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Employees have the right to engage in collective bargaining with respect to conditions of employment through their chosen representatives.
Collective bargaining is the mutual obligation of management and the union to meet at reasonable times and bargain in a good faith effort to reach agreement with respect to conditions of employment affecting employees represented by the union. The fact that the parties (labor and management) have an obligation by law to engage in good faith bargaining does not oblige either party to agree to a given proposal or make a concession.
The ultimate product of the collective bargaining process between union and management is usually a collective bargaining agreement. The agreement is subject to a legal compliance review and approval or disapproval by the Agency Head within 30 days of its signature by labor and management. If the Agency Head disagrees with a legal contract provision, he or she cannot disapprove the agreement based on that contract provision. Also, the union has the right to submit the agreement to its union members for a ratification vote.
Management must bargain on conditions of employment (e.g., personnel policies, practices, working conditions) unless the union's proposal is inconsistent with law, rule, or regulation. One legal limitation to bargaining is the management rights provision in 5 U.S.C. 7106. However, these management rights are not absolute. Management must bargain over the procedures it will use in exercising these rights and also on appropriate arrangements for employees adversely affected by the exercise of management rights. In addition, certain management rights are "permissive" rights. These include the numbers, types and grades of employees assigned and methods and means of performing work. Permissive rights are those rights that management may bargain, but is not statutorily required to do so.
The duty to bargain only applies to conditions of employment of members of the bargaining unit. There is no obligation to negotiate other issues.
RELATED TOPICS: Collective Bargaining; Negotiations
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