Case Study: NAD Bargaining on Telework

Do you know your office’s policy on telework and remote work? If your office has such a policy, do you know how it was created?
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 we saw a shift (virtually overnight) from the vast majority of our work as USACE employees being conducted in-person to the vast majority of our work being done via telework. In the years that have followed, we’ve seen each office establish its own new “normal,” which may or may not be consistent with what’s being done in other USACE offices. In many cases the amount of telework that’s permitted is either based on the preferences of the office’s senior leadership or left to the preferences of individual supervisors. The exceptions are the USACE offices where a union representing the employees has bargained with management on a negotiated telework agreement.
One such example is North Atlantic Division (NAD), where the union (IFPTE Local 98) bargained on a negotiated telework agreement last year. When NAD leadership announced their intention to bring employees back to the office after 3 years of 100% telework, the union replied that it would bargain on the change in working conditions. NAD leadership tried to implement the change without bargaining, and the union responded by filing an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP), after which NAD leadership then came to the bargaining table. Later, while negotiations were still ongoing, NAD leadership tried to bypass the union and pressure employees into an agreement during a secret meeting, without the union’s negotiating team being present. The employees informed their union representatives, and the union filed another ULP. After the 2nd ULP, NAD leadership once again agreed to come to the bargaining table. The result was a negotiated telework policy that guarantees every NAD employee at least 4 days of telework per week.
If you have questions about the details of your office’s telework policy and/or when and how such policies can be negotiated for your office, contact your local union rep for additional information.