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Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today accused the National Park Service (NPS) of violating the law in refusing to sign the parties' negotiated labor contract in an apparent effort to deny its employees the benefits called for in that agreement.

NTEU President Kelley said that while “it is unfortunate that NPS has decided to resort to these tactics,” she made it clear that “no effort will be spared” by NTEU in its effort to put the new contract in place.

“The filing of this grievance is but the opening salvo in a sustained campaign to convince NPS that it must keep its word to employees, honor its commitments to NTEU and obey the law,” Kelley said, calling the behavior of NPS management both “astounding and disgraceful.” NTEU has filed a grievance with the agency over its actions.

Earlier this year, the parties reached agreement on most terms of a new contract. Then, on June 23, NTEU and NPS signed an agreement calling for implementation of the negotiated contract and the submission to the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) of four outstanding contract issues. Both of those actions were in accordance with the ground rules set out at the beginning of the bargaining process.

However, Kelley said, “at some point subsequent to unanimous contract ratification by the NTEU bargaining unit at NPS,” the agency “decided to disregard the bargaining unit’s wishes and its obligations under federal law” by refusing to sign the negotiated agreement and forward it to the Interior Secretary.

Under federal labor law, a signed and ratified agreement is sent to the agency head—in this case the Secretary of the Interior—for a process known as ‘agency head review.’ At this stage, the agency head can only reject a provision in the contract if it is illegal. Such provisions are referred back to the parties to make the language conform to the law so the pact can take effect. “This is how contracts are handled in the federal sector,” President Kelley said.

Instead of conforming to labor law, the NPS has “tried to return to the bargaining table by presenting NTEU with a list of ‘concerns’ it now has with the agreement,” Kelley said. “But the time to deal with concerns is at the bargaining table. We have a negotiated contract and a signed agreement compelling NPS to move ahead with the contract. It is time for the agency to acknowledge and step up to its legal responsibilities.”