Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, AGENCY NEWS—OPM seeks agency information on costs of collective bargaining, (Mar 18, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Office of Personnel Management
By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.
Federal agencies have spent millions on CBAs that impose significant costs on American taxpayers while impeding efficient agency operations, the memo claims.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is requiring information from agencies regarding the costs of collective bargaining to taxpayers. The information requested includes the expenses of bargaining, monitoring, and administrating collective bargaining agreements, as well as information regarding current CBAs. The standardized submission form, which OPM attached to the memo, must be submitted electronically.
Collective bargaining expenses. By April 18, 2025, agencies must submit details from fiscal year (FY) 2024 regarding compensation paid to agency employees to negotiate CBAs, negotiate midterm agreements, process grievances pursuant to grievance-arbitration provisions in CBAs, and engage in mediation, arbitration, and impasse resolution in connection with collective bargaining disputes. Agencies must also submit information on arbitral fees paid to arbitrators hearing grievances pursuant to CBA grievance-arbitration provisions, expenses paid for retaining experts to assist in CBA negotiations, and expenses paid for factfinders, mediators, and arbitrators to settle collective bargaining disputes, as well as travel and lodging expenses for agency and union staff negotiating CBAs paid or reimbursed with tax dollars. The OPM further requested information regarding the costs of administrative support and supplies, costs of acquiring and using technology for bargaining, monitoring, and administrating CBAs, the fair market value of agency office space provided to labor unions, and penalties levied related to collective bargaining.
Current collective bargaining agreements. Agencies must submit the details of all CBAs currently in force at the agency, including the date the CBA was executed and its scheduled expiration date and the length of time spent negotiating each CBA, broken out by each stage of the negotiation. With respect to midterm negotiations that occurred in FY 2024, the agencies must provide information including the date the negotiations were commenced, the date the negotiations concluded, any applicable impasse proceedings, or whether the negotiations remain ongoing.
News: AgencyNews LaborNews Labor Bargaining UnionsMembers PublicEmployees