09/16/09 Communique

Friday, Sept. 18 is the deadline to fill out GAO's Employee Feedback Survey

We would like to remind all GAO Analysts that the last chance to fill out the GAO Employee Feedback Survey is this Friday, September 18.  As we mentioned in our August 24 Communiqué, GAO management and the GAO Union worked together to:

• provide safeguards for confidentiality,
• use a robust methodology for measuring employee engagement,
• enable GAO to benchmark employee engagement morale, and
• help to better represent GAO's diverse population.

IFPTE Convention Attended by Representatives from the GAO Union

The 56th Annual Convention of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) was held from August 10-14, 2009, in Las Vegas.  The GAO Union was represented by Leo Acosta, Kristi Karls, Ron La Due Lake, Chris Langford, and Lise Levie.  The GAO Union convention delegates voted, attended informational workshops, and individually discussed the issues facing GAO’s Analysts.  In addition, Ron La Due Lake was asked by Greg Junemann, the IFPTE International President, to serve on the IFPTE Finance Committee, where Ron helped to craft and propose the IFPTE budget for the next 3 years, and Ron gave a presentation to the Convention about the use of Web video to increase membership.

The GAO Union delegates voted on resolutions such as cancer awareness, IFPTE funding for the production of training DVDs, support of workplace anti-bullying legislation, and a constitutional name change for IFPTE.  However, the GAO Union delegates abstained on all votes that were deemed politically partisan in nature.

In his remarks, Greg Junemann pointed out that the makeup of the federal sector is becoming more like the workforce at GAO.  Consequently, IFPTE's strategy will be to recruit more employees from the federal sector.  Many of the delegates at the IFPTE convention were very complimentary of the GAO Union—they were impressed with the progress we have made during our short time of existence.  Overall, the IFPTE convention was a great experience for our delegates—it provided many opportunities to learn about strategies that will help strengthen our Union so we become a more effective and representative voice for all GAO Analysts.

On Tuesday, September 15, professionals at the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) overwhelmingly voted (96%) in favor to organize a union with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE).  As you know, the GAO Union is also affiliated with IFPTE, along with our sister agency, the Congressional Research Service.  (See the 9/15/2009 GovExec article here).

The Legal Services Corporation is a federally funded non-profit organization set up by Congress that provides civil legal aid for the poor across the United States, by distributing funds to 137 independent nonprofit legal aid programs with 918 offices that provide legal assistance to low-income individuals and families across the United States.

LSC staff decided to form a union with IFPTE after they made early and critical contacts with officers and volunteers from the GAO Union. The LSC employees hold GAO in high regard, so they were curious as to why we formed a Union with IFPTE, as well as about our success as a union of professionals.  They were impressed with the GAO Union's collaborative relationship with management, the local self-governance promoted by IFPTE, and that the GAO Union remains politically non-partisan, which is a need shared by LSC.

According to the LSC professionals, their goal in organizing a union is to create a collaborative relationship with LSC management to provide meaningful input to improve LSC’s effectiveness, strive for the highest standards of oversight and accountability, and better serve the national mission of high-quality civil legal assistance to the poor.

Best wishes to the staff of the LSC as they organize their new union!

Notice to Clarify Federal Law and GAO Policy for Payroll Dues

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 [5 U.S.C. 7115(a)] provides that, if a member decides to withdraw from the agency automatic dues deduction process by filing a GAO Form 677, the withdrawal will be processed by the agency once per year.  For the first year, the Form 677 will be processed by GAO and the National Finance Center (NFC) only at the end of the first 12 month period, or the anniversary date of when the Form 676 (to initiate dues deductions) was filed.  After the first 12 month period, the GAO Union and GAO management negotiated an annual time period—­pay period 18 of every year—to process all Form 677s.  This means that after the first anniversary of filing the Form 676, Form 677 must be received by the subsequent year’s pay period 18 (around mid-September).  GAO and NFC will then process the Form 677 by the end of pay period 20 (around mid-October).

Since union membership within the federal sector is voluntary, the intent of the Civil Service Reform Act is to limit withdrawals to once a year to protect union members from outside influences.  For example, this law prevents non-members from joining our union, and then quickly dropping out, for a major election or ratification vote in order to influence the results.  This law also decreases management's administrative cost for handling withdrawal requests. 

In response to these issues, we developed a reimbursement policy for those who joined our Union before this clarification was made available.  The policy states that any member who joined before today, and wishes to leave our union before the one-year anniversary that their Form 676 was processed by GAO’s Human Capital Office, will be reimbursed any dues deducted after filing their Form 677.  

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact your elected GAO Union Assembly Delegate or any GAO Union Officer.

What Are "Weingarten Rights" And What Do They Mean For You?

In 1975 the Supreme Court in NLRB v. Weingarten, Inc. determined that employees have a right to union representation at investigatory interviews.  What this means is that an employee may be represented by the GAO Union at an investigatory interview with his or her supervisor, or an investigator, or anyone else when the employee reasonably believes that the interview may lead to a disciplinary action. This includes interviews concerning the conduct of another employee where you are asked to participate.  It also includes investigations by the Office of the Inspector General. 

The employee must request representation, but can do so in any form and at any time before or during the meeting.  The employee does not have to mention the union and can just request assistance.  Even saying “I want someone to talk to” is sufficient to request representation.  The representative has the right to provide assistance and counsel and the right to consult with the employee privately, if necessary.  The representative also has the right to provide additional information at the end of the interview. 

In October 2008, GAO and the union signed an Interim Agreement, Part III of which addresses “Union Representation at Management Meeting with Unit Employees.” Going beyond a strict interpretation of the Weingarten Rule, our Interim Agreement allows an employee to request a union representative for the following types of meetings:

• Formal discussions concerning a grievance, personnel policy or other general conditions of employment
• An investigatory meeting  if the employee believes that the examination may result in disciplinary action
• Informal resolution meetings per Administrative Grievance Procedure, Order 2771.1

Your rights, the rights of your union representative and the rights of management are spelled out for each of these circumstances in the Interim Agreement.  The GAO Union is currently looking at how we might clarify these rights and responsibilities in the future.

In addition, GAO is legally required to inform employees of their Weingarten rights.  GAO management did so with an email sent on October 3, 2008 (see this link to review the email).

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