OVERSEAS CONTRACT BARGAINING UPDATE #9
Contract Still Not Complete Following FSIP Decision, Additional Negotiations Needed Before Vote on Whether to Ratify
posted September 17, 2020
As FEA informed the Overseas members last week, the Federal Services Impasses Panel (FSIP) issued a decision regarding proposals on which DoDEA management and FEA had not reached agreement during negotiations. With that said, FSIP did not issue decisions regarding every set of proposals on which the parties had not reached agreement. In fact, FSIP determined that the parties had not bargained or completed bargaining over some proposals and refused to address these proposals in the decision.
Accordingly, FEA has requested that management return to the bargaining table and negotiate over any matters on which the parties must complete bargaining. FEA maintains that unless and until the parties complete bargaining, the parties do not have a complete tentative agreement. Furthermore, until such time as the parties have a complete agreement, FEA’s position is that the parties cannot move to the next step, such as submitting the tentative agreement to FEA members for ratification.
In light of the fact that proposals remain over which the parties must complete negotiations, FEA remains focused on engaging in bargaining over these issues. Only when the parties have reached a complete tentative agreement will FEA be in a position to review and provide a summary of the Articles in the agreement to the members, so as to allow members to review the tentative agreement and exercise their right to conduct a ratification vote on the agreement.
During District trainings with FRSs and other Association leaders, FEA staff and leadership have been discussing issues of importance to members, including the status of the Overseas contract negotiations. Members are advised to check with their FRS for additional background on the status of those negotiations.
At this time, management has not responded to FEA’s request to return to the table and engage in bargaining to complete the agreement. FEA will continue to provide members with updates on this matter as they become available. Thank you.