|
We have not received any indication of an imminent Reduction in Force (RIF) including involuntary separations by the NASA agency and as noted above any potential RIFs during a shutdown are paused by court. However, we want to provide updated guidance on your rights during a RIF, specifically regarding your appeal options for any RIF actions (see our prior blog post). Prior to the August executive order abrogating NASA’s unions rights, the only option for appealing an improper RIF notice (unless discrimination is involved) was to file a negotiated grievance through our bargaining agreement grievance procedure. Now that the agency is no longer recognizing our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the primary channel instead is to file an appeal through the Merit System Protection Board. Keep in mind that Merit System Protection board appeals must be filed 30 calendar days from the date of the effective action or termination date. Representation during the appeal process is also allowed (and encouraged by GESTA). Note free and reduced cost legal advice for federal employees is available through the Rise Network. GESTA is also available to help connect you with a lawyer if you need help. Note if there is any injunction or ruling in IFPTE's pending lawsuit and the agency recognizes our bargaining rights once again, the proper appeal method would switch back to negotiated grievance procedures, which have a deadline of 15 work days from the date of the effective action. Although we hope they will not occur, in the event RIFs do occur at NASA Goddard, GESTA will be in touch to provide more guidance and host training opportunities for our members on the details of RIF appeals.
The NASA Administrative Grievance System (AGS) has a limited scope and cannot be used to challenge matters that fall under separate statutory or regulatory processes. Specifically, matters including adverse actions under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 75, discrimination complaints under 29 C.F.R. Part 1614, unfair labor practices under 5 U.S.C. § 7116, and prohibited personnel practices under 5 U.S.C. § 2302 are excluded from coverage. These matters must instead be pursued through the appropriate external forum, such as the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB), U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Office of Special Counsel (OSC), or Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).
Performance reconsideration requests are no longer being processed under the Negotiated Grievance Procedure (NGP). However, management has confirmed to GESTA that affected employees may instead transfer their reconsideration requests to NASA’s Administrative Grievance System (AGS), as outlined in NPR 3771.1A.
With Goddard management’s notice they will not recognize GESTA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) following the recent Executive Order, grievances are no longer being processed under the Negotiated Grievance Procedure (NGP). However grievance options still exist for bargaining unit employees and all employees, including under the Agency’s Administrative Grievance System (AGS), which is outlined in NPR 3771.1A. We encourage members and employees to read this NPR fully to understand these rights.
Based on guidance from IFPTE, we plan to continue to take action and represent our members in the following ways:
Although we sincerely hope a Reduction in Force (RIF) does not occur at Goddard, we want to share some information on your rights and what you should do if a RIF does occur and you receive a RIF notice. The information below is taken in part from “A Civil Servant's Guide To Reductions In Force” by the Civil Service Strong organization, GESTA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Sect 18., information from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) RIF Website and OPM’s Employee Guide to Career Transition. We encourage you to read the information at those links as well.
At the end of my last article, I promised to write about both the bargaining and grievance Articles in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). That turns out to be an awful lot for one article, so I’m dividing it into two; this article focuses on grievances that can be filed by individual bargaining unit members, the next one will address bargaining and arbitration, unless events change our priorities. Both bargaining and arbitration are addressed by GESTA as an organization representing employees, not by individuals.
GESTA has informed management we are taking them to arbitration to challenge their denial of GESTA’s grievance on situational telework. GESTA’s grievance was based on the information that Segrid Harris, head of Code 500, had instructed supervisors not to allow situational telework for any cases involving non-recurring medical, family care, or other personal appointments. The guidance calls on supervisors to decide these on a case-by-case basis, but they were instead told to ignore that and simply deny all telework for these “lower hour use” cases, even when granting situational telework would have allowed an employee to more efficiently complete projects. Management denied all of GESTA‘s remedies in the grievance, based on their assertion that “A review of available HR data does not reflect any significant inconsistencies in situational telework usage between directorates.” We will provide membership with more updates when we can on this ongoing arbitration.
|
GESTA IFPTE
|
RSS Feed
