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January
2003
Special
Report on Solicitor’s Office
Solicitor Scalia Refuses to Consult with Solicitor Employees
on Division-Pairing
Program Arbitrator to Decide SOL Employees’
Right to Be Consulted
Deputy Solicitor Judy Kramer stated to Solicitor employees’
representatives on October 4, 2002, at a Step 2 grievance
meeting, that the Agency was under no obligation to
negotiate or consult with AFGE Local 12, the employees’
exclusive representative, on either the division-pairing
program or the newly created Honors program. Kramer,
on behalf of the Department, refused to negotiate this
matter, in violation of the Federal Service Labor-Management
Relations Statute that grew out of the Civil Service
Reform Act of 1978.
Kramer
stated that the program was “voluntary”
and hence there was no statutory duty to consult or
negotiate. Yet, many employees in SOL must truly wonder
about Kramer’s definition of the word voluntary.
Employee
Participation in the Creation of this Program Is Not
Only the Law but Also Good Management
It is disturbing that an officer of the court refuses
to abide by Federal law and regulation. But what is
even more disturbing is the abandonment of common sense
in this matter. Solicitor Eugene Scalia seems to believe
that the over 260 employees in the Agency have nothing
to offer to improve the division-pairing program. The
employees did participate in the creation of the pilot
job rotation program that existed for all SOL employees
in the National Office. It ran from 1996-1998. The SOL
Labor-Management Relations Committee recommended its
permanent adoption in 2001. Why were the ideas of SOL
employees valuable in the 1990s but not in the 21st
Century?
The
hundreds of years of combined experience in this Agency
by attorneys, paralegals, and support staff is apparently
not valued by the Solicitor. If any Department of the
government should be dedicated to working with its employees
instead of against them, shouldn’t it be the United
States Department of Labor?
It should be remembered that it was the Department’s
management who stated that they did not need to consult
with the employees’ representatives on People
Time. Remember what happened in that instance? The program
crashed in August during the first week of implementation
and was withdrawn. Will DOL management ever realize
that consulting with employees is the best way to ensure
the credibility of this Department?
For
instance, why should attorneys be limited to working
on assignments in only one other division? If the purpose
of this plan is to provide “an opportunity for
greater diversity of work”, why not give attorneys
an opportunity to ask for assignments in all eleven
divisions? In fact, the diversity of work in some division
pairings is not as great as in others. If Scalia had
consulted with the entire SOL staff, perhaps these ideas
along with others would have been raised to make the
division-pairing program better for both the staff and
the customers of the Solicitor’s Office.
This
issue directly impacts SOL employees’ careers.
Fortunately, they may still have an opportunity to be
heard. The Solicitor’s employees’ exclusive
bargaining representative, AFGE Local 12, is taking
this matter to a third party arbitrator to determine
if the staff employees have the right to be consulted
and negotiate on the division-pairing program. The arbitrator
will determine if Solicitor Scalia and his staff correctly
interpreted the Statute. In making this determination,
the arbitrator will hear testimony of SOL employees
and review documents to decide on whether the division-pairing
program is truly voluntary.
Is
the Honors Program Just Another Symptom of the SOL “Youth
Movement”?
With respect to the newly created Honors program, the
Agency stated that it had no obligation to negotiate
since this new program would not have an impact on the
bargaining unit employees. However, several staff attorneys
dispute this.
While
the Agency stated that opportunities are available outside
the Honors program for attorneys, many staff members
feel that the only way outside attorneys will be hired
in the future is through the Honors Program. In addition,
many staff members believe that Honors Program “graduates”,
once they are eligible, will have priority for senior
attorney positions at the GS-15 level over more experienced
SOL attorneys.
Cecilia Holmes, the Administrative Officer for the Solicitor’s
Office, categorically denied that the Honors Program
graduates would be given priority for GS-15 positions.
However, skeptics point out that three GS-14 attorneys—one
with less than four years of government service, one
with less than two years of experience in occupational
safety and health law, and one with less than four years
of such experience—were promoted recently to GS-15
positions in the OSH Division. In each instance, there
were OSH Division attorneys with far more government
service and occupational safety and health legal experience.
Is there really no impact on SOL senior staffers? Should
they be concerned?
Local
12 has discovered that the Solicitor’s Office
has assigned staff employees to interview law students
for the DOL Honors Program. The agency did not contact
the Union on this matter and may have committed an Unfair
Labor Practice by not asking the sole bargaining unit
representative to select the employees’ representative
on the committee. In the past, the Union was represented
on committees that recruited law students for staff
attorney positions in the Solicitor’s Office.
Finally,
Solicitor Scalia has stated his desire to make this
office more like a law firm. In a law firm, those who
are not partners have no input in the running of the
firm. Fortunately, Local 12 is fighting to make sure
that the laws providing Federal employees with the right
to participate in decisions are enforced. Is there any
reason why any staff employee in the Solicitor’s
Office should not be a member of Local 12?
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