04-25-06: Bid protest regulations do not recognize union representatives as interested parties. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) dismissed a protest challenging a cost comparison study, stating it does not recognize union representatives as interested parties for the purposes of filing and pursuing protests.

The president of a local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed a protest concerning certain Department of Labor actions relating to a cost comparison study to be conducted pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76. He contended GAO should consider him an interested party for the purposes of pursuing the protest given his status as president of the affected local union chapter.

Consistent with the amended language of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA), which expanded the definition of "interested party," and the intent of Congress, as expressed in the conference report accompanying the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, GAO bid protest regulations grant interested party status to individuals responsible for submitting the agency tender. However, they do not grant such status to union representatives or other individuals alleging to represent the agency employees who are engaged in the performance of the activity subject to the public-private competition. GAO notes that the protestor appears to confuse the terms "interested party" and "intervenor" under the bid protest regulations. A person representing a majority of the employees of the federal agency who are engaged in the performance of the activity subject to the public-private competition may be an intervenor, even though he would not be an interested party eligible to file a protest.

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