EPA breached the contract with its largest union by ordering staff to return to the office, an arbitrator has found.
American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents more than 8,000 EPA employees, filed a grievance earlier this year on the heels of the agency following a mandate from President Donald Trump requiring full-time in-person work.
The arbitrator said that move ran counter to the collective bargaining agreement, which has protections for telework and remote work. Further, Trump’s mandate was never deliberated with the union.
“The Agency’s refusal to bargain with the Union over the effects of said changes on employees amounted to a violation of the MCBA, the parties’ collective bargaining agreement,” the arbitrator said in the decision, dated last Friday.
