Food inspectors’ union rights reaffirmed

A group of Agriculture Department employees who were denied union representation for national security reasons had those rights upheld recently by the Federal Labor Relations Authority and are now in the middle of contract negotiations.

The full FLRA on Dec. 7, 2005, rejected USDA's request for review of a regional office's decision that the inspectors' jobs are not connected to national security and are subject to collective bargaining.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which filed the original complaint, said it believes this case represents the first time workers have had bargaining rights restored after losing them because of national security concerns.

Seventy food and import inspectors, who examine poultry, meat and egg products coming from overseas, were barred from union representation in 2003 after the Agriculture Department reorganized.

USDA said the employees were given additional national security responsibilities after being moved from the Office of Field Operations to the Office of International Affairs. The inspectors were charged with surveillance of facilities for infiltration at ports of entry, for example. If the inspectors were found to be performing work directly affecting national security, then it would preclude them from union representation.

But the full FLRA denied the agency's request to review an August decision by its Chicago regional office, which found that USDA did not establish that the inspectors' work had a "clear and direct connection to national security."

The full FLRA declined to review the regional decision because it found that USDA did not demonstrate that the lower authority's ruling had a lack of precedent or clear prejudice.

AFGE representative Peter Winch said the food inspectors and 5,000 additional inspectors are taking part in union negotiations right now.

The full labor authority's decision does include a caveat. If the agency assigns the inspectors national security duties in the future, then it may file a petition to exclude them from the union. The department had argued that it will be assigning work affecting national security, but the FLRA regional office said it could not assess future duties.

National security issues have been a driving force behind labor changes throughout the federal government. The Homeland Security and Defense departments established new personnel regulations that limit collective bargaining rights for employees, justifying the changes by arguing that it is too burdensome to negotiate with unions when agencies must rapidly respond to national security crises.

Both departments were sued over the systems by coalitions of unions that said they went too far in curtailing collective bargaining; those cases are pending.