69016 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 15, 2000 / Notices

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND

CONCILIATION SERVICE

Federal Mediation and Conciliation

Service Labor-Management

Cooperation Program; Application

Solicitation

AGENCY: Federal Mediation and

Conciliation Service.

ACTION: Draft Fiscal Year 2001 Program

Guidelines/Application Solicitation for

Labor-Management Committees.

SUMMARY: The Federal Mediation and

Conciliation Service (FMCS) is

publishing the draft Fiscal Year 2001

Program Guidelines/Application

Solicitation for the Labor-Management

Cooperation program to inform the

public. The program is supported by

Federal funds authorized by the LaborManagement Cooperation Act of 1978,

subject to annual appropriations. This

Solicitation contains changes in the

length of time for the grant budget

period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter L. Regner, 202–606–8181.

A. Introduction

The following is the draft solicitation

for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 cycle of

the Labor-Management Cooperation

Program as it pertains to the support of

labor-management committees. These

guidelines represent the continuing

efforts of the Federal Mediation and

Conciliation Service to implement the

provisions of the Labor-Management

Cooperation Act of 1978 which was

initially implemented in FY81. The Act

authorizes FMCS to provide assistance

in the establishment and operation of

company/plant, area, public sector, and

industry-wide labor-management

committees which:

(A) Have been organized jointly by

employers and labor organizations

representing employees in that

company/plant, area, government

agency, or industry; and

(B) Are established for the purpose of

improving labor-management

relationships, job security, and

organizational effectiveness; enhancing

economic development; or involving

workers in decisions affecting their jobs,

including improving communication

with respect to subjects of mutual

interest and concern.

The Program Description and other

sections that follow, as well as a

separately published FMCS Financial

and Administrative Grants Manual,

make up the basic guidelines, criteria,

and program elements a potential

applicant for assistance under this

program must know in order to develop

an application for funding consideration

for either a company/plant, area-wide,

industry, or public sector labormanagement committee. Directions for

obtaining an application kit may be

found in Section H. A copy of the LaborManagement Cooperation Act of 1978,

included in the application kit, should

be reviewed in conjunction with this

solicitation.

B. Program Description

Objectives

The Labor-Management Cooperation

Act of 1978 identifies the following

seven general areas for which financial

assistance would be appropriate:

(1) To improve communication

between representatives of labor and

management;

(2) To provide workers and employers

with opportunities to study and explore

new and innovative joint approaches to

achieving organizational effectiveness;

(3) To assist workers and employers

in solving problems of mutual concern

not susceptible to resolution within the

collective bargaining process;

(4) To study and explore ways of

eliminating potential problems which

reduce the competitiveness and inhibit

the economic development of the

company/plant, area, or industry;

(5) To enhance the involvement of

workers in making decisions that affect

their working lives;

(6) To expand and improve working

relationships between workers and

managers; and

(7) To encourage free collective

bargaining by establishing continuing

mechanisms for communication

between employers and their employees

through Federal assistance in the

formation and operation of labormanagement committees.

The primary objective of this program

is to encourage and support the

establishment and operation of joint

labor-management committees to carry

out specific objectives that meet the

forementioned general criteria. The term

‘‘labor’’ refers to employees represented

by a labor organization and covered by

a formal collective bargaining

agreement. These committees may be

found at either the plant (company),

area, industry, or public sector levels. A

plant or company committee is

generally characterized as restricted to

one or more organizational or

productive units operated by a single

employer. An area committee is

generally composed of multiple

employers of diverse industries as well

as multiple labor unions operating

within and focusing upon a particular

city, county, contiguous multicounty, or

statewide jurisdiction. An industry

committee generally consists of a

collection of agencies or enterprises and

related labor union(s) producing a

common product or service in the

private sector on a local, state, regional,

or nationwide level. A public sector

committee consists either of government

employees and managers in one or more

units of a local or state government,

managers and employees of public

institutions of higher education, or of

employees and managers of public

elementary and secondary schools.

Those employees must be covered by a

formal collective bargaining agreement

or other enforceable labor-management

agreement. In deciding whether an

application is for an area or industry

committee, consideration should be

given to the above definitions as well as

to the focus of the committee.

In FY 2001, competition will be open

to company/plant, area, private

industry, and public sector committees.

Public Sector committees will be

divided into two sub-categories for

scoring purposes. One sub-category will

consist of committees representing

state/local units of government and

public institutions of higher education.

The second sub-category will consist of

public elementary and secondary

schools.

Special consideration will be given to

committee applications involving

innovative or unique efforts. All

application budget requests should

focus directly on supporting the

committee. Applicants should avoid

seeking funds for activities that are

clearly available under other Federal

programs (e.g., job training, mediation of

contract disputes, etc.).

Required Program Elements

1. Problem Statement—The

application should have numbered

pages and discuss in detail what

specific problem(s) face the company/

plant, area, government, or industry and

its workforce that will be addressed by

the committee. Applicants must

document the problem(s) using as much

relevant data as possible and discuss the

full range of impacts these problem(s)

could have or are having on the

company/plant, government, area, or

industry. An industrial or economic

profile of the area and workforce might

prove useful in explaining the

problem(s). This section basically

discusses why the effort is needed.

2. Results or Benefits Expected—By

using specific goals and objectives, the

application must discuss in detail what

the labor-management committee will

accomplish during the life of the grant.

Applications that promise to provide

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 15, 2000 / Notices 69017

objectives after a grant is awarded will

receive little or no credit in this area.

While a goal of ‘‘improving

communication between employers and

employees’’ may suffice as one over-all

goal of a project, the objectives must,

whenever possible, be expressed in

specific and measurable terms.

Applicants should focus on the

outcome, impacts or changes that the

committee’s efforts will have. Existing

committees should focus on expansion

efforts/results expected from FMCS

funding. The goals, objectives, and

projected impacts will become the

foundation for future monitoring and

evaluation efforts of the grantee, as well

as the FMCS grants program.

3. Approach—This section of the

application specifies how the goals and

objectives will be accomplished. At a

minimum, the following elements must

be included in all grant applications:

(a) A discussion of the strategy the

committee will employ to accomplish

its goals and objectives;

(b) A listing, by name and title, of all

existing or proposed members of the

labor-management committee. The

application should also offer a rationale

for the selection of the committee

members (e.g., members represent 70%

of the area or company/plant

workforce).

(c) A discussion of the number, type,

and role of all committee staff persons.

Include proposed position descriptions

for all staff that will have to be hired as

well as resumes for staff already on

board;

(d) In addressing the proposed

approach, applicants must also present

their justification as to why Federal

funds are needed to implement the

proposed approach;

(e) A statement of how often the

committee will meet (we require

meetings at least every other month) as

well as any plans to form subordinate

committees for particular purposes; and

(f) For applications from existing

committees, a discussion of past efforts

and accomplishments and how they

would integrate with the proposed

expanded effort.

4. Major Milestones—This section

must include an implementation plan

that indicates what major steps,

operating activities, and objectives will

be accomplished as well as a timetable

for when they will be finished. A

milestone chart must be included that

indicates what specific

accomplishments (process and impact)

will be completed by month over the

life of the grant using September 17,

2001, as the start date. The

accomplishment of these tasks and

objectives, as well as problems and

delays therein, will serve as the basis for

quarterly progress reports to FMCS.

5. Evaluation—Applicants must

provide for either an external evaluation

or an internal assessment of the project’s

success in meeting its goals and

objectives. An evaluation plan must be

developed which briefly discusses what

basic questions or issues the assessment

will examine and what baseline data the

committee staff already has or will

gather for the assessment. This section

should be written with the application’s

own goals and objectives clearly in

mind and the impacts or changes that

the effort is expected to cause.

6. Letters of Commitment—

Applications must include current

letters of commitment from all proposed

or existing committee participants and

chairpersons. These letters should

indicate that the participants support

the application and will attend

scheduled committee meetings. A

blanket letter signed by a committee

chairperson or other official on behalf of

all members is not acceptable. We

encourage the use of individual letters

submitted on company or union

letterhead represented by the

individual. The letters should match the

names provided under Section 3(b).

7. Other Requirements—Applicants

are also responsible for the following:

(a) The submission of data indicating

approximately how many employees

will be covered or represented through

the labor-management committee;

(b) From existing committees, a copy

of the existing staffing levels, a copy of

the by-laws, a breakout of annual

operating costs and identification of all

sources and levels of current financial

support;

(c) A detailed budget narrative based

on policies and procedures contained in

the FMCS Financial and Administrative

Grants Manual;

(d) An assurance that the labormanagement committee will not

interfere with any collective bargaining

agreements; and

(e) An assurance that committee

meetings will be held at least every

other month and that written minutes of

all committee meetings will be prepared

and made available to FMCS.

Selection Criteria

The following criteria will be used in

the scoring and selection of applications

for award:

(1) The extent to which the

application has clearly identified the

problems and justified the needs that

the proposed project will address.

(2) The degree to which appropriate

and measurable goals and objectives

have been developed to address the

problems/needs of the applicant.

(3) The feasibility of the approach

proposed to attain the goals and

objectives of the project and the

perceived likelihood of accomplishing

the intended project results. This

section will also address the degree of

innovativeness or uniqueness of the

proposed effort.

(4) The appropriateness of committee

membership and the degree of

commitment of these individuals to the

goals of the application as indicated in

the letters of support.

(5) The feasibility and thoroughness

of the implementation plan in

specifying major milestones and target

dates.

(6) The cost effectiveness and fiscal

soundness of the application’s budget

request, as well as the application’s

feasibility vis-a-vis its goals and

approach.

(7) The overall feasibility of the

proposed project in light of all of the

information presented for consideration;

and

(8) The value to the government of the

application in light of the overall

objectives of the Labor-Management

Cooperation Act of 1978. This includes

such factors as innovativeness, site

location, cost, and other qualities that

impact upon an applicant’s value in

encouraging the labor-management

committee concept.

C. Eligibility

Eligible grantees include state and

local units of government, labormanagement committees (or a labor

union, management association, or

company on behalf of a committee that

will be created through the grant), and

certain third-party private non-profit

entities on behalf of one or more

committees to be created through the

grant. Federal government agencies and

their employees are not eligible.

Third-party private, non-profit

entities that can document that a major

purpose or function of their

organization is the improvement of

labor relations are eligible to apply.

However, all funding must be directed

to the functioning of the labormanagement committee, and all

requirements under Part B must be

followed. Applications from third-party

entities must document particularly

strong support and participation from

all labor and management parties with

whom the applicant with be working.

Applications from third-parties which

do not directly support the operation of

a new or expanded committee will not

be deemed eligible, nor will

applications signed by entities such as

69018 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 15, 2000 / Notices

law firms or other third-parties failing to

meet the above criteria.

Applicants who received funding

under this program in the past for

committee operations are generally not

eligible to apply. The only exceptions

apply to grantees who seek funds on

behalf of an entirely difference

committee whose efforts are totally

outside of the scope of the original

grant.

D. Allocations

The FY 2001 appropriation for this

program is expected to be $1.5 million,

of which at least $1,000,000 will be

available competitively for new

applicants. Specific funding levels will

not be established for each type of

committee. The review process will be

conducted in such a manner that at least

two awards will be made in each

category (company/plant, industry,

public sector, and area), providing that

FMCS determines that at least two

outstanding applications exist in each

category. After these applications are

selected for award, the remaining

applications will be considered

according to merit without regard to

category.

In addition to the competitive process

identified in the preceding paragraph,

FMCS will set aside a sum not to exceed

thirty percent of its nonreserved

appropriation to be awarded on an noncompetitive basis. These funds will be

used only to support applications that

have been solicited by the Director of

the Service and are not subject to the

dollar range noted in Section E.

FMCS reserves the right to retain up

to five percent of the FY2001

appropriation to contract for program

support purposes (such as evaluation)

other than administration.

E. Dollar Range and Length of Grants

and Continuation Policy

Awards to expand existing or

establish new labor-management

committees will be for a period of 18

months. If successful progress is made

during this initial budget period and all

grant funds are not obligated within 18

months, these grants may be extended

for up to six months. No continuation

awards will be made.

The dollar range of awards is as

follows:

• Up to $65,000 over 18 months for

company/plant committees or single

department public sector applicants;

• Up to $125,000 per 18-month

period for area, industry, and multidepartment public sector committee

applicants.

Applicants are reminded that these

figures represent maximum Federal

funds only. If total costs to accomplish

the objectives of the application exceed

the maximum allowable Federal

funding level and its required grantee

match, applicants may supplement

these funds through voluntary

contributions from other sources.

Applicants are also strongly encouraged

to consult with their local or regional

FMCS field office to determine what

kinds of training may be available at no

cost before budgeting for such training

in their applications. A list of our field

leadership team and their phone

numbers is included in the application

kit.

F. Cash Match Requirements and Cost

Allowability

All applicants must provide at least

10 percent of the total allowable project

costs. Matching funds may come from

state or local government sources or

private sector contributions, but may

generally not include other Federal

funds. Funds generated by grantsupported efforts are considered

‘‘project income,’’ and may not be used

for matching purposes.

It will be the policy of this program

to reject all requests for indirect or

overhead costs as well as ‘‘in-kind’’

match contributions. In addition, grant

funds must not be used to supplant

private or local/state government funds

currently spent for committee purposes.

Funding requests from existing

committees should focus entirely on the

costs associated with the expansion

efforts. Also, under no circumstances

may business or labor officials

participating on a labor-management

committee be compensated out of grant

funds for time spent at committee

meetings or time spent in committee

training sessions. Applicants generally

will not be allowed to claim all or a

portion of existing full-time staff as an

expense or match contribution. For a

more complete discussion of cost

allowability, applicants are encouraged

to consult the FY2001 FMCS Financial

and Administrative Grants Manual

which will be included in the

application kit.

G. Application Submission and Review

Process

Applications must be signed by both

a labor and management representative

and be postmarked or electronically

transmitted no later than May 19, 2001.

No applications or supplementary

materials can be accepted after the

deadline. It is the responsibility of the

applicant to ensure that the application

is correctly postmarked by the U.S.

Postal Service or other carrier. An

original application containing

numbered pages, plus three copies,

should be addressed to the Federal

Mediation and Conciliation Service,

Labor-Management Grants Program,

2100 K Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

20427. FMC will not consider

videotaped submissions or video

attachments to submissions. Those

wishing to send their application by email should consult the FMCS web site

(www.fmcs.gov) to determine how and

if to proceed.

After the deadline has passed, all

eligible applications will be reviewed

and scored initially by one or more

Grant Review Boards. The Board(s) will

recommend selected applications for

rejection or further funding

consideration. The Director, Program

Services, will finalize the scoring and

selection process. The individual listed

as contact person in Item 6 on the

application form will generally be the

only person with whom FMCS will

communicate during the application

review process.

All FY2001 grant applicants will be

notified of results and all grants awards

will be made before September 15, 2001.

Applications submitted after the May 19

deadline date or that fail to adhere to

eligibility or other major requirements

will be administratively rejected by the

Director, Program Services.

H. Contact

Individuals wishing to apply for

funding under this program should

contact the Federal Mediation and

Conciliation Service as soon as possible

to obtain an application kit. Please

consult the FMCS web site

(www.fmcs.gov) to determine when/if

the application can be submitted

electronically.

These kits and additional information

or clarification can be obtained free of

charge by contacting the Federal

Mediation and Conciliation Service,

Labor-Management Grants Program,

2100 K Street, NW., Washington, DC

20427; or by calling 202–606–8181.

C. Richard Barnes,

Director, Federal Mediation and Conciliation

Service.

[FR Doc. 00–29026 Filed 11–14–00; 8:45 am]

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