National Consultation Rights (“NCRs”) allow unions like ours to be notified and comment on agency-wide policies affecting working conditions. NCRs are a concept from the same law that protects workers’ rights to form unions in the federal sector. The basic idea is that if a national union represents a sufficiently large number of workers nationwide, it has a right to be notified and provide comments before any national policy that affects working conditions is rolled out. A secondary benefit is the advance notice for our IFPTE locals, which can help you and your fellow workers in the USACE districts, divisions, labs, and activities prepare to bargain over such policies.
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IFPTE has held NCRs with DoD and the Department of the Army for a long time, and we are currently pursuing confirmation of our NCRs at the USACE level as well. IFPTE and the ACE Council are excited to use NCRs as an effective tool to help protect your rights in the workplace. If you would be interested in seeing and/or commenting on draft versions of agency policies that could affect your working conditions, let your local union rep know that you would like to be included on their distribution list for NCR notifications.

Supervisors and managers are responsible for following all applicable laws and agency regulations, as well as your office’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), in how they treat you, as the employee. If they don’t, both you and the IFPTE local that represents you have a right to seek remedy by filing a grievance.
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Most grievances begin with a complaint from an employee. An example of a possible grievance could be a supervisor denying telework to an employee where telework in their office is guaranteed through a negotiated agreement. Certain complaints may be excluded from the grievance procedures, either by law or by specific language within your CBA. If you think you might have a valid complaint, the union can assist in identifying if a violation of law, regulation, or the CBA has occurred, as well as help in identifying possible remedies. Discussing a possible grievance is not a commitment to file a grievance, so if you believe a violation has occurred, don’t hesitate to reach out to your union representative.

Also, as a reminder, your CBA identifies specific rights for both you (as the employee) and your employer, and it should also include a well-defined process for handling grievances. If you want to better understand your rights in the workplace, ask your local union rep to provide you with a copy of your office’s CBA for your reference.

An Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) is a violation of the union-management relationship as established in law. A ULP can be filed against either the agency or against the union if a violation by either entity has occurred. Specific types of violations that are considered ULPs can be found in 5 U.S.C. 7116 (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/7116).

A common type of ULP is when a supervisor fails to notify and consult the union prior to implementing changes that materially affect the working conditions of an employee who is represented by that union. Examples include a supervisor-imposed change of an employee’s work schedule or a supervisor-imposed change of an employee’s cubicle assignment. Can you think of other changes in working conditions that have been implemented in your office?

If you are aware of a possible violation that has occurred in your office, please notify your local union rep, so they can consult with you about options for filing a ULP on your behalf with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). Note that as a bargaining-unit employee, your union is obligated to represent your interests in matters concerning ULPs (or grievances for that matter), regardless of whether or not you have made the decision to join the union. Be aware that there is a strictly-enforced 6-month time limit for filing a ULP, so don’t hesitate in reaching out!