Unfair Labor Practice

What is An Unfair Labor Practice (ULP)?

The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) protects federal employees’ rights to organize, bargain collectively, and participate in labor organizations of their choosing – and to refrain from doing so.  A ULP is conduct by agencies or unions that violates rights that the Statute protects or the rules that it establishes.

Employee Rights

Employees covered by the Statute have the right to form, join, or assist a union, or to refrain from such activity, without reprisal, including the right to:

• Organize, or attempt to organize, a union in the workplace

• Act as a union representative

• Seek union assistance

• File or pursue a grievance

• Refuse to form, join, or assist a union

• Be fairly represented by their union

Agency ULPs

An agency commits a ULP when it violates rights that the Statute protects.  Examples include:

• Threatening an employee that her career would not go much further if she proceeded with her grievance

• Transferring an employee to an undesirable job because she filed a ULP charge

• Eliminating employees’ compressed work schedules without giving their union notice and an opportunity to bargain over the change

• Refusing to grant an employee’s request for a union representative during an investigatory (Weingarten) interview, when the employee reasonably fears discipline  

When to Contact the Union about Unfair Labor Practice

If you are a Union Member who has been singled out for disparate treatment or have been discriminated against because of your membership in the Union, contact your Union Representative.