Case Studies

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Case Studies

The following case studies are still under construction....

Case Study # 1: Mandatory overtime

Date	Event	Description
3-8-2007	Beginning/Background	Management gives advance notice to the Union that all employees will be ordered to perform mandatory overtime.
3-9-2007	Beginning/Background	Management orders all employees nationwide to perform 16 hours of mandatory overtime within the next 4 weeks.
3-9-2007 through 3-19-2007	Information gathering	The Union solicited and received a number of communications from employees asking to be excused from mandatory overtime and citing the reasons.
3-9-2007 through 4-3-2007	Attempts at resolving dispute	The Union communicated via email and phone on a number of occasions with Management in an attempt to allow employees to be excused from mandatory overtime, citing the Article 28 requirement that employees be excused from the requirement if other qualified employees were willing to work the hours for them.
4-5-2007	Failure to resolve dispute	Management issued a memo indicating that employees would not be excused from the 16 hours of mandatory overtime, even if others were willing to work the hours for them.
4-13-2007	Union Grievance	The Union filed a Grievance Between the Parties, per Article 20, Section 8 of the collective bargaining agreement, regarding the 4-5-2007 decision.
	Management response	Management denies the grievance
	Arbitration request	The Union invokes arbitration over the grievance
	Arbitrator selection	The parties had already selected an arbitrator (Jerome H. Ross) for another grievance, and agreed to have him contact consecutive hearings on both grievances.
8-10-2007	Arbitration hearing	The parties held an arbitration hearing in Washington, DC.
	Post-hearing briefs	The parties submitted post-hearing briefs to the arbitrator by mail, which contained their final arguments and evaluation of the testimony and evidence presented at the hearing.
9-17-2007	Arbitration decision	Arbitrator Ross issues his Opinion and Order. The arbitrator rules in the Union's favor and orders all disciplinary action taken against employees for failing to complete the mandatory overtime to be rescinded.
	Implementation of the decision

Case Study # 2: Management forces new employees to work the night shift and 4/10 CWS

Date	Event	Description
5-1-2006	Beginning/Background	The Union and Management at PPT/WN negotiated a local work schedule agreement that specifically did not include a 4/10 CWS and did not include a night shift.

1-15-2008	Union Grievance	The Union files a Step 3 Grievance with Passport Services HQ.
	Arbitration request	The Union invoked arbitration

	Settlement Agreement
5-27-2008	Implementation of settlement	Eight PPT/WN employees who were forced to move to the night shift report to duty on the day shift as a result of the settlement.
6-13-2008	Implementation of settlement	For all offices across PPT, the deadline passes at 8:00 PM for others on the night shift or second shift who did not receive "fair warning" that they would be required to work the night or second shift.

Case Study # 3: Unilateral change in work schedules, elimination of some CWS, and declaration of nonnegotiability

Date	Event	Description
9-5-2001	Beginning/Background	The Union and Management at PPT/SE negotiated a local work schedule agreement that provided for eight specific CWS, and determined the earliest and latest and employee could work.
2003		Management notifies Union of proposal to change work schedule agreement, including eliminating three of the eight CWS.
		The Union invokes its right to bargain.
	Union/Management Council meetings	The parties discuss the proposals at the Union/Management Council meetings. That does not lead to a final resolution.
	Formal bargaining	The parties enter into formal bargaining. That does not lead to a final resolution.
7-1-2003	Effort at resolution	One of the Union negotiators makes another attempt at resolving the dispute, but that effort fails.
7-10-2003	Declaration of nonnegotiability	Management declares the Union's proposals "nonnegotiable".
7-23-2003	Negotiability appeal	The Union files a negotiability appeal to the FLRA in response to Management's declaration of nonnegotiability.
7-25-2003	Union Grievance	The Union files a grievance concerning 5 alleged violations of the collective bargaining agreement. The grievance is submitted as an "Informal Grievance" in accordance with Article 20, Section 6 of the CBA.
8-25-2003	Management response to the grievance	Management denies the grievance, and also disagrees with the Union filing the grievance as a "step" grievance. Management treats the grievance as if it was a "Grievance Between the Parties", governed by Article 20, Section 8 of the CBA.
9-23-2003	Arbitration request	The Union invokes arbitration. The Union accepted Management view that the dispute should have been filed as an Article 20, Section 8 Grievance Between the Parties, meaning that arbitration had to be requested within 30 days after Management's 8-25-2003 denial.
10-2003	FLRA conference call	In connection to the negotiability appeal, the FLRA held a conference call for the Union and Management to discuss the meaning of the Union's proposals and the affect or relationship of the grievance on the negotiability appeal.
11-6-2003		Management Position Statement on Negotiability Appeal
11-21-2003		Union Position Statement on Negotiability Appeal
12-10-2003		Management Response on Negotiability Appeal
2-26-2004		Union Arbitration Brief
2-26-2004		Management Arbitration Brief
3-11-2004		Union Rebuttal of Management's Arbitration Brief
3-11-2004		Management Rebuttal of Union's Arbitration Brief
8-17-2004	FLRA's decision	The FLRA issued its decision on the Union's negotiability appeal. The FLRA ruled that all of the Union's proposals were negotiable - meaning that Management had an obligation to bargain over them. The FLRA ordered Management to return to the bargaining table.
10-6-2004		Proposed Settlement Agreement (Proposed by the Union)
10-6-2004		Seattle Response to Settlement Agreement
10-26-2004		Union Opening Statement for Arbitration
11-17-2004		Seattle Work Schedules Agreement
11-29-2004	Settlement Agreement	The parties sign a Settlement Agreement that resolves the dispute once and for all.
	Implementation of settlement agreement

This site is owned & maintained by IAMAW FD1 NFFE FL1998, the Union that represents the bargaining unit employees of Passport Services (a division of the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs). The views expressed here are those of the Union and not the federal government.

Updated March 13, 2009