Labor Relations

Federal employees have the legal right to choose a labor organization (union) to represent them in dealings with their employing agency.  Within the NTSB, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), AFL-CIO was elected by a majority vote to serve as the exclusive representative of all eligible Safety Board employees.  AFGE exercises its representational responsibilities through Local 2211, which also represents employees of The Federal Trade Commission and The International Trade Commission.  You can find more information about Local 2211 at its website, http://afge2211.info/    .

A bargaining unit is the particular group of employees represented by a union.  Within the NTSB, the bargaining unit includes, with a few exceptions, all professional and non-professional Safety Board employees who have appointments of one hundred and eighty days or more.  Excluded from the bargaining unit are Administrative Law Judges, temporary and part-time employees who have appointments of less than one hundred and eighty days, and employees excluded by law (for example, management officials, supervisors, and confidential employees). 

The law gives Federal employees the right to choose whether or not to join a union and otherwise participate in union activity.  The union is obligated to represent all employees in the bargaining unit fairly and equally, regardless of their membership status.  Employees who choose to join the union have their union dues deducted from their pay each pay period.  

 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

The NTSB and AFGE Local 2211 have negotiated a CBA (i.e., labor contract) that sets forth conditions of employment affecting NTSB bargaining unit employees.  The agreement covers a wide variety of work-related matters such as employee rights, flexible and compressed work schedules, time and leave, details, and reassignments, temporary promotions, professionalism, disciplinary and adverse actions, and safety and health.  The CBA expired in 2004, but has not been renegotiated.  Consequently, its terms remain in full force and effect until such time as it is replaced by an agreement agreed upon by the NTSB and the union.

By law, all CBAs covering Federal employees must contain a grievance procedure.  Consistent with that requirement, the NTSB/AFGE Local 2211 CBA contains a grievance procedure that employees may use to resolve disagreements and complaints over work-related matters.  While that procedure excludes a few subjects (most of which, like position classification, are excluded by law) most work-related matters are covered.  The procedure requires employees to make reasonable efforts to resolve a grievance informally before filing a formal grievance.  If informal efforts to resolve the matter are unsuccessful, the employee may then file a grievance with his/her immediate supervisor within fourteen calendar days of the date of the act or occurrence grieved or from the date the employee knew or should have known of that act or occurrence.  If the grievance is not resolved at the first step, the employee may appeal it through two more steps within NTSB, at which time a final agency decision will be issued at the third step.  If the employee and the union are not satisfied with the NTSB's third-step grievance decision, the union may refer the matter to a neutral arbitrator for a binding decision.  The employee may represent him or herself during the first three steps of the grievance procedure and choose not to be represented by the union.  However, the union has a right to attend any meetings held to resolve the grievance and only the union can invoke the arbitration process.

 While labor and management retain their distinct roles in the NTSB/AFGE Local 2211 labor-management relationship, the two parties have for some time been working to maintain constructive and mutually beneficial relations.  The Local 2211 Unit Vice President and the NTSB's Managing Director meet informally on a frequent basis to discuss matters of concern to both sides. And Union representatives are included in the development of major initiatives that affect the employees the Union represents.  For example, the Union was an important player in developing the greatly expanded NTSB Telework Program, which allows many employees to work at home, thus reducing traffic congestion and pollution, while freeing employees from the chore of commuting to work on designated days.  Labor and management also work hard to reduce disputes and settle those that do arise.  Since the Union was recognized in1996, the parties have been able to resolve most grievances under the negotiated grievance procedure without the need for outside arbitration.