By Tim P. Jones
AFGE Local Union 1114 has been reviewing issues and potential impacts on employees. These topics include the Financial Business Management System (FBMS); contracting out; new performance standards; desk moves; the Business Tracking System (formerly, the Document Tracking System); the mailing of Leave and Earnings Statements (LES); and the Active Directory/Life Cycle Management project.
Currently, an important issue in negotiation is the new Alternative Work Schedule (AWS) for those Federal Employees who are in the Labor Bargaining Unit (LBU). As you know, the National Business Center (NBC) recently implemented a new AWS policy for those employees who are not in the LBU. This newly implemented policy does not apply to employees who are in the LBU.
Whether or not you are an LBU employee, it may be a good idea to know the rights provided to you by Federal statute (i.e., the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations statute). For example, if you are an LBU employee and there is an examination or investigation of you by a representative of the Department of the Interior (DOI), and you reasonably believe that disciplinary action may result from the examination, the statute provides that you can request that the interview be postponed until a Union representative is present. Another common situation applies to formal discussions between DOI representatives and LBU employees concerning any grievance, personnel policy, practices, or other conditions of employment. For these types of formal discussions, the statute provides that adequate notice must be provided to the Union so that a Union representative can be present during the discussion. Often these discussions occur within the context of a meeting. Meetings that discuss job performance, performance evaluations, and disciplinary actions are not formal discussions, although there may be other rights involved with disciplinary meetings. In the last few years the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA enforces and interprets the statute) has found that the formality requirement is satisfied if the subject of the meeting is significantly important (i.e., RIF, office move, or change in performance appraisal system).
Lastly, the Union is preparing to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (sometimes referred to as a Labor Bargaining Agreement). This agreement will govern how changes are made to the working conditions of LBU employees. You can think of this as change control for working conditions. One important change control process is the notification and review of a proposed change so that potentially affected parties can assess the change prior to its implementation. Notification is not required for "minimal" changes to working conditions. However, if a change to working conditions is implemented without prior Union review, and the change is more than minimal, a violation of the statute has occurred. Some examples of changes that can affect working conditions are new DOI or NBC policies, changes to internal policies or procedures within a Directorate/Branch/Section, or new software systems intended for use by some LBU employees.
AFGE Local Union 1114 has several activities in progress. The Union is also looking at future events that may affect LBU employees later on. If you have questions on the topics discussed in this article, additional information can be obtained from the FLRA web URLs listed below:
If you have any feedback or questions about AFGE Local 1114 activities, or this article, please contact Audrey McCray (303-969-5886) or Tim Jones (303-969-7239) or send an E-mail message to NBCDENVER_Union@nbc.gov.
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