Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Votes to Advance FLRA Nominees.

This week, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to move forward the nominations of Anne Wagner and Colleen Kiko to be Members of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).  NTEU sent the attached letter of support of Ms. Wagner’s nomination. 

The FLRA is comprised of three members, two from the President’s political party and one from the opposing party.  Currently the FLRA has two members, Chairman Susan Grundmann and Colleen Kiko, who served as the FLRA chairman during the last administration.  With only two members on the panel, many matters cannot advance when there is a tie vote. 

During the last administration, the majority of the FLRA aggressively sought to cripple collective bargaining and destroy the effectiveness of unions by issuing decisions, policy statements and regulations that changed longstanding interpretations of the federal sector labor statute.  As long as there is not a full panel at the FLRA, many of these anti-union interpretations and policies remain in place. 

Action on the nominations now turns to the full Senate.  NTEU is urging the Senate to move Ms. Wagner’s nomination quickly.  Click here for more information.  I will keep you posted on further developments.