Section VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, also called the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, provides that most federal agency employees are entitled to join and organize labor unions. To facilitate this right, the Statute sets forth the procedures that must be followed before a union may become the collective bargaining representative for a group of federal employees.

Bargaining "Units"

As with non-federal employees, federal employees are divided into groups called "units" for collective bargaining purposes. A unit is a group of employees who have similar interests and work. The members of a unit must share a clear and identifiable community of interest. A particular unit must also promote effective dealings with the employing agency involved. A unit may not include:

• Most managers or supervisors;
• Confidential employees;
• Employees engaged in non-clerical personnel work;
• Employees engaged in administering the Statute;
• Both professional employees and other employees, unless a majority of the professional employees vote to be included in the union;
• Employees engaged in intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or security work that directly affects national security; and
• Employees primarily investigating whether their fellow employees are discharging their work honestly and with integrity.

Elections

If employees in a particular unit decide that they wish to be represented by a union, they may file a petition for an election. To initiate an election, a federal employee may file a petition with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) alleging that 30 percent of the employees in his or her unit want an exclusive representative to represent them for collective bargaining purposes. Employees may also prompt an election by filing a petition stating that 30 percent of the employees in a particular unit no longer wish to be represented by their exclusive representative.

After a petition is filed, the FLRA investigates the petition to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists. A hearing may be held to consider the question. If there is reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists and if no election has been held in the previous 12 months, the FLRA will supervise or conduct a secret ballot election among employees in the unit. If a labor union can show that at least 10 percent of a unit's employees have designated it to be their representative or that it is currently the representative of the employees involved, it is entitled to have its name included on the ballot. The FLRA is responsible for defining the boundaries of a particular unit. It is also responsible for determining which employees are eligible to vote in an election.

If a majority of employees in an appropriate unit vote to be represented by a particular union, the federal agency is required to recognize that union as the exclusive representative of its employees in that unit.

Copyright 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.