Master Collective Bargaining Agreement between Va and Afge
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March 14, 2022
Tom Temin: And by the way, how many VA employees are covered by that would be a deal. A federal labor committee largely sided with the Department of Veterans Affairs in an employment contract that ruled in a case between the VA and the National Veterans Affairs Council (NVAC), which is part of the American Federation of Government Employees. Tom Temin: And have you talked to anyone from VA about it? Even if they tell you they won`t, or if they take the time to do it. I think my question is: Are these the same people you would have negotiated with under the Biden administration who were not negotiated under the Trump administration? The union also believes that a new Biden administration could implement the changes needed to change the course of collective bargaining between AFGE and VA. Ibidun Roberts: Well, first of all, we meet virtually. So we are as reasonable as possible with the VA, which wants to meet virtually. We`ve done it, we`ve exhausted it, we expect to meet in person soon. The other part is that the VA lawyers are not in the room. So while we believe they are advising the bargaining team, they are not really sitting at the table. So when some of these conversations arise, the VA doesn`t have an answer. In fact, they once told us that they had to go back to VA`s lawyer to find out what to do. So if they don`t even have the right people at the table to move us forward, they are already not negotiating in good faith, we need to have the right people at the table to reach an agreement, and they have not done so.
They don`t whistle Dixie, but they are not able to respond. As an independent body, the Federal Labour Relations Authority oversees disputes between the federal government and workers. A list of FLRA decisions affecting our Council can be found at this link. In general, the collective agreement does not set specific limits on the number of days employees can and cannot telework. If you have any questions regarding the filing of ACAs and arbitration awards, please contact OPM`s Accountability and Industrial Relations staff at LRG@opm.gov. If you have any questions about specific BCAs found in this database, please contact the agency associated with this ABC. For more information on the representation data of all bargaining units certified by the Federal Labour Relations Authority, including name, description, location, bargaining unit employee population and other information, see the Federal Labour Management Information System. Ibidun Roberts: Of course. This has been happening since 2017, when the Department of Veterans Affairs implemented the Accountability Act. And many of you will remember that President Trump touted this law at the time and what it would do for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The problem was that the VA had not negotiated with the union on how it would implement this law. So we had to file a national complaint, we won this case, it had to go to the FLRA, the Federal Labour Relations Authority, to basically tell the VA that you had a legal obligation to negotiate with the union.
And they didn`t. They asked the FLRA to reconsider this decision. The FLRA said the same thing, they have to negotiate with the union, you were not excused for that. So we went back to the referee, and he brought relief for the VA`s failure to negotiate. So it was March 2021. It therefore took from 2017 to March 2021 for an arbitrator to find a decision on this issue. And he solved it by ordering the VA to actively negotiate backwards with the union. So this means that we have to negotiate as if they had not illegally failed to negotiate, and then apply them until 2017. And then he also expressed quite a relief. Whatever agreement we reach, not only must it be applied retroactively to 2017, but every employee who has been injured must be healed.
And that`s how we talk about the Accountability Act. These included abduction, suspensions of more than 15 days and decommissioning. The VA used it enthusiastically. So to date, we have about 5,000 people who have been affected by VA, which has implemented this law without negotiations. So I told you it was already in March, when the arbitrator ordered retroactive hearings. We are six months later and have been forced to ask the Federal Labour Relations Authority for enforcement and ask them to enforce the arbitrator`s award and bring the VA into compliance. As you said at the beginning, we thought this would only be the illegal behavior of the rogue government. But what we are finding is that this government is very willing to accept this illegal behavior and to possess and prosecute it itself. Instead, the dead-end panel turned to 44 articles in which the two sides could not reach an agreement. It adopted a decision on these articles last week. The panel codified parts of the 2018 presidential decrees on collective bargaining, official time, and employee dismissals in many ways.
The VA has already shortened and, in some cases, abolished official time for union representatives itself, but the committee`s decision enshrines these restrictions in a seven-year contract. From AFGE`s point of view, what happens next with the panel`s decision is still in the air. VA and AFGE have been engaged in heated negotiations and debates since last spring, when the ministry submitted new negotiating proposals. The AFGE National VA Council conscientiously represents its members when complaints about working conditions arise or when there is a violation of laws, regulations, ministerial directives in manuals or previous practices, as well as a violation of an agreement. The legal proceedings result in a settlement or withdrawal, an arbitration award and a decision of the FLRA (including ULP orders). .
