Formal Discussions in Federal Labor Relations-A Case of Goal Deflection

Abstract

Federal government operations in the 1980s are costly. Big dollar items like the B-1 bomber or the MX missile command political debates get intense media attention, and some expert research. Often overlooked, however, are more technical, seemingly innocuous aspects of statutes which may have profound costs and adverse operating consequences. This paper focuses on one such statutory provision: the discussion requirement of the federal labormanagement relations (LMR) program. This provision has been implemented in a manner unintended by those who crafted it in 1962. It has escaped careful scrutiny in three major revisions of the federal program even when other provisions of which it was a part were eliminated. It is an expensive requirement which has been largely ignored by politicians and public administration experts alike, including authors of in-depth histories of the federal LMR program.' Yet, if administered to the full extent required by current legal case decisions interpreting the meaning of discussion, its costs have been estimated to be as high as $100 million per year.2 Additionally, a 1984 survey reveals that managers and agency labor relations advisors uniformly regard the provision as an operational nightmare.' As indicated in Figure 1, case decisions applying the provision to work situations are in substantial conflict on a variety of crucial issues. Consequently, most managers surveyed indicated that it is difficult to decide which interactions with employees constitute a formal discussion. How did this situation develop? How did this provision get to where it is today with no careful evaluation of its implications? This paper describes and analyzes the history of the discussion requirement from a public policy perspective with particular emphasis on program implementation and evaluation. The study of the particular statutory provision has important implications for the legislative process in general and for the costs associated with public sector labor-management relations programs in particular. The study also describes how a narrow technical provision can profoundly impact supervisory management processes. * History of the discussion provision of Title VII of the U.S. Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 offers valuable information about the lawmaking process, especially in the area of labor-management relations policy. This study examines the problems associated with implementation of the provision. It reveals that no correlation exists between current practices and the intent of the originators of the provision in 1962. More importantly, the study describes how technical statutory language of a cryptic nature can escape careful congressional scrutiny. The import is no small matter. Parallel research demonstrates that the provision is costly and creates significant operating problems for managers and supervisors.