OPM Guidance Allows Agencies to Establish Labor-Management Forums

Last week, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance allowing agencies to establish labor-management forums, a welcome move after the previous administration abolished them through a 2017 executive order.

In the past, these valuable forums have helped resolve workplace problems in their early stages, created efficiencies in the delivery of government services, and given employees a meaningful voice in their workplace.

The guidance follows President Biden’s executive order signed earlier this year “to encourage union organizing and collective bargaining.”

NTEU is pleased that federal agencies are being encouraged to rebuild relationships with their employees and their unions, including through labor-management forums. We are now reaching out to agencies seeking to reinstate labor-management forums and grant pre-decisional involvement when it comes to workplace policies.