Chapter 4: The Civil Service

Right to work laws

"to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson 1. *prohibit* requirements that employees join or pay money to a union as a condition of employment 2. *remedies vary*: some provide for civil enforcement with damages and injunctive relief; some provide for criminal penalties in addition or instead

Grade creep

position classification problem - tendency for agencies to multiply the number of high administrative positions, shift professional specialists to administrative roles, or seek higher classifications for existing positions

Strike right

- govs do not often concede the right of their employees to strike agains the sovereign state. DOD, department of state - less vital government services, variations exist - some states do provide a limited right to strike

Allow the president to temporarily bar national emergency strike (taft-hartley act)

- national emergency strikes: strikes that might imperil the national health and safety

Position Classification in the civil service

- positions are defined according to occupation, degree of difficulty, and responsibility - general schedule (GS level) that governs most employees includes fifteen grades - each grade has ten steps (1-4: 52 weeks) (4-7: 104 weeks) (7-10: 156 weeks) - Math: how many years it take from GS1-GS15

Enumerating the rights of employers (taft-hartley act)

- some rights to be against union organizations - allow employers to deliver anti union messages in the workplace - petition against some provisions in collective bargaining

Buyouts

- staffing separation - government offers cash incentives to employees who agree to leave government employment

Reductions in Force (RIFs)

- staffing separation - governments reduce their personnel ceilings to accommodate tight budgets, practiced in early 2000 by state and local governments

Staffing

- fundamental element of civil service system - recruiting and retaining employees

Compensation

- fundamental element of civil service system - pay salary, fringe benefits, etc

Examples of States with limited right to strike

- Colorado, for example, permits strikes by all public sector employees - Pennsylvania has a more limited right to strike that permits non-uniformed employees to strike if they do not endanger public safety - Some states impose harsh penalties for strikers in the public sector - New York punishes strikers "two for one" under the Taylor Law, which penalizes strikers one day's pay for each strike day, which is in addition to the day's pay the employee loses while on strike

Collective bargaining

- High variations: GA prohibited; WI: allowed, but no strikes *bargaining content*: - assignment and scheduling of work; grievance and other procedures, safety, employee counseling, technological replacement, and the color of wall paint but not pay and fringes (decided by congress) - not allowed on mission, budget, organization, number of employees, internal security issues, contracting out decisions, management's right in selecting candidates

Harris vs Quinn (2014)

- Illinois court case dealing with open shop union security - court decided that Illinois's public relations act, which permitted the union security agreements, violated the first amendment - the first amendment prohibits the collection of an agency fee form Rehabilitation Program Pas who do not want to join or support the union

Union Facts in Jan 2013

- Public-sector workers had a union membership rate (35.9%), five times higher than private sector (6.6%) - workers in education, training, and library occupations and in protective service occupations had the highest unionization rates, at 35.4% and 34.8%, respectively - Black workers were more likely to be union members than other workers - Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership rate (23.2%), and North carolina again had the lowest rate (2.9%)

After 2000: diminishing union rights

- TSA: transportation security act: union-free - Department of Homeland security: "meaningful collective bargaining", implementing a new HR management system 1. reducing the number of situations where collective bargaining is required 2. streamlining adverse actions and appeals process, specifically: - expanding non negotiable management rights - bargaining on procedure was prohibited - limited bargaining on the impact of a management action - expedited collective bargaining with impasse resolution - One stop dispute resolution -Challenged by: National treasuring employees unions vs Michael Chertoff, secretary, department of homeland security

Union Security Clause (taft-hartley act)

- allow states to outlaw union security classes within their jurisdiction by passing right to work laws

Fringe benefit

- an extra benefit supplementing an employees salary, for example, a company car, subsidized meals, health insurance, etc

Staffing separations

- average length of service = seventeen years for full time, permanent, non postal employees - hard to remove mediocre employees - separation by attrition, reductions in force, and buyouts

General Schedule series

- can be divided into 5 "categories" of work: 1. professional (attorney, medical officer, biologist) 2. administrative (personnel management specialist, budget analysts, general supply specialist) 3. technical (forestry technician, accounting technician, pharmacy technician) 4. clerical (secretary, office automation clerk, data transcriber, mail clerk) 5. other (firefighter, various law enforcement occupations)

Prohibiting union unfair labor practices (Taft-Hartley act)

- coercing employee to exercise their rights - discriminate non union employees - unfair not to bargain in good faith with the employers - solicit fees for non perfumed service

Fundamental elements of the civil service system compensation

- comparable pay: adjusted annually by the president - Locality-pay adjustment - equal pay for jobs of comparable worth (a) *reality check* - professionals and managerials underpaid - technical and clerical occupations overpaid - sex segregated occupation - sex based wage differences

Teachers vs Hudson (1968)

- court case involving agency shop, where non union members still pay union dues - Union represented Chicago teachers tried to eliminate *free rider* problem by making non members pay dues (a) established a procedure for considering objections by nonmembers - nonmember could not object before deduction - after deduction any objection would go through a 3 step process - if at any point the objection is sustained, the remedy would be an immediate reduction in the amount of future deductions for *all nonmembers* and a rebate for the objector

Civil service system

- employment system used by democratic governments to minimize political tinkering with the administrative process 1. employees are: - attached to positions - hired by merit - protected from political interference and dismissal

Compensation in the Civil Service

- federal pay has tended to lag behind what employees would earn in similar private-sector jobs - government tends to provide generous fringe benefits - *civil service principle*: individuals should receive equal pay for jobs of comparable value

Position Classification

- fundamental element of civil service system - each position is identified in terms of the special knowledge the job requires, its level of difficulty, and the responsibilities that come with it

The early 1980s PATCO strike

- the professional association of air traffic controllers struck on August of 1981, despite a no strike clause - PATCO sought higher wages and benefits - President Regan fired the strikers and used military controllers to keep traffic moving - The Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO, but the new controllers voted in a new union in 1987 - The PATCO strike was a watershed event for labor - the strike hurt the image of labor for nearly two decades and legitimized hard-line bargaining by employers - during the Clinton Administration, the strikers were offered their jobs back and a few returned

Maintenance of membership arrangement

- type of union security - a provision in the union contract which says that a worker who voluntarily joins the union must remain a member for the duration of the agreement

Closed shop

- type of union security - company can only hire union managers

Agency Shop

- type of union security - employees who do not belong to the union still pay union dues: share the cost - How?: *Teachers vs Hudson, 475 US 292 (1968)

Open Shop

- type of union security - it is up to the workers whether or not they join the union. Those who do not do not pay dues - Harris vs Quinn (2014)

Union Shop

- type of union security - the company can hire nonunion people, but they must join it after a prescribed period of time and pay dues

Unions (public employees rights)

- unions fight for the right to represent a firms workers and to be the exclusive bargaining agent - 5 types of security: 1. closed shop 2. union shop 3. agency shop 4. open shop 5. maintenance of membership arrangement - 45.6% public employees in unions at local level, 31% at federal level

Staffing Preferences

- veterans receive a five-point bonus in the feral system; if they are disabled they get a ten-point bonus - preference over equally qualified white males is given to minorities, women, and disabled applicants - those already holding career positions can advance through promotion or transfer without competing against external candidates

Position classification problems

- written descriptions rarely match actual jobs - system creates strong incentives for grade creep - federal workforce has changed; makes it difficult to keep system up to date

Staffing the Civil Service

1. hiring by merit - assembled examination: Griggs vs Duke power: disparate impact theory - unassembled examination: more common for higher positions (GS-9 and up) - applicants who pass exam are placed on register of individuals for hire - *"Rule of three"*: the first 3 names on a ranked register list eligible for hire - Reform: eligible vs ineligible groups

What unions do?

1. votes 2. lobbying skills 3. collective bargaining 4. strike right

How do you classify a position?

9 Factors: 1. the knowledge 2. supervisory control 3. guidelines 4. complexity 5. the scope and effect of the work 6. the personal contacts 7. the purposes or reasons for personal contacts 8. physical demands of the jobs 9. the nature of the work environment, job hazards, and the safety precautions required to perform the work safely

Taft-Hartley Act 1947

The act had 4 goals: 1. prohibiting union unfair labor practices 2. union security clauses 3. enumerating the rights of employees 4. allow the president to temporarily bar national emergency strike