DEMS SEEK PROTECTIONS FOR FEDERAL UNIONS IN SPENDING NEGOTIATIONS: Democratic Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.) and dozens of Democrats are urging colleagues deliberating over 2020 spending bills to include a provision that would prevent agencies from implementing any labor agreement with federal unions that has not been agreed to by all parties or was not the result of arbitration, according to a letter obtained by Morning Shift. The language pushes back against President Trump's three executive orders, signed in May 2018, that made it easier for managers to fire under-performing federal employees, limited the amount of "official" work time in which unions could weigh grievances, and ordered the renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements.

Some agencies have refused to negotiate with federal unions, while others are not "meaningfully participating in negotiations" in order to send disagreements to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, which "disproportionately" rules in favor of management, Democrats write. They also point out that the Federal Labor Relations Authority is without any general counsel to prosecute unfair labor practice charges.

"This provision restores the collective bargaining process and requires agencies to return to the bargaining table to engage in good-faith negotiations," Democrats write in the letter, which was sent Wednesday. "Without this protection, unions will be locked into unreasonable and unfair contracts for the foreseeable future." The letter.