**NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES**

**VA COUNCIL OF COLNSOLIDFATED LOCALS**

**NATIONAL GRIEVANCE**

The National Federation of Federal Employees, VA Council of Consolidated
Locals, FLRA Case 3-UC-11, October 1981 hereby grieves contract
violation regarding voluntary allotment of union dues.**^1^**

This Grievance is filed in accordance with our Negotiated Grievance
Procedure, Article 6 § 12, this 21^st^ day of November, 2008. See
attachment B.

The pertinent Article and Sections follow.

***Article 3, § 1***

***Section 1 -** Employees in the unit shall be protected in the
exercise of their right, freely and without fear of penalty or reprisal,
to form, join, and assist the Union, or to refrain from such activity.
This agreement does not prevent any employee, regardless of employee
organization membership, from bringing matters of personal concern to
the attention of appropriate officials in accordance with applicable
laws, regulations or agency policies. Nothing in this agreement shall
abrogate any employee\'s right or require an employee to become or to
remain a member of a labor organization except pursuant to a voluntary,
written authorization by a member for the payment of dues through
payroll deductions. The initiation of a grievance or statutory appeal
procedure by an employee will not cause any reflection on his/her
standing with his/her supervisor or on his/her loyalty or desirability
to the organization.*

***Article 5 § 2***

***Section 2 -** The individual employee of the Department of Veterans
Affairs who is a member of the NFFE and included within an exclusive
unit shall obtain his/her SF-1187, \"Request and Authorization for
Voluntary Allotment of Compensation for Payment of Employee Organization
Dues,\" from NFFE and shall file it with the designated NFFE
representative, who will forward it to the human resources management
(HRM) office for certification of eligibility for dues withholding and
for transmittal to the appropriate payroll office. The allotment shall
become effective on the first full pay period following receipt by HRM.
The employee shall be instructed by NFFE to complete Part A and B. No
other number must appear in the block provided as \"Identification
Number\" except the employee\'s social security number.*

**HISTORY**

The National Federation of Federal Employees, VA Council of Consolidated
Locals represents Professional Employees of the US Department of
Veterans Affairs. In 1997, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the VA
Council leadership negotiated a Collective Bargaining Agreement,
hereinafter referred to as the 1997 LMA. Article 5 of Part A and B
represents an agreement between the parties regarding Voluntary
Allotment of Union Dues.

In June of 2008 the US Department of Veterans Affairs notified the NFFE
VA Council regarding a change in the payroll system. At this time, the
Department of Veterans Affairs was in the process of transferring
employee payroll and dues withholding from a system otherwise known as
PAID to a system known as DFAS. On June 11, 2008 the Agency notified
NFFE National President Rick Brown of the pending change. Regrettably,
NFFE Federal District 1 took no action regarding the notification of the
system changes; however the NFFE VA Council upon learning of the
proposed changes, immediately issued a Demand to Bargain appropriate
arrangements on June 20, 2008 to the Department of Veterans Affairs
prior to implementation over the change. The Department of Veterans
Affairs informed the NFFE VA Council that with or without NFFE's
approval, it was going to transfer all payroll functions to DFAS. It
agreed to work to resolve any issues arising as they pertain to dues
withholding for NFFE VA Council Bargaining Unit Members, Nationally. The
Agency efforts are ineffectual; not trying to resolve the issue and in
violation of their contractual agreement and verbal promises.

Immediately after the changeover, Local Lodges within the VA Council
began noticing that members were being dropped from the roles and that
rebates to the union were in error. Given the VA Council structure,
there was a delay in seeing the harm caused by unilateral changes in
payroll functions and it took time to recognize that the NFFE Federal
District 1 was not receiving appropriate dues and consequently, It has
not been reimbursing local lodges correctly nor the NFFE VA Council.
This lag is directly due to the Department of Veterans Affairs inability
to properly forward Galley Sheets and membership receipts to the Federal
District and subsequently the VA Council. The VA Council has notified
Lodges within VHA and VBA and yet no corrective measures have been
taken.

As a result of VA's inability to insure proper dues withholding and
processing, the VA Council and member lodges have lost membership and
revenue. The union hereby asserts that the Department of Veterans
Affairs failed to adequately explain itself and has failed to take
reasonable steps to safeguard dues withholding and is in violation of
Article 5 of our Labor Management Agreement. Specifically, Article 5 § 3
states that deductions will be made each pay period. Furthermore, the
Agency has agreed to make active the allotment for dues withholding
effective the first pay period after the Human Resources Office receives
the SF 1187 from the Local Union President.

**DATA REQUEST**

The National Federation of Federal Employees, NFFE-IAM VA Council of
Consolidated Locals, in accordance with Chapter 71, 5 USC § 7114 (b) (4)
(a-c) and the Freedom of Information Act, as amended has a
particularized Need to the following data:

1.  Copies of all SF-1187 forms filed by each of our twenty-two (22)
    Union Locals in the possession of the Agency.

2.  Copies of Galley Sheets from April 1, 2008 through the date of this
    correspondence representing dues withholding at each of the VA
    Council's twenty-two (22) Local Lodges.

3.  Any and all correspondence to include letters, memoranda, emails,
    etc. from the VHA and VBA Offices to the NFFE Federal District 1 and
    the NFFE VA Council pertaining to the OPM BUS Code changes, DFAS
    change and any other change in payroll system which might explain
    the reasons for erroneous dues withholding.

Please provide the aforementioned data within ten (10) work days. Please
send all data to:

ROBERT REDDING, President

NFFE-IAM VA COUNCIL

ROOM B-55

2101 N. Elm Street

Fargo, ND 58102

**REMEDY SOUGHT**

The NFFE VA COUNCIL seeks an immediate audit of all local lodges where
it is the exclusive representative and requests that the Agency
immediately correct the situation by doing the following:

1.  Audit 1187 forms submitted (turned in) for accuracy of current dues
    withholding

2.  Retroactively correct any Deficiencies in dues withholding

3.  Accept responsibility for the any funds not withheld when they
    should have been withheld and pay the NFFE retroactively for its
    loss. This remedy request seeks to prevent the Agency from
    collecting back from employees, dues for which they failed to
    collect.

4.  Provide the NFFE VA Council a written report explaining in detail
    where arrearages are and demonstrating that the dues withholding are
    fixed.

5.  Meet with NFFE VA Council designee, at Agency expense to review all
    reports and membership lists to ensure accuracy.

6.  Develop a plan to conform with the 1997 Collective Bargaining Unit,

**REPRESENTATIVE OF RECORD**

Robert Redding, President

NFFE VA Council

Room B-54

2101 N. Elm Street

Fargo, ND 58102

\(701\) 239-3700, 93615

cc: Grundmann, Susan Esq.

Shapiro, Jeffrey, VAC Grievance Chair

ATTACHMENT A

1.  **^RELEVNT\ CONTRACT\ PROVISIONS^**

**[Article 3 § 1]{.underline}**

**Article 3**

**Employee Rights**

**Section 1 -** Employees in the unit shall be protected in the exercise
of their right, freely and without fear of penalty or reprisal, to form,
join, and assist the Union, or to refrain from such activity. This
agreement does not prevent any employee, regardless of employee
organization membership, from bringing matters of personal concern to
the attention of appropriate officials in accordance with applicable
laws, regulations or agency policies. [Nothing in this agreement shall
abrogate any employee\'s right or require an employee to become or to
remain a member of a labor organization except pursuant to a voluntary,
written authorization by a member for the payment of dues through
payroll deductions.]{.underline} The initiation of a grievance or
statutory appeal procedure by an employee will not cause any reflection
on his/her standing with his/her supervisor or on his/her loyalty or
desirability to the organization.

**Article 5**

**Voluntary Allotment of Union Dues**

**Section 1 -** Any employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs who
is a member of the NFFE and is included in the consolidated bargaining
unit covered by this agreement may make a voluntary allotment for the
payment of dues to the NFFE.

**Section 2 -** The individual employee of the Department of Veterans
Affairs who is a member of the NFFE and included within an exclusive
unit shall obtain his/her SF-1187, \"Request and Authorization for
Voluntary Allotment of Compensation for Payment of Employee Organization
Dues,\" from NFFE and shall file it with the designated NFFE
representative, who will forward it to the human resources management
(HRM) office for certification of eligibility for dues withholding and
for transmittal to the appropriate payroll office. [The allotment shall
become effective on the first full pay period following receipt by
HRM.]{.underline} The employee shall be instructed by NFFE to complete
Part A and B. No other number must appear in the block provided as
\"Identification Number\" except the employee\'s social security number.

**Section 3 -** Deductions will be made each pay period by the
Department of Veterans Affairs and remittance will be made by one check
each pay period to the National Office of NFFE. Remittances shall be
accompanied by a listing, in duplicate, one for the National Office and
one for the VA Council, for each pay period showing the names of the
member employees from whose pay dues were withheld and the amount
withheld. The listing will be segregated by individual field stations
with a sub-total for each facility. The listing shall include the
facility code number for identification purposes. It will be summarized
to show the number of members for whom dues were withheld and the total
amount withheld. Each list will also include the name of each employee
member who previously made an allotment for whom no deductions were made
whether due to leave without pay or other cause. If NFFE develops a
computerized system for dues withholding, the parties will meet to
determine if the VA can furnish dues deduction information in a
compatible format.

**Section 4 -** It is agreed that part A of SF-1187, including the
insertion of code numbers of the NFFE and the appropriate Local number,
will be executed by the financial officer of the Local to which the
employee member belongs or the National Secretary-Treasurer of NFFE. The
amount so certified shall be the amount of the regular dues to be
withheld from the employee\'s pay each pay period. Any initiation fees,
assessments, back dues, fines or similar charges and fees will be
collected by the Union directly from the employee. One standard amount
for all employees or different amounts of dues for different employees
nay be specified. The President or other authorized official of the
local union will notify the servicing payroll office in writing prior to
the time when the local\'s dues structure or amount changes. [The change
shall be effected at the beginning of the first full pay period after
notification is given to the servicing payroll office]{.underline}. Such
a change may not be effected more than two (2) times in any calendar
year.

**Section 5 -** The payroll office of VA will terminate an allotment:

A. As of the first full pay period following receipt of notice that
exclusive recognition has been withdrawn;

B. At the end of the pay period during which an employee member is
separated from the Department of Veterans Affairs;

C. At the end of the pay period during which the payroll office receives
notice from the NFFE or a Local of the NFFE that the employee member has
ceased to be a member in good standing;

D. At the end of the pay period that any employee leaves the unit of
exclusive recognition. In the event the Union disagrees that an employee
is no longer in the Unit and they file a unit clarification petition the
employee\'s dues will continue to be withheld pending a decision on the
petition.

E. Annually on the anniversary date of the employee\'s authorization
(date of SF 1187) or during the ten (10) calendar day period immediately
preceding the anniversary date by submitting a SF-1188. Dues revocation
may only be received during this 10-day period.

**Section 6 -** The financial officer of the NFFE Local to which the
employee belongs will notify the Department of Veterans Affairs payroll
office within five working days after the employee ceases to be a member
in good standing of the NFFE. Any written revocation of allotment
authorization received by the local to which the employee belongs will
be sent within three (3) days after it is received to the appropriate VA
payroll office. The VA payroll office will send the local financial
officer of NFFE a copy of each written revocation of an authorization
which it receives.

**Section 7 -** Employees on dues withholding, who are reassigned from
one VA facility to another, but remain in the consolidated unit of
recognition, will continue on dues withholding. Upon arrival at the new
facility, the dues withholding will be remitted to the new local at the
receiving facility at the rate being withheld at the prior facility
until the fiscal office at the new facility receives a notification of a
change of rate from the designated union official.

ATTACHMENT B

**Article 6**

**Grievance Procedure**

**Section 1 - Common Goals**

The Employer and the Union recognize the importance of settling
disagreements and disputes promptly, fairly, and in an orderly manner
that will maintain the self respect of the employee and be consistent
with the principles of good management. To accomplish this, every effort
will be made to settle grievances expeditiously and at the lowest level
of supervision. The Parties encourage development of Alternate Dispute
Resolution (ADR) as a cost effective and timely method of solving
grievances. The parties will negotiate ADR procedures locally.

**Section 2 - Scope**

Grievance means any complaint, by any employee, concerning any matter
relating to the employment of the employee; by the Union concerning any
matter relating to the employment of any employee; or by any employee,
the Union, or the Department concerning the effect or interpretation, or
a claim of breach, of a collective bargaining agreement including
supplemental agreements; or any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or
misapplication of any law, rule, or regulation affecting conditions of
employment.

This grievance procedure does not apply to:

a\) any claimed violation of 5 USC, Chapter 73, subchapter III, relating
to prohibited political activities;

b\) retirement, life insurance, or health insurance;

c\) a suspension or removal under 5 USC 7532;

d\) any examination, certification, or appointment;

e\) the classification of any position which does not result in the
reduction in grade or pay of an employee;

f\) proposed disciplinary/adverse actions;

g\) non-selection for promotion from a group of properly ranked and
certified candidates, except were discrimination is alleged;

h\) those actions under Title 38 which pertain to employees covered by
this agreement, such as special advancements for achievement or
performance, promotion and appointments.

Employees have the option or raising the following matters under a
statutory appeals procedures or the negotiated grievance procedure but
not both: adverse actions (5 USC 7512), actions based on unacceptable
performance (5 USC 4303), and discrimination (5 USC 2302 (b) (1)). An
employee shall be deemed to have exercised his/her option under this
section to raise the matter under either a statutory procedure or the
negotiated procedure at such time as the employee timely initiates an
action under the applicable statutory procedure or timely files a
grievance in writing in accordance with the negotiated procedure,
whichever event occurs first.

**Section 3 -** An employee who alleges a prohibited personnel practice
under 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1) (relating to equal opportunity violations) may
either:

\(a\) File a grievance pursuant to this Article within 45 calendar days
following;

\(1\) The date of the alleged discriminatory incident;

\(2\) The date upon which the aggrieved became aware of the alleged
discriminatory incident or situation; or,

\(b\) Initiate an action under the EEO complaint procedure by filing a
formal complaint of discrimination.

An employee shall be deemed to have exercised his or her option under
this section when the employee files a timely written formal appeal
under the EEO procedure or files a grievance in writing under the
negotiated grievance procedure.

\(c\) The parties encourage development of alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) programs as a cost effective and timely method of
resolving difficult issues. Grievances and / or complaints related to
equal employment opportunity are among the appropriate subjects for ADR.

**Section 4 -** The Union has the exclusive right to represent employees
in presenting grievances under the negotiated grievance procedure in
this agreement. A grievance may be undertaken by the NFFE Veterans
Administration Council, by a NFFE Local, by an employee or a group of
employees, or by management. Employees in such grievances may be
represented by a NFFE Local, the NFFE Council or a NFFE representative.
Any employee or group of employees may personally present a grievance
and have it adjusted without representation by the Union. The Union will
be given an opportunity by Management to be present at all discussions
with the employee concerning the grievance. A reasonable amount of time
during working hours will be allowed for employees and the union
representative to prepare, discuss and present grievances under this
procedure. Any such resolution must be consistent with the terms of this
agreement and supplemental agreements. In exercising their rights to
present a grievance, employees and their representative(s) will be free
from restraint, coercion, discrimination or reprisal.

**Section 5 -** Employees and/or their representative(s) are encouraged
to discuss issues of concern to them informally with their supervisors
at any time. Likewise, employees and/or their representative(s) may
request to talk with other appropriate officials about items of concern
without filing a formal grievance if they choose.

**Section 6 -** The following procedures are established for the
resolution of grievances by an employee or group of employees or a NFFE
Local:

A. Step One: The issue shall first be taken up by the grievant (and
representative or steward, if he/she elects to have one) with the
employee\'s immediate supervisor or the lowest level management official
with authority to render a decision. The Step One grievance will be
initiated in writing if not settled informally, with the
Service/Division Chief or equivalent within 30 calendar days of the
incident that gave rise to the grievance, unless the grievant could not
reasonably be expected to be aware of the incident by such time. In that
case, the grievance must be initiated within 30 calendar days of the
date that the grievant became aware of the incident. A grievance
concerning a continuing practice or condition may be initiated at any
time. In the case of disciplinary or adverse action, a grievance must be
initiated within 30 calendar days of receipt of the written decision
from the deciding official. Either party may request that a meeting be
held on the matter. If the grievant wishes a meeting, the request will
be included in the written grievance. If such a meeting is requested, it
will be held prior to the decision and not more than 10 days after the
request is received. A decision will be given to the grievant in writing
within ten (10) calendar days after presentation of the grievance or
after the meeting if one is requested. Every effort shall be made to
insure that the decision is clearly communicated and understood.
Included with such decision shall be a written statement indicating the
grievant\'s right to submit a grievance to Step Two.

B. Step Two: If the grievant is dissatisfied with the decision given in
Step One, the grievant (and/ or his/ her representative) may summit the
grievance in writing to the Director of the VA facility where the
grievance originated within ten (10) calendar days after receipt of the
decision on the Step One grievance. The Director will furnish the
employee with a written acknowledgment of receipt. The Director or
his/her designee (higher than the deciding official in Step 1, unless
there is no higher level official between him/her and the Director) will
meet with the aggrieved employee if requested within 10 days after the
request is received. A written decision will be given to the grievant
within 14 calendar days after management receives the second step.

C. The parties may mutually agree to refer a grievance to mediation
prior to going to arbitration. In such case, the request for mediation
must be made to the other party within 10 days of the final decision in
Step 2. A joint request to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service (FMCS) or other agreed to source will be made within 7 days of
this request if both parties agree to proceed. Mediation should be
scheduled as soon as possible, but not later than 15 days after the
request unless by mutual agreement. If the attempt at mediation is not
successful, the time frame for requesting arbitration will begin the day
following the final mediation hearing date. All parties will be on
official time during the mediation process.

**Section 7 -** The parties may mutually agree to extend any time limits
of this procedure. If the due date at any stage falls on a Saturday,
Sunday, or a Government holiday, the due date shall be the next business
day. Management agrees to respond to grievances within the agreed to
time period. However, if in any case Management is unable to do so, the
grievant will be notified of the reasons for any delay and an extension
of time will be requested. The grievant will have the option of
proceeding to the next step of the grievance procedure or granting an
extension of time. If the next step is arbitration and management does
not reasonably justify the delay, the remedy sought shall be immediately
granted if the employee has a written acknowledgment of receipt and the
remedy is legal and reasonable under the circumstances of the grievance.
If the grievant fails to pursue a grievance within the prescribed or
extended time limit, the grievance may be considered resolved in the
last step unless the grievant is able to reasonably justify his/her
failure to meet the time limits.

**Section 8 -** A grievance may be initiated at step two if the
substance of the grievance directly concerns a specific action,
directive, or decision made at a higher level than the initial step of
the grievance process. In cases where a grievance is initiated at Step
Two, the time limits of Step One will apply. If a grievance is against a
VA Headquarters official, the grievance may be filed initially at Step 1
with a higher level official designated to act on the grievance and at
step 2 with the applicable Under Secretary or Administration Head or
designee. Prior to filing a grievance with a Headquarters official the
filing party will contact the facility Human Resources Management
Officer (HRMO). Within three (3) work days the HRMO will identify, in
writing, to the filing party the appropriate VA Headquarters official to
whom the grievance should be submitted. The days waiting for a response
from the HRMO will not be counted in the 30 day grievance time frame.

**Section 9 -** For the Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) employees, the
appropriate Regional Director or his/her designee, will be the deciding
official. For National Cemetery System (NCS) employees, the immediate
supervisor will be the appropriate official at Step One; Step Two will
be the Cemetery Director or his/her designee. Where the Cemetery
Director is the only level of supervision, the time limits of Step One
will apply to grievances pursued to the Director, and his/her decision
may be pursued to arbitration in accordance with Article 7.

**Section 10 -** At any step of the negotiated grievance procedure, when
any management deciding official designates someone to act on his/her
behalf, that designee will have complete authority to render a decision
at that step and will render the decision. The designee will never be
someone who decided the issue at any previous step.

**Section 11 -** It is agreed that when a group has an identical
grievance, it will be considered in the same manner as an individual
complaint of one employee and the decision will be binding on all
identical cases.

**Section 12**

A. A grievance affecting more than one facility may be brought by the VA
Council within 30 calendar days of an incident (or awareness of an
incident) which gave rise to the grievance. A grievance concerning a
continuing practice or condition may be brought at any time.

B. The appropriate official for these grievances will be the designated
representative of VA Headquarters from the appropriate Administrations.

C. The VA Headquarters designee will render a written decision within 30
calendar days of receipt.

**Section 13 -** VA Headquarters may file a grievance with the President
of the NFFE Council. Facility Directors may file a grievance with a
local NFFE President. Grievances must be initiated in writing within 30
calendar days of an incident which gave rise to the grievance. A
grievance concerning a continuing practice or condition may be brought
at any time. The VA Council of Consolidated Locals of NFFE or NFFE Local
will have 30 calendar days from receipt of the grievance in which to
render a decision in writing.

**Section 14 -** In the event either party should declare a grievance
nongrievable or nonarbitrable, the original grievance shall be
considered amended to include this issue. The employer agrees to raise
any question of grievability or arbitrability of a grievance no later
than the time the Step two decision is given. If arbitration is invoked,
all disputes of grievability or arbitrability shall be referred to the
arbitrator as a threshold issue in the related grievance.