Consolidation and restructuring

Within IFPTE, there are currently about a dozen local unions that represent USACE employees in bargaining units recognized by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Some of them have only one bargaining unit, while others have multiple and even span multiple agencies and therefore have one or more USACE chapters. In addition, there are multiple organizing committees sponsored by a few IFPTE locals that are in various stages of working toward an election to obtain FLRA recognition. The units of USACE workers range in size from a few dozen to over a thousand.

This page will set forth some background on union structural components, and offer proposals for revolutionizing our union to best serve us in what is appearing to be a new era of federal-sector labor relations law.

Anatomy of a Union, Part 1:

Recognition

Unions can be recognized by the government, for the purpose of bringing the unionized shop within the labor laws passed by Congress, to provide a common framework for resolving differences between workers and management. This recognition is granted in part by defining a bargaining unit.

To gain recognition, workers have to get at least 30% of their co-workers to show interest in having a union, and then win a majority of workers voting in a secret election.

A union can lose recognition for a bargaining unit when there's a reason to doubt that a majority of workers support having a union (such as if the union goes dormant) and an election is triggered; if the President uses a national-security provision of the law to exempt the agency from the law; or if Congress repeals the law.

Anatomy of a Union, Part 2:

Affiliation

Workers from individual workplaces typically are organized into local or independent unions. These unions are non-profit organizations with their own finances, bylaws, officers, and internal democracy.

Local unions are often affiliated with a larger parent union, often with shared interests among the workers. These national or international unions also often have intermediate bodies such as councils, areas, or regions which are generally formed on the basis of geographic or agency/industry similarities.

Unions may also form other coalitions such as the AFL-CIO which is generally a group of national unions, and there are also state federations and metropolitan-level central labor councils.

Constraints on the way the IFPTE locals with USACE bargaining units and organizing committees are currently organized include:

First, an inability to share leadership roles between local unions (and sometimes even between chapters within a local) which is because our locals are separate non-profit entities and have separate charters from the IFPTE.
Second, an inability to represent each other's workers (sometimes even inability to represent workers in other bargaining units represented by the same local or chapter) which is because units with FLRA recognition cannot currently bargain for "official time" to represent workers outside of their unit under current case law.
Third, not every IFPTE local with USACE members is currently structured to accomodate new units of workers; whether as bargaining units or organizing committees. There are democratic governance decisions to be made about how to scale our organizations for growth into new workplaces.
Finally, we cannot currently establish "full membership" in our respective local unions for organizing committees until they have secured FLRA recognition of a bargaining unit. This means that the democratic functioning of our union is contingent on the good-faith operation of the federal labor law; which is not currently a reliable assumption.

Adaptation #1:

Consolidation

A consolidated local would be able to consolidate some of the tasks and jobs at an overarching level, which would free new volunteers to focus on the needs in their bargaining unit, and not be worried about being saddled with the weight of the entire local union. The pool of volunteers willing to serve in the overarching roles would be broader, and therefore less likely to be affected by a "lull" in membership in any given unit.

Currently, locals that represent USACE workers generally have a "chapter" for each bargaining unit the local represents. This means that there are elected officers at the bargaining unit level, which preserves control at the level closest to the shop floor; but can result in needing more volunteers to fill these roles.

A current vision for a consolidated local would still have "chapters" that would be generally established on a bargaining unit level. However, each bargaining unit would elect a Vice-President, Vice-Secretary, and Vice-Treasurer, as well as "lead" volunteers in the three focus areas of representation, advocacy, and organizing.

These Lead Stewards, Lead Advocates, and Lead Organizers (with the Vice-Presidents, Vice-Treasurers, and Vice-Secretaries) would focus on issues in their own bargaining units primarily, including recruiting and training volunteers to help carry out their responsibilities.

The entire membership would elect a President; and the elected chapter officials would select from among themselves a person to lead each area (a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Chief Steward, a Chief Advocate, and a Chief Organizer), that could come from any bargaining unit, to oversee the local's responsibilities as a whole.

What would this process look like for EXISTING locals/chapters wanting to consolidate?

The process of changing the union that is certified by the FLRA to represent a bargaining unit is handled by making a petition to the FLRA, which they call a "Montrose" Petition. To succeed, the due process rights of the members of the existing units must be met:

A special meeting of the local union must be held, with the consolidation as the only topic of business.
A secret ballot must be conducted among all qualified members, per bargaining unit.
The ballot must explain the "choices inherent" in the proposed consolidation.

Once the vote is complete; the local(s) with bargaining unit(s) voting for consolidation would file petition(s) with the FLRA to change the exclusive representative and/or with the Local 777 Executive Board to form a new Chapter of Local 777.

What would change, and when?

Immediately after a successful vote:

Plans would be firmed up on leadership and financial transitions. This would take the form of the leadership of the members of the joining unit requesting the existing Local 777 Executive Board to form a new Chapter of Local 777.

Upon FLRA Certification of Local 777 as the Exclusive Representative in a Bargaining Unit (or, upon an FLRA finding that the bargaining unit cannot be recognized due to an executive order):

Members would become full voting members of Local 777.
Officers would assume their Local 777 titles and responsibilities.
Financial and Reporting obligations of the previous local(s) would be closed out if there are no remaining bargaining units served by that local.

At an agreed-upon point in time after FLRA Certification, members from the consolidated unit(s) would pay Local 777 dues rates (currently 0.5%, but the Local 777 Bylaws could be amended. Time to discuss/amend the bylaws would be allowed before this would take effect.)

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