30 at 3. Tr. With regard to a remedy, the GC asks that I order retroactive bargaining. 121. The primary responsibilities of the FLRA are to: Resolve complaints of unfair labor practices (ULPs). However, we are willing to tentatively agree to the following parts of the Agencys counterproposal, with the following changes. 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. Griffin acknowledged that that was a problem . Regional Offices., National Labor Relations Board. 14 at 3. The General Counsel argues that the Respondent violated 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute when, on and after April 25, it unilaterally terminated bargaining with the Union regarding its relocation of its headquarters. GC Br. 72-73; GC Ex. and we explicitly request continued bargaining. 465. and . The boards job is to determine whether labor violations have occurred, while the general counsel acts as a supervisor and prosecutor. . The NLRB administers and enforces the National Labor Relations Act, conducting secret ballot elections to determine whether employees wish to be represented by a union, and resolving alleged ULPs committed by employers and unions in the private sector. This is just one of a series of examples of the kind of power that the NLRB possesses. . If mediation assistance takes place, but no agreement is reached, either party may thereafter request assistance from the Federal Service Impasses Panel. Find everything you need to know about filing a casewith the FLRA. 221. 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. 7101-7135 (the Statute), and the Rules and Regulations of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (the Authority or FLRA), 5 C.F.R. 335-36. Were moving from [Franklin Court] to . Jones also acknowledged on the morning of April 25 that there was more bargaining for the parties to do, when he faulted the Union for ending talks at 6:30 p.m. More importantly, the Union continued to keep its original forty-one proposals on the table. Specializing is necessary for attorneys because each area of law, as well as the laws within that area, can be substantively and procedurally very different. But we had no specific proposals about furniture. Tr. [T]here were some [Union] proposals that were left out of our counter that we werent able to agree to. Tr. GC Exs. 107. . 9; Resp. The agency also acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions. The Agency negotiators explained that the size of restroom facilities was based on a formula in an international code, while the Unions math is not based on anything; youre just coming up with numbers. Tr. Donna Nixon was scheduled to be on a flight that night. Frequently, the two are used interchangeably and, in most day-to-day usage, the interchange of the two words is accepted and appropriate. 1947 Taft-Hartley Substantive Provisions., National Labor Relations Board. P. Br. This is an unfair labor practice (ULP) proceeding under the Federal Service. . However, the Unions action was precipitated by the Agencys rejection of those counterproposals, even though they reflected nearly full agreement on those five issues, and by the Agencys declaration that bargaining was over. File a case with the FLRA, including unfair labor practice charges, arbitration appeals, and requests for impasse assistance. National Labor Relations Board. The chart below details steps in the unfair labor practice process. Between April 29 and May 12, Union officials attempted to initiate mediation of the dispute with the FMCS. Jones stated that there were no existing drawings for Half Street, but he promised to provide such drawings [o]nce the architects have completed the design. GC Ex. . 182-86; GC Ex. and it didnt fit. Tr. As already noted, the Respondent terminated negotiations on April 25. Hiro Isogai, a designer at WDG, showed slides of each floors layout, explained their details, and answered questions. An overview of the similarities and the differences of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the National Labor Relations Board. encompassed in those proposals. Tr. Tr. 2423.32. . As the judge noted in, There are a number of signs indicating that the parties were still in the early stages of bargaining when the Agency walked away from the table. Watch free online FLRA trainings on our Youtube channel and dont forget to subscribe to receive updates on new videos. 3; Tr. 220. 159, 162. As part of this process, the Agency established the Space Advisory Committee around November 2012. . 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 . The FLRA is charged with safeguarding the rights of certain non-postal federal employees, while the NLRB protects the rights of most private-sector employees. 29, 30. Brief Fact Summary. informed the Union that the Respondent had fulfilled its obligation to bargain regarding the headquarters office move, and that [s]ince on or about April 25, 2014, and May 15, 2014, the Respondent has failed and refused to negotiate with the Union over the headquarters office move to the extent required by the [S]tatute, in violation of 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute. At 6:11 p.m., the Union sent the Agency a document titled Unions Initial response to Agencys counterproposal of 4/24/14. Tr. 8 at 2. However, in an attempt to reach an agreement or at least narrow the issues, the Agency offered to continue bargaining into the night. Over the weekend of December 13 and 14, the Agency needed to vacate a portion of its office space at Franklin Court to enable the new tenants to move in; this required employees in the vacated space to move into the remaining Agency space at Franklin Court. . 47 FLRA at326-27. Tr. . The Court distinguished between indirect attacks on the substantive validity of regulations initiated over sixty days after their promulgation from attacks on their procedural lineage. 470. Similarly, it is apparent that the parties were a few short conversations away from reaching agreement on the issue of an additional nursing room; Jones himself admitted that the parties were still in the early stages of bargaining when the Agency left the table. (b) Post at all offices of the Agency where bargaining unit employees are located, copies of the attached Notice on forms to be furnished by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. In determining whether the Respondent violated 7116(a)(1) and (5), the first inquiry is whether it had an obligation to bargain at all in these circumstances. Tr. 22. . GC Ex. 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. Impact of the NLRB on Professional Sports., The New York Times. Employees can file a charge against and employer and labor union at one of its 26 regional offices and the NLRB will investigate. . Around this time, an architecture firm, WDG, was selected to design the interior space at Half Street. Luther also provided Jones with proposed ground rules for the negotiations. WE WILL NOT, in any like or related manner, interfere with, restrain, or coerce bargaining unit employees in the exercise of the rights assured them by the Statute. This individual is appointed by the president for a four-year term and functions independently from the board. The Agency refused to continue bargaining not because the parties had reached impasse, but because the agency believed it had satisfied its duty to bargain, a position I have already rejected. They requested bargaining. . , 41 FLRA at 340 n.*. 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 . On February25, Jones provided Durkin some additional information about Half Street, but still did not provide any drawings. Tr. The participation of employees in the formulation and implementation of employee policy and procedures affecting them contributes to the effective conduct of public business. This rapprochement should have. In that event, the Agency will pay lodging, travel, and per diem expenses for the Union negotiators for the agreed-upon dates for face-to-face bargaining and for the travel dates immediately preceding and following the bargaining dates. 37 at 2. When they have agreed on an issue, the presumption should be to implement it retroactively, although the Union will have to weigh the feasibility and the cost of retroactivity, insofar as it affects what the Agency may otherwise be able to agree to, in the overall agreement. 3 at 1. there has to be an end point. The GC and the Charging Party argue for a retroactive bargaining order, while the Respondent argues that a retroactive order would be inappropriate. Employment laws are essentially all employment-related laws that are not labor laws. Issued, Washington, D.C., February 11, 2016, Date: _________________ By: _______________________________________________, Chairman, National Labor Relations Board (Signature), Date: _________________ By: ______________________________________________, General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board (Signature), Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (CADRO), Archival Decisions, Legislative History, & Foreign Service Decisions, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD AND NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD UNION. Tr. Starting in January and continuing through (and beyond) April, Agency officials engaged in extensive discussions with GSA, the new landlord, and the architects regarding the amount of space it would occupy in the new building, and the configuration of that space, and the Agency consciously froze the Union out of this process entirely. 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. 29 at 1. 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. Teams Virtual Training 10am - 12:00pm EST, Teams Virtual Training 11:00am - 12:00pm EST, U.S. Forest Service, Collbran Job Corps Civilian, Conservation Center, Collbran, CO (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees, IAMAW, AFL-CIO (Petitioner/Labor Organization), American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 (Union) and United States Department of the Arrmy, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Agency), National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (Agency), Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (CADRO), Archival Decisions, Legislative History, & Foreign Service Decisions, Meetings under the Statute, Investigatory Examinations, Formal Discussions, Bypasses, Susan Tsui Grundmann Designated FLRA Chairman, The FLRA Proposes Revising Its Regulations, and Revoking a Related Policy Statement, Concerning the Revocation of Written Assignments for the Payment of Union Dues, The FLRA Releases Training Video on Labor Management Forums, The FLRA and its Recognized Union of Authority Employees Reestablish Internal Labor-Management Forum, FLRA Invites Customer Input on Representation Issue, FLRA Swears in Member Susan Tsui Grundmann. The Union caucused briefly to consider what to do next. The two had similar exchanges on March 10 and 24. 237-38. However, other actions by the Agency on and before April 25 contributed to the failure and ultimate breakdown of negotiations. The agency is governed by a five-person board and a general counsel, who are each appointed by the U.S. president with the consent of the Senate. 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. 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. This argument ignores the important difference between the text of the NLRA and the text of the FSLMRS. Gwynne A. Wilcox. . Tr. 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. At the same time, negotiations were also underway with the Union, Agency and FLRA to settle the Unions ULP charge. 39. . Clearly, the Respondents national office was involved in this ULP, which involved negotiations over the relocation of its national headquarters. Ex. Each has its own procedures and rules that if an attorney does not know could result catastrophic error. Based on feedback from committee members at the October 15 meeting, the Agency successfully appealed to GSA officials for expanded furniture options; the Agency needed to solicit and obtain employee preferences regarding types of furniture by December 3. 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