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Washington, D.C.-The nation's largest independent union of federal employees and a key agency of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have signed an initial three?year national collective bargaining agreement.
President Robert M. Tobias of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the effect of the agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is both to extend to agency headquarters employees contract language and protections enjoyed by their counterparts in the field and to broaden those rights for nearly 1,000 employees nationwide.
"This is a major step forward for a large group of HHS employees," Tobias said, "and we're confident that the contract language not only protects and advances employee rights, but sets the stage for further gains over time." The contract signing was the final step in a negotiating process that covered more than a year, he added.
The HRSA pact is one of a series of such contracts NTEU has negotiated over the past year on behalf of employees in HHS's far?flung divisions nationwide. HRSA has a variety of responsibilities in the medical field, including administering programs that help recruit doctors and ensure medical services for (hose who are homeless and for people in rural areas.
Tobias signed the agreement with HRSA Administrator Dr. Claude Fox. Both applauded the work of negotiators, noting that while the pact clearly defines the rights of the parties, it also importantly reflects the high level of commitment by both labor and management to meeting the agency's vital missions.
The NTEU president said the agreement "provides the infrastructure" for how the parties will work together in the future. The key to a successful relationship, he said, "will be to build on that infrastructure to do the things we want to do in HRSA."
Among the issues addressed in the new national agreement, Tobias said, are those dealing with such important day?to?day matters as reassignments and details, an alternative work schedule, merit promotions, travel, overtime, leave and more. It also includes a negotiated grievance procedure; including the use of binding arbitration, for the resolution of problems that may occur over the life of the contract.