Negotiations

The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute outlines the broad matters over which management and a union must negotiate and identifies rights that are reserved to management, and those that may be negotiated at management's discretion. The obligation to negotiate requires discussion and consideration of the other party's proposals.

Employees have the right to engage in negotiations (i.e., collective bargaining) over conditions of employment through their chosen union representatives. Negotiating or collective bargaining is the mutual obligation of management and the union to meet at reasonable times and bargain in a good faith effort to reach agreement with respect to conditions of employment affecting employees represented by the union. A condition of employment is a broad term which encompasses personnel policies, practices, and matters affecting working conditions. Certain matters are specifically excluded by law from being considered a condition of employment (e.g., the classification of a position).

Negotiations occur at different times. The most publicized occasion is the formal negotiations which result in a written document that is usually distributed to all members of the bargaining unit and to all supervisors and management officials on the installation. The document may be referred to as the union contract, collective bargaining agreement, or labor-management negotiated agreement. It is normally subject to renegotiation at specific intervals (e.g., every three years).

Other times when negotiations may arise are: agency reorganizations, the introduction of new technology, changes in regulations of outside authorities, and a host of other factors that may create a need for new working conditions that were not anticipated when the basic contract was negotiated or are not covered by their agreement. In these cases, when an agency decides to act, two types of negotiations may result:

Negotiations on the decision itself may be in order; and/or
Negotiating the effects of the decision - normally referred to as impact and implementation (I & I) bargaining.

When an agreement is reached, management and the union are entitled to have the agreement committed to writing and implemented. Collective bargaining does not, however, compel either the union or management to agree to the other's proposal or to make a particular concession.