"HHS’ so-called negotiators have shown no interest at all in continuing vital programs for employees," said NTEU National President Tony Reardon.

"HHS’ so-called negotiators have shown no interest at all in continuing vital programs for employees," said NTEU National President Tony Reardon. NTEU via Twitter

HHS Managers Said to Have Bargained in 'Bad Faith' Over Union Contract That Strips Telework

Department official says HHS supports telework, but not as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

The union that represents Health and Human Services employees accused the department’s leadership of engaging in “bad faith” collective bargaining negotiations, essentially by refusing to negotiate implementation of the Trump administration’s recent executive orders.

The National Treasury Employees Union has filed two unfair labor practice grievances with the department—one in June and another on Tuesday—related to management’s posture following the May 25 issuance of three executive orders, which seek to make it easier to fire federal employees, streamline collective bargaining agreement negotiations and restrict unions’ ability to use official time.

“HHS’ so-called negotiators have shown no interest at all in continuing vital programs for employees, and they are intent on eliminating the ability for employees to get union assistance if they have a workplace problem,” NTEU National President Tony Reardon said in a call with reporters Friday. “What will probably result is managers that feel they can do whatever they want, including playing favorites and punishing critics. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 clearly states that collective bargaining in the federal sector is in the public interest, and trying to unilaterally impose barebones, cookie-cutter contracts is not in the public interest.”

The contract initially proposed by HHS would have removed 13 articles from NTEU’s existing agreement. Reardon said that although NTEU had been willing to bargain over the proposal, HHS would not accept any of the union’s ideas, and management negotiators refused to answer basic questions about their position, even after the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service got involved in the negotiation, at the department’s request.

The union stated in a timeline of negotiations that on July 31, HHS submitted its “last, best offer” to NTEU, which now proposes to eliminate 21 articles from the existing contract, including provisions governing telework, alternative work schedules, performance awards, sick and annual leave, and transportation subsidies. Management then declared an impasse in negotiations.

“This fits the definition of bad faith bargaining to a tee,” Reardon said. “It isn’t even bargaining at all. After proposing to eliminate 21 of the 34 articles in our current contract, refusing to answer any of our questions or explain anything about the proposals, HHS essentially said, ‘Take it or leave it.’ And they pushed back from the table and walked out.”

An HHS official said the agency does not want to get rid of programs for employees like telework and alternative work schedules. But management does not believe they should be “dictated” by collective bargaining agreements. The official also accused NTEU of intentionally delaying negotiations on a new contract.

“HHS is working with employees and their union representation to improve the operations of the department with the aim of making the federal government a better place to work and better able to deliver the services to the American people,” a department spokesperson told Government Executive in an email.

But Reardon said a department’s policy for workplace programs like telework cannot be trusted unless it is part of a collective bargaining agreement.

“There are some that say, and I have heard it from a distance from agency people, that ‘we’re not really going to get rid of these things,’” he said. “But when an important workplace benefit is removed from a [union] contract, that provides the opportunity for any manager anywhere in the agency to tell someone who may be depending on telework or on alternative work schedules because they have to take care of an elderly parent or a child or whatever . . . that they can no longer use telework, and that employee has absolutely no recourse.”

Reardon said he thinks HHS leadership is trying to “check the boxes” to suggest they have engaged in bargaining, with the plan of trying to rush their proposal to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, which can impose an agreement on both parties.

“The fact of the matter is the agency has not bargained in good faith,” he said. “We’re not at an impasse. The agency wouldn’t answer questions about their proposals, wouldn’t sit down for meaningful discussions with our bargaining team to discuss the intent of their proposals, something that has always been done at the bargaining table. [The impasse panel should tell them] to go back to the FMCS and the mediators should work hard to try to drive the parties together so that there’s a voluntary agreement. What’s happened so far is a shame.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.