across the United States. The Union stands ready and willing to continue good faith bargaining regarding the HQ relocation at mutually agreeable future times and dates. [3], In 1981, it decertified that is, stripped it from its status as a representative union - the air traffic controllers' PATCO union, after the 1981 air traffic controllers strike.[4]. There has been no senate-confirmed General Counsel since Julia Akins Clark left the post in January 2017, and no Acting General Counsel between November 2017 and March 24, 2021, when President Joe Biden named Charlotte A. Dye to be Acting General Counsel. 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 . 182-86; GC Ex. As for whether the parties discussed the issue of furniture, Jones stated, When we walked through the initial proposals of the Union . 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 367, 465. , Tr. Jt. (a fact the Agency belatedly understood several months later, when it offered to return to the table), and the Agencys termination of bargaining in April was arbitrary and unreasonable. GC Ex. Accordingly, the Union will submit a proposal and/or counterproposal to the Agencys 4/24/14 counterproposal on April 30, 2014. FLRA, 39 F.3d 361 (CADC 1994); Defense . Finally, it should be emphasized, as the Authority did in. The Authority viewed the applicable "law" to be the "management rights" provision under section 7106 of the FSLMRS. Should those rights not be respected and lead to unfair treatment, its the NLRBs job to investigate and, if necessary, take action. In, Once the Agency stopped bargaining on April 25, it began to unilaterally implement all manner of decisions related to the relocation. This briefing concluded the days activities. Durkin continued: As weve stated over the past two days, we do not agree that negotiations have concluded entirely merely because our two face-to-face bargaining, Agencys counter-proposals and reach an agreement on all of the subjects. 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. This argument ignores the important difference between the text of the NLRA and the text of the FSLMRS. Tr. 30 at 3 & 32 at 1-2. 96-97. 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. 112-14, 169. She has conducted in-depth research on social and economic issues and has also revised and edited educational materials for the Greater Richmond area. Jones replied, Not on April 10th. The court has distinguished three types of challenges on appeal. Resp. The general counsel is responsible for supervising the NLRBs field offices and processing of cases as well as investigating and prosecuting unfair labor practices. Br. The agreement provided, in pertinent part: 2. Its your bargaining obligation to continue bargaining over these aspects. Tr. While private-sector employees are entitled to collectively bargain . The FLRA is an independent administrative federal agency created by Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, also known as the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute ), 5 U.S.C. The ground rules agreement also provided, among other things, that on April 22 there would be a tour of Half Street, a full visual inspection of employee work areas at Franklin Court, and then a briefing from GSA and the architects; the Union would submit its bargaining proposals by noon on April 21, and the Agency would submit counterproposals within three days thereafter; and caucus time could be taken, but no party would caucus for more than one hour, absent mutual agreement. The Respondent has the burden of proving any affirmative defenses. These activities are governed by a handful of federal and state laws, the most prominent being the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The President can designate the Chairman with no separate Senate confirmation required. The evidence thus shows overwhelmingly that the parties had not reached impasse at any time, and that mediation might have been exactly what the parties needed to bridge their differences. 324. . Employment laws are essentially all employment-related laws that are not labor laws. Failing to do so can lead to unfavorable outcomes. GSA approved the increase, and the architects revised their drawings accordingly. Meanwhile, the relocation project moved forward. Featherbedding describes an unlawful practice of forcing employers to increase labor costs, such as hiring unnecessary workers. 13 at 1. These activities are governed by a handful of federal and state laws, the most prominent being the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). If the Agency had not cut off bargaining, the parties could easily have reached agreement on these points. 11 at 1. The Respondent is an agency within the meaning of 7103(a)(3) of the Statute. 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. [T]here were some [Union] proposals that were left out of our counter that we werent able to agree to. Tr. 278-79; GCEx. However, Lennie indicated that the Agency would look into seeing whether they could find additional space for more stalls. 5. The FLRA administers the labor-management relations program for 2.1 million non-Postal federal employees worldwide, approximately 1.2 million of whom are represented in 2,200 bargaining units. The Authority has held that a retroactive bargaining order is appropriate where a respondents unlawful conduct has deprived the exclusive representative of an opportunity to bargain in a timely manner over negotiable conditions of employment affecting bargaining unit employees. On Monday, April 21, the Union submitted forty-one bargaining proposals. Tr. 30 at 3. Of those, Union Counterproposals 2 (ergonomic chairs), 3 (lockable storage), and 5 (storing paper and toner) were identical to Agency Counterproposals 13, 15, and 21, respectively. The FLRAs one-stop shop for all things training with upcoming in-person events near you, YouTube videos, agency training contacts and more. Issue. Between April 29 and May 12, Union officials attempted to initiate mediation of the dispute with the FMCS. at 41. The NLRB works mainly with the private sector; the NLRB administers the National Labor Relations Act through conducting elections to determine if employees want union representation in addition to investigating and remedying unfair labor practices by employers and unions (United States Department of Labor, n.d.). .. He indicated that at that point in the process, major changes, such as adding movable walls or more bathroom stalls, would be difficult, if not impossible. Durkin (along with Nixon and later Luther) responded, [N]o, the Agency has to continue bargaining. Tr. Synopsis of Rule of Law. GC Ex. 30-31, 215-16); Lisabeth Luther, a compliance officer based in the Indianapolis Regional Office (Tr. Tr. Immediately upon returning from lunch at 1:10 p.m., the Agency team requested a caucus, so that it could prepare counterproposals. In the afternoon, bargaining teams from the two unions (along with several interested NLRB managers) attended a series of briefings. So what we decided to do . The Union team attempted to see what the differences were between the Unions proposals and the Agencys counterproposals. These factors establish that there was a strong potential for further and productive bargaining, if only the Agency had the patience to persist beyond its arbitrary deadline. In November 2021, the agency gave workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama a second shot at unionizing after concluding that the ecommerce giant interfered in the first election. . Second, the Agency effectively gave the Union a matter of hours 3:52 to 6:33 p.m., or perhaps a bit longer, if the Union had agreed to continue bargaining into the evening to analyze the Agencys twenty-one counterproposals and provide written responses to them. The three members cannot be from the same political party. . Atvarious times during the Franklin Court walk-through, Durkin and Luther attempted to measure employee workspaces, and Durkin attempted to ask at least one employee about his workspace. You can find all of ourresources in one convenient spot, including guides, FAQs, forms, and more. As for whether the parties reached agreement, Woodcock testified that the parties didnt come close to or even come to any kind of agreement or deal (Tr. The Railway Labor Act (RLA) is a federal law that was passed in 1926 to govern labor relations in the railroad industry, and amended in 1936 to include the airline industry. Tr. In response to Proposal 12 that employees who had window offices at Franklin Court would have the same at Half Street Jones stated, well try to see how many window offices we can get in the Washington Resident Office, but again they are the only people who have offices.. Tr. The FLRA is an independent administrative federal agency that administers the labor-management relations program for 2.1 million non-postal federal employees worldwide. The Unions two other counterproposals were very similar to Agency proposals, indicating that further discussions could have led to an agreement. Accordingly, I recommend that the Authority adopt the following Order: Pursuant to 2423.41(c) of the Rules and Regulations of the Authority and 7118 of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (theStatute), the National Labor Relations Board (the Agency) shall: (a) Terminating bargaining over the relocation of its headquarters office prior to reaching an agreement or prior to reaching an impasse with the National Labor Relations Board Union (the Union). Tr. Tr. I guess we will have to agree to disagree about any further bargaining. No. 275; On April 28, Lennie offered further discussions about the BUs concerns that week, and the Union accepted. . Finally, a nationwide posting will emphasize to employees that the agency that enforces labor laws in the private sector must itself comply with labor laws in the public sector. 237-38. The next day, May 7, most of the Union team participated in a videoconference with NLRB General Counsel Griffin and Rachel Lennie, which focused primarily on the Unions pending information requests and its need to have this information in order to bargain properly. . The Union represents a bargaining unit of professional and nonprofessional employees who work for the Agencys General Counsel (at the headquarters building and at its regional offices), as well as a second unit of nonprofessional employees who work for the Chairman and Members (the Board) at the headquarters building. 33, 42-43, 403; GC Ex. The key question is whether additional bargaining (in which the good faith of both parties is presumed) might produce an agreement. 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