H ere's an update on the man-bites-dog file:
The Labor Department, which filed an unfair labor practice complaint against a federal union, has won its case.
In a recent ruling, Richard A. Pearson, an administrative law judge at the Federal Labor Relations Authority, concluded that Local 12 of the American Federation of Government Employees "committed an unfair labor practice by its conduct."
He added, "It is important that the union and its members understand that its conduct and strategy were fundamentally, legally flawed and that it cannot repeat such conduct."
Usually, it's the other way around, with unions accusing agencies of such conduct. But in this case the department took the rare step of contending that Local 12 was in the wrong.
The ruling grew out of a tangled dispute that began in early 2002 and resulted in a hearing before Pearson in March 2003. The case, covered in the Diary at the time, involved an effort by the department to renegotiate its contract with the union and a dispute over whether Labor employees could automatically receive an increase in monthly mass transit subsidies.
The union refused to bargain, contending that the department had failed to conduct timely negotiations on ground rules for the bargaining. In the union's view, the lack of timely action on ground rules caused the contract to roll over for another year.
The department acknowledged that it did not promptly follow up with the union after sending its notice to reopen the contract and, as a result, did not hold any meetings to discuss ground rules for the contract talks, according to Pearson's ruling.
But the department also contended that the contract imposed only a requirement for notice, which was given. Pearson agreed.
"There is no valid reason for one party's violation of a particular ground rule to negate the other party's entire obligation to bargain," Pearson wrote. He added, "Such reasoning is antithetical to the duty to bargain in good faith . . . and it violates the principle that ground rules should be designed to further, not impede, the bargaining process."
Larry Drake, president of AFGE Local 12, said the union does not agree with Pearson's decision "but at this point, it is moot. We don't have any plans to appeal it."
In December 2002, during the dispute, the union and department agreed to begin their long slog toward a contract. But the union and the department failed to reach agreement on 13 provisions in the new contract, and that dispute was taken to the Federal Service Impasses Panel. The panel -- all Bush appointees -- ruled in favor of the department on 12 of the provisions.
In a Jan. 7 ruling, the panel laid out new conditions for flexible work schedules, hours of work, leave, telecommuting, technology and other issues.
Under the ruling, the department may place limits on flextime and change the hours of work. Employees will perform their work between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., instead of 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. "Core hours," when everyone should be in the office, will be 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., instead of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
