WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- The Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is fighting a federal labor union.
The bureau and the National Treasury Employees Union are embroiled in a dispute over a new work-away-from-the-office policy, with the union pushing for a much more expansive program than the agency allegedly is willing to offer, GovExec.com reported Wednesday.
The two sides have been negotiating for more than a year over a telework program to replace a still-existing pilot agreed to five years ago. The dispute is now before the Federal Service Impasses Panel, and NTEU claims that the bureau has forced the cancellation of at least one scheduled meeting with the panel, GovExec.com said.
According to NTEU, the bureau's final proposal for a new policy designates only the position of management and program analyst, held by nine people, as eligible for telework on a part-time basis. There are more than 800 employees represented in the negotiations.
The union's proposal designates that position, as well as 14 others, as eligible. Investigators and auditors, who spend a large percentage of their time in the field, would be designated as eligible for full-time telework under the union plan, and could work from home at their own discretion.
"ATF's proposal is a disgrace," NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley told GovExec.com. "NTEU will continue to fight ATF's brazen attempt to place its employees in an inferior position when compared to other public and private sector employees who telework."
Kelley said many bureau employees are commuting more than three hours daily. Without greater flexibility to telework, she added, certain employees scheduled to move this year from Washington, D.C., and Atlanta to West Virginia will have to decide whether to relocate or resign.
