FLRA NEWS FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY · WASHINGTON, DC · 20424

The Federal Labor Relations Authority
Announces Initiative to Resolve Oldest Cases

The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) has announced that, by Status Inquiries to be issued by the Case Intake and Publication Office during June 2009, Chairman Carol Waller Pope and Member Thomas Beck are seeking input from parties in its oldest pending cases as to whether formal decisions by the Authority are warranted and/or whether alternative means to resolve the dispute can be identified.n.

Specifically, the Authority is contacting parties in cases that have been pending before the Authority Chairman and Members for more than 2 years. The Authority notes in the inquiries that, for various reasons, and through no fault of the parties, decisions in these cases have not issued. The Authority also notes that it has undertaken an initiative to improve the timeliness of its decisions and to eliminate its backlog of pending cases. Accordingly, in order to determine how best to use its resources, the parties in these cases are asked to identify whether circumstances continue to warrant formal adjudication. The Authority also offers assistance in resolving disputes though alternative dispute resolution methods, if requested. A form is included for the responses, which may be submitted by mail or by facsimile.

This is but one of several strategies Chairman Pope and Member Beck are employing to improve agency performance. Other such strategies include early identification of incoming cases that are susceptible to summary disposition and use of innovative decision formats. In addition, the entire FLRA -- the Authority, Office of the General Counsel, and Federal Service Impasses Panel -- is aggressively pursuing opportunities to provide training to customers both to assist them in avoiding disputes and to improve the quality of filings, which in turn assists agency components in more timely resolving disputes.

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