Presidential Documents

11221

Federal Register

Vol. 66, No. 36

Thursday, February 22, 2001

Title 3—

The President

Executive Order 13201 of February 17, 2001

Notification of Employee Rights Concerning Payment of

Union Dues or Fees

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the

laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Property and

Administrative Services Act, 40 U.S.C. 471 et seq., and in order to ensure

the economical and efficient administration and completion of Government

contracts, it is hereby ordered that:

Section 1. (a) This order is designed to promote economy and efficiency

in Government procurement. When workers are better informed of their

rights, including their rights under the Federal labor laws, their productivity

is enhanced. The availability of such a workforce from which the United

States may draw facilitates the efficient and economical completion of its

procurement contracts.

(b) The Secretary of Labor (Secretary) shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of this order. The Secretary shall adopt such rules

and regulations and issue such orders as are deemed necessary and appropriate to achieve the purposes of this order.

Sec. 2. (a) Except in contracts exempted in accordance with section 3 of

this order, all Government contracting departments and agencies shall, to

the extent consistent with law, include the following provisions in every

Government contract, other than collective bargaining agreements as defined

in 5 U.S.C. 7103(a)(8) and purchases under the ‘‘Simplified Acquisition

Threshold’’ as defined in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act

(41 U.S.C. 403).

‘‘1. During the term of this contract, the contractor agrees to post a notice,

of such size and in such form as the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe,

in conspicuous places in and about its plants and offices, including all

places where notices to employees are customarily posted. The notice shall

include the following information (except that the last sentence shall not

be included in notices posted in the plants or offices of carriers subject

to the Railway Labor Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. 151-188)):

‘‘NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES

Under Federal law, employees cannot be required to join a union or maintain

membership in a union in order to retain their jobs. Under certain conditions,

the law permits a union and an employer to enter into a union-security

agreement requiring employees to pay uniform periodic dues and initiation

fees. However, employees who are not union members can object to the

use of their payments for certain purposes and can only be required to

pay their share of union costs relating to collective bargaining, contract

administration, and grievance adjustment.

‘‘If you do not want to pay that portion of dues or fees used to support

activities not related to collective bargaining, contract administration, or

grievance adjustment, you are entitled to an appropriate reduction in your

payment. If you believe that you have been required to pay dues or fees

used in part to support activities not related to collective bargaining, contract

administration, or grievance adjustment, you may be entitled to a refund

and to an appropriate reduction in future payments.

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‘‘For further information concerning your rights, you may wish to contact

the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) either at one of its Regional

offices or at the following address:

National Labor Relations Board

Division of Information

1099 14th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20570

‘‘To locate the nearest NLRB office, see NLRB’s website at www.nlrb.gov.’’

‘‘2. The contractor will comply with all provisions of Executive Order 13201

of February 17, 2001, and related rules, regulations, and orders of the Secretary of Labor.

‘‘3. In the event that the contractor does not comply with any of the requirements set forth in paragraphs (1) or (2) above, this contract may be cancelled,

terminated, or suspended in whole or in part, and the contractor may be

declared ineligible for further Government contracts in accordance with

procedures authorized in or adopted pursuant to Executive Order 13201

of February 17, 2001. Such other sanctions or remedies may be imposed

as are provided in Executive Order 13201 of February 17, 2001, or by

rule, regulation, or order of the Secretary of Labor, or as are otherwise

provided by law.

‘‘4. The contractor will include the provisions of paragraphs (1) through

(3) herein in every subcontract or purchase order entered into in connection

with this contract unless exempted by rules, regulations, or orders of the

Secretary of Labor issued pursuant to section 3 of Executive Order 13201

of February 17, 2001, so that such provisions will be binding upon each

subcontractor or vendor. The contractor will take such action with respect

to any such subcontract or purchase order as may be directed by the Secretary

of Labor as a means of enforcing such provisions, including the imposition

of sanctions for non compliance: Provided, however, that if the contractor

becomes involved in litigation with a subcontractor or vendor, or is threatened with such involvement, as a result of such direction, the contractor

may request the United States to enter into such litigation to protect the

interests of the United States.’’

(b) Whenever, through Acts of Congress or through clarification of existing

law by the courts or otherwise, it appears that contractual provisions other

than, or in addition to, those set out in subsection (a) of this section are

needed to inform employees fully and accurately of their rights with respect

to union dues, union-security agreements, or the like, the Secretary shall

promptly issue such rules, regulations, or orders as are needed to cause

the substitution or addition of appropriate contractual provisions in Government contracts thereafter entered into.

Sec. 3. (a) The Secretary may, if the Secretary finds that special circumstances

require an exemption in order to serve the national interest, exempt a

contracting department or agency from the requirements of any or all of

the provisions of section 2 of this order with respect to a particular contract,

subcontract, or purchase order.

(b) The Secretary may, by rule, regulation, or order, exempt from the

provisions of section 2 of this order certain classes of contracts to the

extent that they involve (i) work outside the United States and do not

involve the recruitment or employment of workers within the United States;

(ii) work in jurisdictions where State law forbids enforcement of unionsecurity agreements; (iii) work at sites where the notice to employees described in section 2(a) of this order would be unnecessary because the

employees are not represented by a union; (iv) numbers of workers below

appropriate thresholds set by the Secretary; or (v) subcontracts below an

appropriate tier set by the Secretary.

(c) The Secretary may provide, by rule, regulation, or order, for the exemption of facilities of a contractor, subcontractor, or vendor that are in all

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 36 / Thursday, February 22, 2001 / Presidential Documents 11223

respects separate and distinct from activities related to the performance

of the contract: Provided, that such exemption will not interfere with or

impede the effectuation of the purposes of this order: And provided further,

that in the absence of such an exemption all facilities shall be covered

by the provisions of this order.

Sec. 4. (a) The Secretary may investigate any Government contractor, subcontractor, or vendor to determine whether the contractual provisions required

by section 2 of this order have been violated. Such investigations shall

be conducted in accordance with procedures established by the Secretary.

(b) The Secretary shall receive and investigate complaints by employees

of a Government contractor, subcontractor, or vendor where such complaints

allege a failure to perform or a violation of the contractual provisions required

by section 2 of this order.

Sec. 5. (a) The Secretary, or any agency or officer in the executive branch

of the Government designated by rule, regulation, or order of the Secretary,

may hold such hearings, public or private, regarding compliance with this

order as the Secretary may deem advisable.

(b) The Secretary may hold hearings, or cause hearings to be held, in

accordance with subsection (a) of this section prior to imposing, ordering,

or recommending the imposition of sanctions under this order. Neither

an order for debarment of any contractor from further Government contracts

under section 6(b) of this order nor the inclusion of a contractor on a

published list of noncomplying contractors under section 6(c) of this order

shall be carried out without affording the contractor an opportunity for

a hearing.

Sec. 6. In accordance with such rules, regulations, or orders as the Secretary

may issue or adopt, the Secretary may:

(a) after consulting with the contracting department or agency, direct

that department or agency to cancel, terminate, suspend, or cause to be

cancelled, terminated, or suspended, any contract, or any portion or portions

thereof, for failure of the contractor to comply with the contractual provisions

required by section 2 of this order; contracts may be cancelled, terminated,

or suspended absolutely, or continuance of contracts may be conditioned

upon future compliance: Provided, that before issuing a directive under

this subsection, the Secretary shall provide the head of the contracting

department or agency an opportunity to offer written objections to the

issuance of such a directive, which objections shall include a complete

statement of reasons for the objections, among which reasons shall be a

finding that completion of the contract is essential to the agency’s mission:

And provided further, that no directive shall be issued by the Secretary

under this subsection so long as the head of the contracting department

or agency continues personally to object to the issuance of such directive;

(b) after consulting with each affected contracting department or agency,

provide that one or more contracting departments or agencies shall refrain

from entering into further contracts, or extensions or other modifications

of existing contracts, with any noncomplying contractor, until such contractor

has satisfied the Secretary that such con tractor has complied with and

will carry out the provisions of this order: Provided, that before issuing

a directive under this subsection, the Secretary shall provide the head of

each contracting department or agency an opportunity to offer written objections to the issuance of such a directive, which objections shall include

a complete statement of reasons for the objections, among which reasons

shall be a finding that further contracts or extensions or other modifications

of existing contracts with the noncomplying contractor are essential to the

agency’s mission: And provided further, that no directive shall be issued

by the Secretary under this subsection so long as the head of a contracting

department or agency continues personally to object to the issuance of

such directive; and

(c) publish, or cause to be published, the names of contractors that have,

in the judgment of the Secretary, failed to comply with the provisions

of this order or of related rules, regulations, and orders of the Secretary.

11224 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 36 / Thursday, February 22, 2001 / Presidential Documents

Sec. 7. Whenever the Secretary invokes section 6(a) or 6(b) of this order,

the contracting department or agency shall report the results of the action

it has taken to the Secretary within such time as the Secretary shall specify.

Sec. 8. Each contracting department and agency shall cooperate with the

Secretary and provide such information and assistance as the Secretary

may require in the performance of the Secretary’s functions under this

order.

Sec. 9. The Secretary may delegate any function or duty of the Secretary

under this order to any officer in the Department of Labor or to any other

officer in the executive branch of the Government, with the consent of

the head of the department or agency in which that officer serves.

Sec. 10. The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) shall

take whatever action is required to implement in the Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) the provisions of this order and of any related rules,

regulations, or orders of the Secretary that were issued to implement this

Executive Order. The FAR Council shall amend the FAR to require each

solicitation of offers for a contract to include a provision that implements

section 2 of this order.

Sec. 11. As it relates to notification of employee rights concerning payment

of union dues or fees, Executive Order 12836 of February 1, 1993, which,

among other things, revoked Executive Order 12800 of April 13, 1992, is

revoked.

Sec. 12. The heads of executive departments and agencies shall revoke

expeditiously any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies implementing or enforcing Executive Order 12836 of February 1, 1993, as it

relates to notification of employee rights concerning payment of union dues

or fees, to the extent consistent with law.

Sec. 13. This order is intended only to improve the internal management

of the executive branch and is not intended to, nor does it, create any

right to administrative or judicial review, or any right, whether substantive

or procedural, enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies

or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

Sec. 14. The provisions of this order shall apply to contracts resulting

from solicitations issued on or after the effective date of this order.

Sec. 15. This order shall become effective 60 days after the date of this

order.

[FR Doc. 01–4621

THE WHITE HOUSE,

February 17, 2001.

W

Filed 02–21–01; 11:15 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P