 FLRA NEWS
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY · WASHINGTON, DC · 20424
September 30, 1996 · PR 116-96
Contact: Helenann Hirsch
202-482-6500
FLRA TARGETS NEGOTIABILITY CASES FOR ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
The FLRA today announced that, for the first time in its history, alternative dispute resolution is now integrated into the process for resolving negotiability appeals filed with the Authority.
The alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services, which include interest-based bargaining and other innovative ADR techniques, are being provided by the FLRA=s Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (CADR). Parties choosing to participate in the program will meet in sessions facilitated by CADR to identify issues, discuss interests, and find solutions. Cases covered by the program may be held in abeyance at the parties= request while they attempt to informally resolve the dispute.
"The FLRA is committed to reducing the costs of workplace conflict,@ said FLRA Chair Phyllis Segal. AThis new ADR initiative is just one of the many ways the FLRA is working to accomplish this. Our goal is to strengthen labor-management relationships by helping parties work together to find their own lasting solutions to their problems."
T.C. Colwell, CADR`s Director added: "We are excited about this new initiative. Negotiability cases are ripe for innovative dispute resolution techniques that encourage parties to talk and actively participate in resolving their dispute. We hope agencies and unions take advantage of this unique opportunity."
The FLRA is an independent agency responsible for administering the labor-management relations program for over 1.9 millions federal employees world wide. The Authority is the three-member quasi-judicial component of the FLRA. When unions and agencies disagree about whether the agency is required or permitted to negotiate over a particular bargaining proposal, unions may file an appeal with the Authority to resolve the "negotiability" dispute.
CADR, a program established earlier this year by all three of the FLRA`s components -- the Authority, the Office of the General Counsel and the Federal Service Impasses Panel -- provides overall coordination to support and expand FLRA labor-management cooperation and ADR efforts. It taps resources from all over the agency to target collaboration and ADR to every step of the labor-management dispute -- from investigation and prosecution to the adjudication of cases and resolution of bargaining impasses.
For more information about the use of ADR in pending negotiability cases, as well as other ADR initiatives at the FLRA, call CADR at: (202) 482-6503.
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