A federal court has decided in favor of the federal agency with jurisdiction over private sector labor law – the National Labor Relations Board — in a dispute with the federal agency with jurisdiction over public sector labor law — the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
The appeals court for the District of Columbia Circuit has said the FLRA erred in deciding that the NLRB unlawfully refused to negotiate with the NLRB’s union.
According to the court, the NLRB had refused to bargain with its union because the bargaining unit contained general counsel employees.
It argued that the combination of employees conflicted with the separation of authority mandated in the National Labor Relations Act, by requiring the general counsel to bargain jointly with the NLRB over workplace issues.
However, the FLRA claimed the refusal was an unfair labor practice, and it filed a cross-petition for enforcement of its order, which the court denied in granting the NLRB’s petition for review.
As the court explained, the disagreement “arises from the interaction between the laws they respectively administer.” But it said the key point is that federal agencies must bargain with the representative of their employees in an “appropriate unit” for that purpose and that inclusion of general counsel employees is not appropriate.
It added that the Act makes the general counsel independent of the NLRB.
