Executive Order 11616—Amending Executive Order No. 11491, Relating to Labor-Management Relations in the Federal Service

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including sections 3301 and 7301 of title 5 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, Executive Order No. 11491 of October 29, 1969, relating to labor-management relations in the Federal service, is amended as follows:

1. Section 2 (b) is amended by deleting the words "formal or".

2. Paragraph (2) of section 2(e) is amended to read as follows:

"(2) assists or participates in a strike against the Government of the United States or any agency thereof, or imposes a duty or obligation to conduct, assist, or participate in such a strike;"

3. Section 4(a) is amended to read as follows:

"(a) There is hereby established the Federal Labor Relations Council, which consists of the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, who shall be chairman of the Council, the Secretary of Labor, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and such other officials of the executive branch as the President may designate from time to time. The Civil Service Commission shall provide administrative support and services to the Council to the extent authorized by law."

4. Section 6(a) is amended—

(a) by deleting the word "and" at the end of paragraph (3).

(b) by substituting for paragraph (4) the following:

"(4) decide unfair labor practice complaints and alleged violations of the standards of conduct for labor organizations; and"

(c) by adding at the end thereof the following:

"(5) decide questions as to whether a grievance is subject to a negotiated grievance procedure or subject to arbitration under an agreement."

5. Section 7(d) is amended to read as follows:

"(d) Recognition of a labor organization does not—

"(1) preclude an employee, regardless of whether he is in a unit of exclusive recognition, from exercising grievance or appellate rights established by law or regulations; or from choosing his own representative in a grievance or appellate action, except when presenting a grievance under a negotiated procedure as provided in section 13;

"(2) preclude or restrict consultations and dealings between an agency and a veterans organization with respect to matters of particular interest to employees with veterans preference; or

"(3) preclude an agency from consulting or dealing with a religious, social, fraternal, professional or other lawful association, not qualified as a labor organization, with respect to matters or policies which involve individual members of the association or are of particular applicability to it or its members.

"Consultations and dealings under subparagraph (3) of this paragraph shall be so limited that they do not assume the character of formal consultation on matters of general employee-management policy, except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, or extend to areas where recognition of the interests of one employee group may result in discrimination against or injury to the interests of other employees."

6. Section 7(f) is amended to read as follows: "(f) Informal recognition or formal recognition shall not be accorded."

7. Section 8 is revoked.

8. Section 13 is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 13. Grievance and arbitration procedures.

"(a) An agreement between an agency and a labor organization shall provide a procedure, applicable only to the unit, for the consideration of grievances over the interpretation or application of the agreement. A negotiated grievance procedure may not cover any other matters, including matters for which statutory appeals procedures exist, and shall be the exclusive procedure available to the parties and the employees in the unit for resolving such grievances. However, any employee or group of employees in the unit may present such grievances to the agency and have them adjusted, without the intervention of the exclusive representative, as long as the adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of the agreement and the exclusive representative has been given opportunity to be present at the adjustment.

"(b) A negotiated procedure may provide for the arbitration of grievances over the interpretation or application of the agreement, but not over any other matters. Arbitration may be invoked only by the agency or the exclusive representative. Either party may file exceptions to an arbitrator's award with the Council, under regulations prescribed by the Council.

"(c) Grievances initiated by an employee or group of employees in the unit on matters other than the interpretation or application of an existing agreement may he presented under any procedure available for the purpose.

"(d) Questions that cannot be resolved by the parties as to whether or not a grievance is on a matter subject to the grievance procedure in an existing agreement, or is subject to arbitration under that agreement, may he referred to the Assistant Secretary for decision.

"(e) No agreement may be established, extended, or renewed after the effective date of this Order which does not conform to this section. However, this section is not applicable to agreements entered into before the effective date of this Order."

9. Section 14 is revoked.

10. Section 19(d) is amended to read as follows:

"(d) Issues which can properly be raised under an appeals procedure may not be raised under this section. Issues which can be raised under a grievance procedure may, in the discretion of the aggrieved party, be raised under that procedure or the complaint procedure under this section, but not under both procedures. Appeals or grievance decisions shall not be construed as unfair labor practice decisions under this Order nor as precedent for such decisions. All complaints under this section that cannot be resolved by the parties shall be filed with the Assistant Secretary."

11. Section 20 is amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 20. Use of official time. Solicitation of membership or dues, and other internal business of a labor organization, shall be conducted during the non-duty hours of the employees concerned. Employees who represent a recognized labor organization shall not be on official time when negotiating an agreement with agency management, except to the extent that the negotiating parties agree to other arrangements which may provide that the agency will either authorize official time for up to 40 hours or authorize up to one-half the time spent in negotiations during regular working hours, for a reasonable number of employees, which number normally shall not exceed the number of management representatives."

12. Section 21 is amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 21. Allotment of dues. (a) When a labor organization holds exclusive recognition, and the agency and the organization agree in writing to this course of action, an agency may deduct the regular and periodic dues of the organization from the pay of members of the organization in the unit of recognition who make a voluntary allotment for that purpose. Such an allotment is subject to the regulations of the Civil Service Commission, which shall include provision for the employee to revoke his authorization at stated six-month intervals. Such an allotment terminates when—

"(1) the dues withholding agreement between the agency and the labor organization is terminated or ceases to be applicable to the employee; or

"(2) the employee has been suspended or expelled from the labor organization.

"(b) An agency may deduct the regular and periodic dues of an association of management officials or supervisors from the pay of members of the association who make a voluntary allotment for that purpose, when the agency and the association agree in writing to this course of action. Such an allotment is subject to the regulations of the Civil Service Commission."

13. Section 24 is amended by deleting "(a)" after the section heading; and by deleting subsections (b), (c), and (d).

14. Section 25(a) is amended to read as follows:

"(a) The Civil Service Commission, in conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget, shall establish and maintain a program for the policy guidance of agencies on labor-management relations in the Federal service and periodically review the implementation of these policies. The Civil Service Commission shall continuously review the operation of the Federal labor-management relations program to assist in assuring adherence to its provisions and merit system requirements; implement technical advice and information programs for the agencies; assist in the development of programs for training agency personnel and management officials in labor-management relations; and, from time to time, report to the Council on the state of the program with any recommendations for its improvement."

The amendments made by this Order shall become effective ninety days from this date. Each agency shall issue appropriate policies and regulations consistent with this Order for its implementation.

RICHARD NIXON

The White House

August 26, 1971