MANAGEMENT RIGHTS

MANAGEMENT RIGHTS . . . E-MAIL PILOT

Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland and SSA General Committee, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Case No. 01 FSIP 130, August 13, 2001 (Release No. 442).

The AGENCY proposed that the SSA Field Offices be excluded from participation in the test of a management initiative called the "Model Multimedia Customer Contact Centers (MC3) call transfer and Internet inquiry (E-mail) project."

The UNION proposed that "'Field Office participation in the E-mail pilot shall be through one virtual office in each of [eight] regions.'"

The PANEL declined to retain jurisdiction over the dispute and ordered the Agency to maintain the status quo for 60 days "to give the Union an opportunity to appeal the [Agency's] allegation that it has no duty to bargain over its proposal, ...."