Management’s position statement erred when it stated the mission of Passport Services. Management stated that the mission “is to issue passports to U.S. citizens and nationals, protect the integrity of the passport, and provide services to citizens who travel abroad” (page 2 and page 12 of MS). This is not correct. Literally, “integrity” is not part of our mission.

The mission of Passport Services is to “adjudicate a passport applicant’s citizenship and nationality status and to issue U.S. passports to U.S. citizens and nationals” (Article 1 of CBA). The word “integrity” is not included, though the Union wishes it were and had in fact made an unsuccessful proposal to include it.

1) September 23, 1991: Article 1 of the collective bargaining agreement includes the following statement describing the mission: "The mission of the Employer is to serve and protect the public interest through the issuance of passports in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and policies, and to perform other duties with respect to the entry and exit of persons into and from the United States of America."

2) January 3, 2000: the Union proposes updating this to reflect what we believed was the current mission: "The mission of the Employer is to serve U.S. citizens intending international travel and to protect the integrity of the U.S. passport."

3) January 20, 2000 (approximately): Management’s response:
Mission Statement: Disagree. Management proposes deletion of the mission statement from the contract.

4) January 28, 2000: The Union explains that it is proposing to “[u]pdate [the] mission statement” for these reasons:

The mission statement should be changed to reflect the current mission statement. We made the following change based on the mission statement found in the Passport Agent’s Reference Guide. We believe that the mission statement should be consistent through all Passport Services literature. If there is a more recent version, we believe it should be utilized.

The Union (re-)proposes: "The mission of the Employer is to serve U.S. citizens intending international travel and to protect the integrity of the U.S. passport."

5) January 28, 2000: Management responds with: At the time of the negotiation of this agreement, the Employer had determined the mission statement to be: to issue passports to U.S. citizens. Should the Employer change the statement during the term of this agreement, the statement will be distributed as an amendment to the agreement.

6) January 28 – 31, 2000: The parties discuss their conflicting proposals. The Union responds that it cannot agree to an automatic amendment. A Management official states that she has never before seen the wording that the Union is proposing. Another Management official states that this issue may be nonnegotiable. The Union explains that its proposal was not intending to infringe on Management Rights, the Union was simply trying to use the mission statement from the Passport Agent’s Reference Guide (PARG) – from page “i” of the December 1, 1997 version. The Union adds that this document has been distributed to supervisors and passport specialists around the county (over 500 copies), as well as to all Passport Acceptance Agents, such as postal employees and clerk of courts (over 5000 copies). The Union representatives state that they have never seen Management’s version before. Management explains that its version comes from a Department of State report. The Union states that it believes that integrity should be emphasized, and that Management’s version does not include this key concept.

7) January 31, 2000 (evening): During a meeting of the Union negotiation team members, the team decided that they could not in good conscience agree to Management’s wording of the mission. If that wording was going to be used, the team members decided that Management was going to have to force its way – the Union would not be compliant. The team members believed that the bargaining unit employees would be outraged if their negotiators agreed to this.

During a “brainstorming” session, the team members devised an alternative – agreeing to Management’s version (with a correction to include “nationals” along with “citizens”), but adding additional language to emphasize “integrity” and quality.

8) February 1, 2000: the Union proposes accepting Management’s version of the mission (Union’s corrections in italics): "The Employer has determined that the mission of the Agency is to issue U.S. passports to U.S. citizens and nationals."

But only if an additional sentence, describing HOW the mission will be accomplished, is added:
"The Parties agree to fulfill the mission by maintaining and enhancing the integrity of the U.S. passport and the passport issuance process, and by providing prompt, efficient, and courteous service to our customers."

11) February 3, 2000: Management agrees to the Union’s proposal.

12) May 25, 2001: Management’s 30 day review response is sent to the Union. Stating that “[w]e understand that mission statement’s are not negotiable”, Management proposes changing the mission statement yet again to change “Agency” to “Employer” and to insert “adjudicate a passport applicant’s citizenship and nationality status and to” between “to” and “issue”. The Union agrees to this final change, and the mission now reads: "The Employer has determined that the mission of the Employer is to adjudicate a passport applicant’s citizenship and nationality status and to issue U.S. passports to U.S. citizens and nationals."