FLRA NEWSFLRA NEWSGeneral Counsel Joseph Swerdzewski announced that the FLRA Office of General Counsel (OGC) has reduced the number of "over-age" unfair labor practices (ULP) cases in the OGC inventory by 78%. "Over-age" cases are defined as cases that are more than 90 days old from the date of filing to the date of action on the charge. The OGC had 938 "over-age" cases pending on December 31, 1996. Six months later, that number dropped to 201 cases. The 736 "over-age" ULP charges were either settled, withdrawn, dismissed, or moved to the next stage through the issuance of a ULP complaint.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment by the staff of the Office of General Counsel. We set a goal for ourselves to dramatically reduce the number of 'over-age' cases while still processing our new cases in a timely fashion," said General Counsel Swerdzewski. "Our next goal is to reduce the average age of the cases that we have pending in all stages of the process and continue to provide timely customer service."
The focus on improving timely resolution of ULP charges is one facet of the OGC's continuing effort to improve its customer service. The General Counsel has issued a series of memoranda to provide clear guidelines on policy and procedures to the OGC Regional Directors and released those policies to assist OGC customers as well.
The FLRA is responsible for administering the labor-management relations program for 1.9 million non-postal Federal employees world-wide, approximately 1.1 million of whom are exclusively represented in 2,200 bargaining units. The Office of the General Counsel investigates, settles and prosecutes unfair labor practice charges. The Authority is the three-member adjudicatory component, which among other things, decides unfair labor practice cases.