May 15, 2017 Update:
During the second session week of bargaining, NWSEO and NWS discussed the topics listed below...
Rights of Union
This Article describes the rights unions have under the Federal Labor Management Relations Statute as well as any additional negotiated rights agreed to by NWS and NWSEO.Examples include the rights of bargaining unit employees to join or not to join the union by paying union dues, the right of employees to stop paying union dues if they choose, the right of the union to request information necessary to bargaining, etc.
Union Representation (official time)
This Article describes the rights of the union to be entitled to “official time” (aka.“union time”) to conduct union representational activities during time when they would otherwise be conducting agency work, such as forecasting.Management’s proposal for the new contract would make it clearer how union time would be requested, how supervisors are to review the requests, that approval must be received before engaging in union time, among other clarifications.
Labor management relations
This Article describes the joint commitment of NWS and NWSEO to work toward building trust and cooperation to meet the mission ofNWS.It describes when and how NWS and NWSEO will engage prior to decisions being made by NWS that affect the working conditions of bargaining unit employees.Management’s proposal seeks to place greater emphasis on issues being handled at the appropriate level, as opposed to elevating most minor concerns to a national level which increases bureaucracy, takes the local employee and manager out of the equation, and takes months of time.
In addition, NWSEO has proposed two new articles to the Collective Bargaining Agreement -- “Facilities” and “Communications” -- that will be discussed alongside the other articles already incorporated into the CBA draft.
