Article 26 – Telework. The parties continued to review this article in the previous round of negotiations. An interim agreement was reached on sections on workers` liability and compensation issues, while one employee was teleworked to another site. Other topics discussed were information technology and security, with NWSEO`s proposal insisting that management would provide all the supplies an employee might need for its home telework sites. The union initially said it liked most of the telework agreement proposed by the company`s management, but in the meantime clarified and said it only meant that it liked the concept. The union did not present its own telework contract. The Union recalls that the main dispute in this article is in Section 1. In the last ten years or more, according to the Union, the Agency has already allocated 1.5% of its wage budget to bonuses to workers distributed by local supervisory authorities from their proportionate share of this allowance, based on their individual judgment on the benefit of a worker. The Union argues that this has resulted in bonuses totalling about $4 million per year for employees in collective agreement units. The Union does not wish to change this practice, but asks that it inform the Union of the effects of this reduction if management decides to reduce the amount it allocates to workers` bonuses. The Union argues that the Agency`s proposal to retain a single and exclusive discretion over the determination of the amount allocated to the financing of public contracts excludes any negotiation on the consequences of a possible reduction in public procurement funding or the percentage of the allocation. The EU argues that the Agency`s proposal would force the EU to give up its legal bargaining rights. Finally, the Union once again asserts that the Agency`s proposal to replace the two-stage evaluation system with a five-tier system is against the law.
During the discussions, NWSEO and NWS appeared to agree that local office teams (LOT) could propose that rotating workers be able to work with alternative worktops (AWS) where feasible and fair. Management and laboratory proposals differed on how to allocate schedules: NWSEO always wanted to allow the oldest staff to choose the first choice of schedule, and NWS management reaffirmed its position that, in fairness, any agreed system should allow people other than older employees to work in rotation. The NWSEO and the NWS are still discussing how to reconcile, if possible, these different proposals. Article 43 — Furlough (New, proposed by NWSEO) — Here is a new article proposed by NWSEO. During the last government truce, NWSEO stated that they had received a number of questions about this and that this article would be necessary to educate their members. However, as with previous articles, the language proposed by NWSEO was not used to solve the problems they were trying to solve. Management provided a counter in which it merely stated that it would comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations regarding Furloughs and provide all applicable information to employees in accordance with the law. Management again suggested that this may be an appropriate place to use the union site instead of the CBA.