AFGE Local 2128
News Flash

AFGE Local 2128 has received the FLRA's final decision on the union's Exceptions to the arbitrator's award and our Request for Reconsideration. The FLRA has ruled against AFGE Local 2128 and the arbitrator's award that said the Local's FLSA Union Grievance is "NOT ARBITRABLE" stands. The Local's FLSA Union Grievance is now dead. AFGE earlier repudiated the July 14, 1999 Settlement Agreement and that action still stands. DCMA convinced the arbitrator that the Federal District Courts (see below) had settled the employee's FLSA claims. The problem with this story is the fact that DCMA also tells the Federal Courts that the employees FLSA claims are being decided by an arbitrator. DCMA apparently speaks with a forked tongue. This by the way is the same agency that wants to be known as the "Employer of Choice".

While the ongoing lawsuits in Federal Court involve many of our bargaining unit employees (class action or group lawsuits), please remember that these lawsuits are not filed by or on behalf of the Local. These lawsuits are a lawful relationship between the individual employee seeking relief under the FLSA and the attorney who is filing their lawsuit in Federal Court. If you want an update on the FLSA lawsuit you signed up for, you will need to contact the attorney who is representing you.

The FLRA has now issued its final decision on the agency filed Exceptions to this arbitration award. The FLRA modified the awarded remedy slightly, but the real meat of this arbitration award and ordered remedy is still intact. AFGE Local 2128 is in contact with DCMA West (our bargaining counterpart) and we will soon negotiate changes designed to improve the agency Incentive Awards Program and to make it fair and equitable for bargaining unit employees. One very important change that was ordered by the arbitrator is the division of the annual awards budget into "bargaining unit" and "non-bargaining unit" shares. This means that agency management and supervisors will NOT be dipping out of the same awards budget as the bargaining unit employees they supervise. AFGE Local 2128 proved to the arbitrator that agency management/supervisors historically abused and took at least 50% of the awards budget for themselves even though they make up less than 15% of the overall population. The arbitrator also ordered the agency to establish an "Incentive Awards Committee" with the union having a voting member on that committee (another step to keep agency management honest and the system fair). The arbitrator also ordered the agency to grant awards based on "objective" and verifiable awards granting criteria. CY 2003 Awards will be impacted by the negotiations which are a result of this arbitration award.

On another note closely related to this arbitration win, AFGE Council 170 recently filed a Union Grievance with DCMA Headquarters over DCMA's unfair and unequal administration of the Incentive Awards Program. DCMA settled with AFGE Council 170 by agreeing to negotiate improvements to the agency Incentive Awards Program with AFGE Council 170. Those negotiations are now ongoing and the outcome is expected to be favorable. Tentative agreements have been reached, but there is one major stumbling block that is preventing the negotiations from becoming final. DCMA Headquarters agrees to split the awards budget into bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit shares, the disagreement involves how those shares are determined. Hopefully DCMA and AFGE will be able to resolve this disagreement during the upcoming FMCS mediated bargaining session. I really expect that bargaining unit employees will see some significant and long overdue improvements made to the DCMA Incentive Awards Program.

As I informed everyone in the last news update, DCMA Stewart and Stevenson unilaterally implemented CY 2001 Awards and the Local filed a ULP charge. As a settlement to the ULP, DCMA West agreed to negotiate CY 2001 Awards with AFGE Local 2128. The result of those negotiations dictates that DCMA Stewart and Stevenson will apply the outcome of the negotiations conducted as a result of the arbitration award "retroactively" to the employees of DCMA Stewart and Stevenson.

In the mean time, DCMA San Antonio went back on their word and unilaterally implemented CY 2001 Awards. DCMA San Antonio engaged in the same unfair and unequal Awards granting practices as the prior arbitrator had already identified as improper. AFGE Local 2128 filed a Union Grievance over this breach of promise and we are now awaiting another arbitrator. Since the agency exceptions to the original arbitration award are now decided and the original arbitrator's award is now final and binding, AFGE Local 2128 has asked that the CY 2001 Awards for DCMA San Antonio be subject to the "retroactive" application provisions just like DCMA Stewart and Stevenson is. We are still waiting to see if DCMA West will agree to this settlement offer.

The FLRA has issued their final decision on the union's exceptions to this arbitrator's award and the arbitrator's award stands in management's favor. This is not only a loss for the union, it is a loss for the bargaining unit employees who are now subject to having their flexible or compressed work schedule terminated on a whim and for no real reason. AFGE Local 2128 is taking affirmative action to correct this situation (see next item).

After receiving the arbitrators decision noted previously, AFGE Local 2128 initiated action with the PLFA (District West HQ) in an attempt to negotiate a new Alternative Work Schedule Agreement more favorable to our bargaining unit employees and more in line with the AWS Statute. The PLFA initially refused to bargain with the Local, but after the filing of a ULP, DCMA West agreed to engage AFGE Local 2128 in negotiating a replacement for Article 20 of the Supplemental Agreement. The outcome of these negotiations will only apply to employees within AFGE Local 2128's area of bargaining unit jurisdiction.

Negotiations on this new agreement are now underway and the parties will be assisted during their next bargaining session by an FMCS mediator. The parties have tentatively agreed to meet for a full week of bargaining during the first full week of January 2004.

The arbitrator for AFGE Local 2128's Union Grievance has issued his final and binding decision and he ruled that DCMA West is the contractual "PLFA" as called out in the various Articles and Sections of the Master Agreement. He also ruled that DCMA West does have a collective bargaining relationship with AFGE Local 2128. It has been a long hard battle, but DCMA West and AFGE Local 2128 are now beginning to engage in collective bargaining.

DCMA Headquarters has agreed to settle this Council Union Grievance by applying the arbitration award noted above to all AFGE Locals in DCMA West.

The FLRA has issued its final decision on both parties Exceptions to this arbitration award. The FLRA denied both parties exceptions so the arbitrator's award stands as written. DCMA West is now in the process of searching through past employee time and attendance records in order to determine which employees were working a "compressed work schedule" during the 1996-1997-1998-and January 1999 time period and are entitled to the ordered back pay remedy.

Under this arbitrator's award, employees who worked a 9 or 10 hour work schedule during a pay period where a holiday fell and who did not "flex" their starting/stop times or earn or use "credit hours" during that pay period, are entitled to back pay with interest for time lost due to not being allowed a holiday off in excess of 8 hours. This back pay remedy applies to all former and current bargaining unit employees who worked within AFGE Local 2128's area of bargaining unit jurisdiction during the applicable time period. AFGE Local 2128's area of jurisdiction during this time period included the employees of DCMA Dallas, DCMA Bell Helicopter (non-professional BU only), DCMA TI Lewisville, DCMA Greenville, DCMA San Antonio, DCMA Stewart and Stevenson.

The agency is now in the process of identifying employees who are entitled to back pay. I will post updates to this back pay remedy when DCMA West notifies the Local of the conclusion of their search and determination as to who they identified as being entitled to back pay under this arbitration award. The agency is conducting a thorough search, but there is always the possibility they will over look someone. I will let everyone know once the search is complete.

DCMA Dallas, the impacted employee and AFGE Local 2128 have negotiated a mutually acceptable settlement to this removal grievance and the employee is back on the job.

A word of advise: If approached by agency management, supervision, IG, DCIS, etc. concerning matters that you feel may possibly lead to disciplinary action being taken against you, be aware that it is incumbent upon you the employee to request that a union representative be present before any questions are answered. Agency officials are under no obligation to inform you that they are conducting an investigation, that you may be subjected to disciplinary action or that you are entitled to have a union representative present prior to being questioned. It is up to you to request union representation.

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