Obama appoints new members to labor-management panel

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

LiUNA Headquarters - Six months after he fired their predecessors, President Obama has appointed new members to the panel responsible for resolving bargaining disputes between federal employee unions and agencies.

Those appointments to the Federal Service Impasses Panel complete the new team at the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which includes the panel. Agency and union officials said they hope the agency will be able to reduce its case backlog and help mediate more disputes.

Obama dismissed President Bush’s appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel on March 6. Panel members are not subject to Senate confirmation, and though they are appointed for five-year terms, they can be fired by the president. When he took office in 2001, Bush fired President Clinton’s appointees to the panel. Since Obama fired Bush’s appointees, the panel has been able to accept new cases, but not to resolve them.

Six of Obama’s seven choices for the impasses panel served in federal labor relations organizations earlier in their careers, some of them working together during the Clinton administration. The new chairwoman, Mary Jacksteit, a mediation expert, spent seven years on the panel during the 1990s, serving alongside fellow Clinton nominees Edward Hartfield and Marvin Johnson. Hartfield was also a commissioner of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Nominees Don Wasserman was a member and then chairman of FLRA between 1995 and 2001, and Barbara Franklin was chief counsel at the agency. Thomas Angelo worked as a regional attorney for FLRA between 1981 and 1983.

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley said the nominees’ backgrounds in labor law indicated they would resolve disputes fairly, rather than siding predictably with labor or management, providing incentives for parties to negotiate in good faith and to try to reach agreements rather than declaring an impasse.

“I just think the biggest win-win for everybody is when the people who have to live under the agreement come up with the terms of the agreement,” Kelley said. “With the best of intentions, there will be disagreement, and that’s why it’s important to have credible appointees on the authority and the panel.”

The Federal Labor Relations Authority has been in limbo since last year. The agency’s general counsel resigned in March 2008, leaving it unable to issue unfair labor practices complaints. In July 2008, Dale Cabaniss resigned as its chairman, leaving the authority with Carol Waller Pope, now chairwoman, as its sole member, until Thomas Beck was appointed and confirmed in October 2008. During that time, the authority was unable to issue decisions because it did not have a quorum, creating a backlog of cases.

Julia Clark was confirmed by the Senate to be the authority’s new general counsel last month, at the same time that Ernest DuBester was confirmed as FLRA’s third member. John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, praised those nominations, and Obama’s choice of Pope to lead FLRA, as proof the new administration is committed to collective bargaining rights for federal workers.

Pope said the agency has made substantial progress in reducing the number of pending cases, from 400 at the beginning of fiscal 2009 to 315. In August, the authority issued 32 decisions based on the merits of the cases at hand, more than any single month since September 2003. Pope says she hopes that in addition to reducing the backlog, FLRA will be able to provide updated training to meet new labor relations’ needs, which can help reduce the number of grievances and unfair labor practices filed.

“I’m in the business of telling people we’re back in business,” she said.

By Alyssa Rosenberg September 22, 2009

Arbitrator in the GGNRA Blood-Borne Pathogen Case Named to Impasses Panel

Monday, September 21, 2009

Arbitrator Tom Angelo, who presided over the recently settled Blood-Borne Pathogen case between UPEC / LIUNA and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, has been named as one of seven (7) new members of the Federal Services Impasses Panel.  The settlement brought the long-fought case on behalf of nearly 150 GGNRA employees to resolution earlier this year.

Mr. Angelo previously has been an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor, and since 1983 has been a full-time arbitrator.  Mr. Angelo is a graduate of Willamette University and Willamette University College of Law.

Congress Expected to Pass Unemployment Benefits Extension

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash) has offered a bill that would extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks; to those nearing exhaustion of benefits who reside in States with unemployment rates above 8.5%, and who are scheduled to exhaust benefits at the end of September.  California is one of those states.

The current Bill is scaled down and comes on the heels of a more ambitious effort that would have extended benefits through 2010.  This current Bill is intended to protect displaced employees through the end of this year (2009), however the National Employment Law Project anticipates that as unemployment rates hover at or above 10% further extensions may be necessary, potentially into 2011.  While the earlier Bill appeared to garner some resistance, the reduced effort is expected to gain broad support and pass through the House easily.

President Obama, speaking earlier today on “The Late Show with David Letterman” hinted that the jobless rate is likely to persist for another year, at minimum, pointing to stimulus efforts that are beginning to catalyze economic recovery that eventually will lead to job recovery.

UPEC Receives “LiUNA Innovator Award”

REDDING - UPEC Local 792 received the 2009 “LiUNA Innovator Award” from the Pacific Southwest Region in August. This award is given annually at the LiUNA Regional Conference by the Regional Vice President and Regional Manager. The award honors creative innovations for Union progress. Local 792 was recognized for their informative and focused membership Orientation Program. This is the fifth time Local 792 has received this award from the Region. The last innovation award was in 2005.

Leadership Training That Makes Sense

REDDING - Business Manager Chris Darker announced today that the Local Union will sponsor Foundations in Leadership (formerly Principle Based Leadership) at the Local office on Thursday, October 29, 2009. The training has been presented on 4 previous occasions and has been well received. The training begins at 8:30am and concludes at 5:00pm. The training includes a continental breakfast and lunch on site. The training is FREE to UPEC Members and $99.00 to non-members and the public. This year the training will be presented by Police Chief Gary Brown (ret) Monterey PD and Chief Rick Hicks (ret) Cypress PD along with Business Manager Darker. “These training principles can be applied to any job, union/association and family”, said Darker. Those interested in attending should contact the UPEC office ASAP at 530-245-1890 to reserve a seat.

LiUNA Members Put 5 Back to Work

Friday, September 18, 2009

TUCSON, AZ - Pulte Homes Corp., the largest corporate homebuilder in the
U.S., has put five of seven workers back on the job after an
outpouring of protest from LIUNA members across the country.
Soon after seven Pulte workers in Tucson, Ariz., came to work in
orange LiUNA! shirts and asked to be paid for wages they
believed were due them, the company sent the workers home and
told them there was no further work. LIUNA members from every
state in the U.S. - and many members from Canada - telephoned
and wrote the company in protest. In addition, LIUNA members put
a spotlight on the workers in a radio ad in Pulte’s home state
of Michigan. Listen to the ad and then send a message to Pulte
letting them know that no one in America should be fired for the
shirt they wear and urge them to put the two remaining employees
back to work.
http://liunaactionnetwork.org/ct/9p_P1Cn1lj1i/
http://liunaactionnetwork.org/campaign/pulte7/wn8sw564l7e66xm6?