Federal Daily - February 4, 2010

FLRA Looks to Revive Alternative Dispute Resolution Program

The Federal Labor Relations Authority this week announced a proposed rulemaking that would restore an alternative dispute resolution, training and education program designed to help resolve federal workplace unfair labor practice grievances before they advance further into the system.

The proposed rule reverses a 2008 regulation which prohibited FLRA’S Office of General Counsel from offering any type of pre-investigation or pre-complaint assistance to the parties involved in labor practice complaints. The new rule is slated to go into effect April 1, according to a Feb. 1 Federal Register notice.

The revisions reestablish the OGC’s role in providing guidance on alternative dispute resolution techniques that will aid in resolving disputes short of litigation, FLRA General Counsel Julia Akins Clark said in a statement. Clark said the OGC intends to foster a more successful labor-management environment through training of union representatives and agency personnel in dispute resolution and cooperative methods of labor-management relations.

As part of the revised ULP regulations, Clark convened a task force of OGC employees to revise the OGC’s Unfair Labor Practice Casehandling Manual to provide staffers with guidance on implementing the revised policy directives.

Clark said the revisions clarify OGC’s role in facilitating the resolution of disputes and in training and educating labor and management principals about their rights and responsibilities under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.

To see more, go to: www.flra.gov/webfm_send/220 (FLRA) or http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-2047.htm (notice).

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Military Leaders Support Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask’

Top military leaders told lawmakers on Feb. 2 they want to eliminate the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bans openly gay people from serving in the armed forces.

The restrictions—which require gay troops to keep their sexual orientation a secret—could be eliminated without harming troop morale or recruitment, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,” Mullen said. Mullen’s comment reflects a shift among the country’s military’s leaders, who increasingly support eliminating the policy. Mullen’s immediate predecessor, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, in 2007 described homosexuality as “immoral.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told senators that DoD has established a panel to prepare the military for the elimination of the policy, put in place by the Clinton administration in 1993. “The mandate of this working group is to thoroughly, objectively and methodically examine all aspects of this question, and produce its finding and recommendations in the form of an implementation plan by the end of this calendar year,” Gates told lawmakers.

The hearing on the issue comes after President Obama announced last week in his State of the Union address his desire to end the policy.

A recent Gallup poll indicates that about 69 percent of the public supports allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, noted Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. Levin said some studies estimate there are about 66,000 gay and lesbian troops now serving.

To see more, go to: www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57835 (DoD) or http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=322020 (Levin).

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