Catherwood LibraryILR School

A 2018 verdict by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which determined that there is a distinction between the terms "working conditions" and "conditions of employment", was overruled by a federal appeals court this week. The appeals court said that the FLRA's decision was arbitrary and failed to explain its departure from long-term precedent, as well as to explain what the actual distinction is. Under federal labor law, agencies must bargain with unions before making changes to conditions of employment. In the original case, an arbitrator had ruled that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection had failed to negotiate with their union, American Federation of Government Employees, over a 2014 policy change on how employees should inspect vehicles and immigration documents. The overturned decision is seen as a victory for federal unions; the AFGE president noted that the agency's ruling on the case would have limited bargaining rights and the negotiation of certain concerns.