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NTEU, Chief Counsel at Impasse Over Telework, Awards and Space
 After concluding the mediation phase of bargaining, NTEU and Chief Counsel failed to reach agreement over articles covering awards, telework and office space. The next step is for NTEU to seek assistance from the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP), which has the authority to resolve this bargaining impasse, including imposing binding contract terms. Here is the status of the three outstanding articles:
 
Awards (Article 14)
Counsel has rejected NTEU’s proposal to make performance awards mandatory for employees with an Outstanding or Exceeds rating mandatory. NTEU will continue aggressively advocating at the FSIP for mandatory performance awards for high-performing employees.
 
Telework (Article 48)
Throughout bargaining, NTEU and Counsel consistently proposed continuing Level 2 and Level 3 telework under the name “frequent telework” to allow up to eight days per pay period of telework. However, management abruptly withdrew from that position last week.  
 
Counsel’s new regressive proposal limits frequent telework to no more than 50 percent of an employee’s scheduled work hours each pay period. Management admitted its decision was based on memoranda from OMB and the Treasury Department on telework and not on actual data about teleworking employees.
 
NTEU argued that cutting telework would harm employee morale, recruitment and retention, and exacerbate existing space shortages. Management acknowledged these issues and plans to provide NTEU with a last best offer on this article by Wednesday.
 
According to management, a decision has not been made on whether to discontinue Level 3 telework under the Telework Bridge Pilot MOU when it is up for renewal in May. NTEU pointed out that if Level 3 telework is not renewed, it will cause severe space shortages in some posts of duty.  
 
NTEU will continue to fight against management’s regressive proposals on telework and press for expanding telework opportunities through impasse, if necessary.  
 
Article 55 (Space)
Consistent with its regressive proposals on telework, management upended the prior tentative agreement on space that entitled infrequent teleworkers (up to 4 days per pay period) to an assigned workspace for their exclusive use.  

Under management’s counterproposal, infrequent teleworkers may be required to give up or share their assigned workspace. Only non-teleworkers would be ensured a dedicated workspace.
 
NTEU maintains that space sharing is contingent upon expanded telework opportunities, including eight days per pay period telework. 
  
What You Can Do      
You can get involved by telling management how you feel about its ill-advised decision to slash current telework flexibilities. Telework backgrounds for your computer are available here.

NTEU Membership Means More
Members have exclusive access to NTEU and management's proposal, information on tentative agreements, and webinars here.