MARCH, 2010

On December 9, 2009, President Obama signed an Executive Order 13522 creating Labor-Management Forums to improve the delivery of Government Services. This Executive Order is similar to a Clinton-era mandate that establishes government-wide Labor Management Partnerships .

The Executive Order 13522 requires a creation of a labor –management forums at the Agency level and a National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations that will report directly to the Executive Branch. The National Council will be led by the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Director of Office of Personnel Management. David Holway, NAGE’s National President was one of the union leaders appointed by President Obama to the National Council.

The order would require the National Council to pilot programs that would test bargaining over permissive subject in a small group of agencies. The council will evaluate the programs, which must be established within 150 days of the date of the order. The order also restores requirements that agency leaders and union officials undergo training in cooperative bargaining and dispute resolutions tactics. It also requires the agencies to provide the union with “pre-decisional” information on workplace matters including those not subject to collective bargaining. The National Council and the created labor management forums in the agency level will provide guidance for all sides to work towards a stronger and more effective federal government. This will also enable the union to elevate complaints at the agency level to the attention of the National Council.

Evelyn