OPM asks agencies to assess labor-management relations

Federal managers must meet with union representatives to evaluate the state of their agencies' labor-management relations by April, under guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management last week.

Agencies have until April 14 to submit reports to the Office of Management and Budget describing the effectiveness of labor-management partnership councils in improving agency operations. Under President Clinton's 1993 Executive Order 12871, agencies were required to establish partnership councils to increase union involvement in agency decision-making.

The reports must say whether managers negotiate with unions over so-called "permissive" subjects listed in 5 U.S.C. 7106 (b)(1). Often referred to as "(b)(1) issues," they include: "the numbers, types, and grades of employees or positions assigned to any organizational subdivision, work project, or tour of duty, or . . . the technology, methods, and means of performing work." Agencies have traditionally bargained over such matters at their own discretion, but the 1993 executive order instructed them to put (b)(1) issues on the bargaining table.

Federal executives and managers have resisted that part of the order, however, and last year the Clinton administration considered forcing managers to obey it. But then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled the order was not legally enforceable, saying the administration could only enforce it "through persuasion and, ultimately, termination of the resisting official."

Last October, President Clinton issued a memorandum reaffirming Executive Order 12871. The memo asked agencies to "redouble" their efforts at improving labor-management relations and instructed managers to work with unions to develop written plans for making partnership councils more effective and bringing (b)(1) issues to the bargaining table. The memo also set the April 14 deadline for agencies to report on their progress in meeting the President's mandates.

In the guidance released last week, OPM Director Janice Lachance asked agencies to assess their progress in three areas:

• Labor-management goals. What targets have managers and unions set for their agencies?
• Executive Order 12871 assessment. What specific steps have agency and unions taken to 1) create labor-management partnership councils; 2) involve employees and union representatives "as full partners to identify problems and craft solutions to better serve the agency's customers and mission"; 3) provide training to employees and managers in dispute resolution and interest-based bargaining; 4) negotiate over (b)(1) issues; and 5) evaluate improvements in organizational performance resulting from partnership.
• Results and accomplishments. How has labor-management partnership improved customer service, quality, efficiency, and cost savings?

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the labor-management partnership councils at the Internal Revenue Service and the Customs Service have already prepared initial drafts of the reports. She said (b)(1) bargaining is in place at both agencies.

Kelley said managers and union representatives in other agencies are also cooperating.

"In some agencies, it's been slow getting out of the starting box," Kelley said. "But we haven't seen anything that looks like resistance."

Didier Trinh, legislative director for the Federal Managers Association, which represents supervisors and managers at various agencies, said the association supports partnership, but still opposes (b)(1) bargaining.

"With (b)(1) bargaining, the guy in the middle loses out, and that's us," Trinh said. "Other than that, we definitely support partnership."