I. PURPOSE and GOAL
1. The Workplace Partnership established between the management of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (management) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Local 3908 (labor) shall serve as a primary vehicle for improving and maintaining open communication between GLERL labor and management ("the Partners"). This is done in order to further a common interest achieving the primary objective of the National Performance Review, which is to create a government that works better and costs less.
2. The goal of establishing a Workplace Partnership is to provide an atmosphere of teamwork, empowerment, and respect, in which GLERL labor and management can work together to identify problems and craft solutions to better serve GLERL's customers and mission. We expect that the realization of this goal will also be a means of improving job satisfaction, morale, and working conditions of GLERL employees, thus assuring the public of a highly skilled and highly motivated work force poised to produce the highest quality research and to provide better service to the Nation.
II. APPROACH
1. The Partners agree that to achieve these necessary changes, we must build mutual trust and respect for each other, each must respect the other's interests, integrity, and motivation as valid and genuine, each must remain open to sincere consideration of the other's perspectives and concerns, and ideas on how to deal with issues.
2. We agree that in order to achieve these goals, we must face issues, and any differences of opinion, directly and constructively, and we must share information, as allowed by law, that is required to make informed decisions. Both parties agree to advocate and foster pre-decisional involvement of GLERL's employees in decisions which affect the working conditions. This involvement does not obligate management to negotiate on any topic if that topic is not a permissive subject under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.
3. This involvement will be achieved through the formation of a Partnership Council.
III. PRINCIPLES OF PARTNERSHIP
1. This Partnership shall be based on the following principles:
a) As per Executive Order 12871, "... the Partners shall identify problems and craft solutions to better serve the agency's customers and mission".
b) The Partners agree to take a constructive approach to conflict resolution by using the "interest based" approach and the "good government standard" when attempting to reach solutions to identified problems.
c) The Partners agree to promote sharing of information as allowed by law and required to make informed decisions, and also agree to assure the confidentiality of such information when either party requests it.
2. Executive Order 12871: The fundamental principle behind Executive Order 12871 is to encourage labor and management to work together toward the common goal of creating a government that is both more efficient and productive, by improving employee job satisfaction and morale, and by reducing disputes leading to time-consuming and costly adversarial negotiations, lawsuits, and Unfair Labor Practice disputes. Executive Order 12871 requires Federal agencies to negotiate over "--the numbers, types and grades of employees or positions assigned to any organizational subdivision, work project or tour of duty, and the technology, methods, and means of performing work" - matters that, under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, are at the election of the agency. It is the intent of the Partners that this Partnership will follow the precepts of Executive Order 12871, as stated above, for the lifetime of the Executive Order, or until the Executive Order is changed, amended, or rescinded by legislation, regulations, case law, or other Executive Orders.
3. The Partners are committed to the investment of time, resources, trust, ideas, training, and accountability, and accept the responsibility to defend and promote Partnership principles.
IV. PARTNERSHIP FUNCTIONS
1. The Partners agree that the primary functions of the Partnership are to:
a) identify problems and craft solutions to better serve the agency's customers and mission;
b) promote the mission of NOAA and GLERL;
c) promote a work environment that will attract and retain a highly skilled and motivated workforce and eliminate performance problems;
d) develop processes to work together by sharing concerns and information to avoid, or informally resolve, workplace problems;
e) foster and encourage better and more open communication between employees and management;
f) review and address, as partners, issues that affect conditions of employment which arise from sources external to GLERL management;
g) promote training for managers and labor representatives on interest-based problem solving and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques; and
h) develop and use an ADR approach to try to resolve disputes consensually.
V. PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL
1. The Partnership Council ("the Council") will consist of the GLERL Management Council and the Executive Council of AFGE Local 3908, but will, under no circumstances, exceed a total of twelve members. The Council will be co-Chaired by one member each from labor and management, each to be selected by their own group.
2. The Partnership Council may, by joint agreement, create ad-hoc committees or working groups to assist in developing information on any topic brought to the Council for consideration.
3. The Partners agree that:
a) because of the nature of the Partnership relationship, routine substitution (i.e., stand-ins) of Council members for Council meetings is inappropriate;
b) Council members will change as the members of the Management Council and the Union Executive Council change due to personnel reassignments and Union elections.
c) Each partner has the right to remove one or more of their participating Council members without approval of the other partner, as long as at least two members of each partner remain on the Partnership Council, and the other partner is notified at the next Council meeting after such removal is effected.
VI. PARTNERSHIP OPERATING PROCEDURES
1. Any Council member may submit specific items to their respective Chair for inclusion in the next Council meeting agenda. Each Council co-Chair shall determine, independent of the other, if an item submitted to him/her is appropriate for the Council to address. Approved agenda topics will then be merged and prioritized jointly by the co-Chairs.
2. All items on the agenda are open for discussion.
3. At each Council Meeting there shall be a period of time during which items not previously placed on the agenda may be brought up for either immediate discussion or for consideration to be placed on the agenda of a future meeting, to be determined by consensus of the Council.
4. Consistent with the findings of the National Performance Review, all Council recommendations and decisions will be reached by consensus and forwarded promptly for appropriate action (see Section VII-2).
5. When consensus cannot be reached on an issue before the Council, the Council shall then seek to utilize mediation by a mutually agreed-upon third party to resolve the conflict. If mediation is not successful, the Council may elect to move next to non-binding arbitration, again using a mutually agreed-upon third party. If no consensus can be reached following completion of the above two steps, the issue will be dropped from further consideration under the Partnership.
6. Management shall provide secretarial support for taking and preparing minutes for each Council meeting. A copy of the minutes shall be provided to each Council member within six days of the meeting and will be posted on the bulletin board after allowing at least three days for comment and corrections to the minutes by the Council co-chairs, unless they contain confidential information.
7. Council Meetings will be held at least quarterly, or more often as determined by mutual agreement of the Council co-chairs.
VII. RELATIONSHIP TO THE GLERL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT:
1. Except as noted in Paragraph III-2, actions of the Partnership Council cannot change, amend, alter, or replace the terms and requirements of the GLERL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3908, dated November 10, 1987, as amended.
2. Use of ADR Process: the Partners agree that before either party chooses to refer a disputed issue for action under the GLERL CBA, serious consideration shall first be to utilizing a mutually agreedupon ADR approach to try to resolve conflicts and reach a consensus.
VIII. PARTNERSHIP TRAINING
1. The Partners agree to identify appropriate training that is available to members of the Partnership Council, and other participants in the Partnership process as mutually agreed to by the Partners.
2. The Partners agree to seek out and identify training opportunities as a first order of business of the Partnership Council when the Council is first formed, and thereafter, whenever any member(s) of the Council changes.
3. Within the constraints of the laboratory budget and funds availability, matiagement agrees to pay the costs for the initial partnership training as appropriate (see below), including the costs of related travel, per diem, registration or other fees.
4. Within the constraints of the laboratory budget and funds availability, management agrees to pay the costs for training when new members are appointed to the Council, but not more often than once every two years.
5. Employees identified to receive partnership training shall be allowed to do so on official time and, as necessary, with official travel orders.
6. The Partners agree that such training should include:
a) Team Building and Communications Techniques b) Alternative Dispute Resolution Techniques c) Interest-Based Approaches to Negotiations and Problem-Solving d) Consensus Decision-MakingIX. ADMINISTRATIVE
1. Official time shall be authorized for designated employees to participate in scheduled Partnership activities.
2. The members of the Union Executive Council shall be authorized up to eight hours total of official time, distributed as necessary between the members, to prepare for each Council meeting.
3. Official time, as jointly agreed-upon by the Council, and with the concurrence of each employee's first-level supervisor, shall be authorized for employees to serve on any committee or working group established by the Council.
4. Official time authorized herein is separate from, and in addition to, any official time provided under the GLERL CBA.
5. Costs for using a third-party to help try to reach consensus on a Partnership Council dispute shall be paid equally by the Partners.
X. ASSESSMENT AND RENEWAL
1. The Partners agree that the effectiveness of this Partnership shall be periodically evaluated and subject to renewal. Therefore, the Partners agree to assess the overall effectiveness of the Partnership after it has been in operation for one year, and every two years thereafter, until the Partnership is terminated.
2. The assessment shall review the effectiveness and utility of the terms of the Partnership as contained herein, and shall identify changes in the terms herein that are deemed necessary and appropriate.
3. Any and all mod)fications to this Partnership must be mutually agreed upon by the Partners, and are subject both to final approval by the GLERL Director and rat)fication by AFGE Local 3908.
4. This Partnership may be dissolved by mutual agreement of the Partners, or by notification 30 days in advance by AFGE Local 3908 that they intend to discontinue participation in the Partnership.
Acceptance of this document and activation of the GLERL Workplace Partnership is hereby agreed
to on behalf of the management of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory by:Peter F. Landrum, Acting Director
Acceptance of this document and activation of the GLERL Workplace Partnership is hereby agreed to
on behalf of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3908 by:Cynthia E. Sellinger, President
Date: 8/8/96