Double Down on the Feds

In a recent ruling, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), the federal equivalent to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), ignoring 30 years of precedent and federal statute (5 U.S.C. §7112), determined that personnel specialist in the General Schedule 0201 series (Human Resources Specialist) should be included in a bargaining unit. Thank you President Hussein. Your tireless devotion to union thuggery, self-glorification, and idiocy has won out over commonsense and jurisprudence yet again.

You may be wondering why this is such a big deal. Allow me to pontificate.

The earliest form of unions were made of of skilled workers and called "craftsmen guilds." Historically, these guilds would meet to discuss techniques to increase efficiency, aesthetics, processes, etc (working conditions). The emergence of the industrial age changed the manufacturing and economic landscape of America and craftsmen guilds were replaced by trade unions.

The industrial revolution, fueled by greed, lack of ethics and federal oversight, brought with it child labor, unsafe working conditions, 12 - 14 hour shift work, and hosts of other problems. The role of the trade unions began to focus on workers rights in a market climate that favored industrialists. Low skilled workers were taken advantage of by the industrial tycoons. Even noted economics Adam Smith weighed in on the imbalance of power between workers and industry in his book, The Wealth of Nations.

In response, the trade unions began to act on behalf of their members. Through picketing, strikes, collective bargaining rights and other employee-centered union rights, the industrial and economic landscape again morphed. This time into an employee-rights centered paradigm.

Federal legislation addressing working conditions and employee rights eventually culminated with the passage of The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following this we get the following legislation to protect employees: Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 amended in 2008; Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Equal Pay Acts of 1963; Civil Rights Act of 1991; Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994; Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974; Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 amended 2008; Equal Opportunity Commission; Reasonable Accommodation; Family Friendly Leave Act of 1994; ad infinitum, ad nauseum. You get my drift. Why do we need unions now?

Federal Legislation designed specifically for remedial action to employee's rights and business responsibilities affects anything and everything a business can and cannot do. It's amazing that anything at all gets done with the regulatory stranglehold employees have over organizations. Add to that union involvement and you get a good, old-fashioned shit storm of archaic and ill-defined regulatory gobbledygook.

Get out your starch, it's time for some irony.

I find it amazing that people look to the federal government to solve their problems through legislative oversight as outlined above; then, upon employment with the federal government, turn to unions to protect them from the same federal government with whom they previously sought protection from. Are you dizzy yet. I'm not finished!

Then, (comma, space, pause for effect) positions that have been statutorily defined as exempt from bargaining and confirmed through 30 years of jurisprudence, magically get recatergorized and are now included.

Why do I thank the president? Earlier this year, POTUS announced two new appointees to the the FLRA. One is the former national counsel (attorney) for the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) and the other is a self proclaimed Obama administration labor relations leader and the current chairwoman of the FLRA. This is going to become a nightmare for federal employee labor relations specialists such as myself.

With the most recent decision (Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM and NFFE, 64 FLRA 31), unions will be allowed to basically double down on their influence and ultimately impact management residual rights through bargaining unit members engaging in policy and decision making at the facility level. It's a trojan horse.

While there was a time for unions, that time has long passed. We can't even fire poor employees due to their union rights. Bottom line is, we all have a job to perform. If we can't or won't meet the mission of our organization why do we exist?