UNITED STTES DEPRTMENT OF GRICULTURE Wshington, DC 20250 Federl Grin Inspection Service FGIS Directive 4711.2 6/16/80 STRIKE PREVENTION ND STRIKE CONTINGENCY PLNS I PURPOSE This Instruction: Estlishes strike prevention pln nd outlines or references positive elements intended to prevent work stoppges. Estlishes strike contingency pln, providing specific guidnce to supervisors nd mngement officils regrding responsiilities when work stoppge is thretened or occurs. II STRIKE PREVENTION PLN C Despite the prohiition ginst strikes y employees of the United Sttes Government (5 U.S.C. 7311), severl strikes, slow-downs, "sick-outs," nd other forms of work stoppges hve occurred within the Federl service. The prevention of strikes insures continuity of services to the pulic, efficient opertion, employee well-eing, nd constructive nd coopertive reltionships etween lor orgniztions nd mngement. sound lor-mngement reltions progrm is the foundtion of strike prevention pln. The ction Pln for Lor-Mngement Reltions (set forth in MS/FGIS Instruction 344-2), which sets forth gency policy nd philosophy concerning lor-mngement reltions nd prescries specific procedures nd responsiilities for implementing the policies, shll e considered the foundtion of the gency strike prevention pln. In ddition, the following elements form n integrl prt of the gency strike prevention pln: 1 Mintennce of equitle conditions of employment y evlution of personnel prctices nd work rules nd regultions t oth the gency nd the progrm levels. 2 Fir nd equitle dministrtion nd enforcement of estlished rules, regultions, nd lws. 3 Full disclosure y mngement of the terms. conditions, nd oligtions of employment. III STRIKE CONTINGENCY PLN Purpose of Strike Contingency Pln. Despite the positive steps tken under the gency strike prevention pln, possiility lwys exists tht work stoppge could occur. The purpose of the Strike contingency pln is to: 1 Provide uninterrupted service to the pulic, mintining pulic confidence nd integrity of opertions.
2 Mintin security of fcilities, equipment, nd employees, nd protect the rights nd sfety of employees who work during strike. 3 Mintin effective communiction throughout the orgniztion. 4 Estlish criticl needs nd priorities. 5 ssure tht pproprite legl ction cn e tken if necessry. C Picketing of Federl Opertions. Picketing my in some instnces nd circumstnces e llowed. ny picketing or indiction of picketing should e reported promptly, s descried in prgrph C, elow. The Personnel (PE) Division, will provide guidnce. When work stoppge ppers to e imminent, efforts will e directed towrd preventing stoppge. This requires close communiction etween the field supervisor, gency hedqurters, nd the PE Division. When supervisor first elieves stoppge is thretened, report the informtion through chnnels to the PE Division. Depending upon guidnce from the PE Division, the field supervisor my e expected to tke some of the following ction: 1 Identifying Prolem. ttempt to identify the cuse of the prolem nd, upon specific pprovl from the PE Division, tke corrective ction. 2 Oligtions of Employees nd Union Officils. Remind employees in the work re of their no-strike oligtion nd dvise them tht work stoppge violtes lw, nd sujects them to legl penlties, including dischrge from employment. Remind union officils, including locl union officers nd stewrds, of their oligtion under Title VII of the Civil Service Reform ct of 1978, to tke ffirmtive ction to prevent or discontinue work stoppges. 3 Mintining Opertions. c d e Identify essentil opertions which must e performed y skilled or licensed mnpower. Determine whether licenses will e necessry for supervisors nd other employees. Identify opertions to e continued on full-scle or reduced sis nd the minimum numers nd types of personnel required to perform opertions in ech deprtment, division, section, etc. Compre the skills of ville personnel with the skill requirements needed to continue opertions. Consider who will work from mong supervisors nd employees represented y nonstriking unions or otherwise not likely to e involved. Consider lternte sources of mnpower (detils, interctivity or intergency lons, contrctor personnel, etc.), nd whether n ctive recruitment progrm for temporry replcements must e conducted.
4 Supplies, Equipment, nd Fcilities. Mke n inventory of essentil supplies nd mterils. List the procedures for orderly closing of uildings not likely to e used, for dismntling equipment, nd for continuing necessry housekeeping opertions. D When work stoppge hs occurred, immedite notifiction should e given through pproprite chnnels to the PE Division. The PE Division will inform the Deprtment Director of Personnel nd will provide guidnce to mngers nd supervisors concerning ction to e tken. 1 Supervisory Responsiilities. Supervisors should tke no ction in deling with union representtives or employees prticipting in the work stoppge unless specificlly uthorized to do so y the PE Division. 2 Mngement nd PE Division Responsiilities. The following guidelines re intended s plnning tool only. The items on this checklist cn e determined to e pproprite only on n individul cse sis y top Mngement nd the PE Division. Security nd Protection. (1) Consider whether there is need to lert the locl police deprtment. (2) Consider services required from locl lw enforcement nd fire prevention gencies to protect working employees nd property, including mintining ccess to the worksite nd crs in the prking lot. dministrtive nd Personnel Mtters. (1) nlyze the cuse of the strike or work stoppge. (2) Determine procedures for emergency suspension of opertions. (3) Decide wht to tell employees who cll in sick. (4) Decide under wht circumstnces nnul leve or leve without py will e uthorized. (5) Determine wht to do out supervisors nd employees who re on pproved nnul leve, sick leve, or leve without py when strike or work stoppge occurs. (6) Determine how to hndle pychecks for striking employees. c Oservtion nd Recordkeeping. (1) Determine the mount of detil to e recorded in dily strike record summrizing ll events concerning work stoppge or picketing sitution.
(2) Mke record of ll significnt events, converstions, nd ctions involving mngement, unions, or employees. (3) Copy the exct wording of ny signs crried or displyed y pickets. (4) Identify strike ringleders nd persons who engge in violence. (5) Otin signed sttements from witnesses in the event of incidents. d Communiction. Inform employees (oth strikers nd nonstrikers) of the plns mde nd/or steps tken to continue opertions, nd dvise them tht grievnces will e discussed under estlished procedures fter the work stoppge hs cesed. e Nonstriking Employees. (1) Determine the est mens of communicting with nonstriking employees. (2) e prepred to dvise nonstriking employees s to whether they should report to work, whether nd under wht conditions they should cross picket lin (either when no ct of violence hs occurred or h een thretened, or when cts of violence hve tken plce), wht entrnce to use, how to otin ssistnce in trnsporttion to work, etc. f Striking Employees. (1) Consider mens of communicting with striking employees, such s letters to employees' homes, rdio nd television nnouncements, nd recorded telephone messges. (2) Do not tke ny ction or mke ny sttements which would constitute commitment tht either employees or the union will e solved of responsiility for ny violtion of lw, Executive Order, or regultion. g Documenttion nd Evidence. (1) Crefully document ll developments nd collect evidence. From the time work stoppge is thretened, gther detiled informtion (who, wht, when, etc., including whether the incident reltes to locl mtter or ppers to e prt of widespred sitution) nd mintin chronologicl record of events nd ctions (dily strike record). (2) If specificlly uthorized to do so, recor fctul dt concerning the ctions of individul employees, using the formt shown in Exhiit, ttched.
(3) Keep copies of ll newspper clippings, hndills, or other literture pulished i connection with the strike. (4) Mintin complete record of strike dmge, if ny, loss of production nd mnhours, nd the results of such losses o the mission. /s/ Irving W. Thoms Deputy dministrtor, Mngement ttchment EXHIIT Guidelines for Supervisors in Recording Work Stoppge Informtion These guidelines re to e used ONLY WHEN UTHORIZED y gency hedqurters nd the Personnel Division. If uthorized, the following informtion should e recorded (to the extent possile) for ech employee you supervise, in the event of strike or other work stoppge ffecting your work re. 1 Nme of employee nd position. 2 Is employee lor orgniztion officil or representtive? If so, wht is his title? 3 riefly descrie ctions of employee during initil phse of work stoppge. Did he terminte work--encourge others to do so? t wht time ws this? Did e oey order to return to work; if so, wht time ws it? Wht did you tell employee? When dvised of illegl nture of ction nd ordered to return to work, wht did employee sy or do? Wht, if ny, resons were given for work stoppge? Wht, in your opinion. cused the work stoppge? 4 Ws employee prevented from reporting to or returning to work y conditions eyond his control? If so, wht were conditions or lleged conditions? 5 Wht sttements, if ny, did employee mke to you or fellow employees during work stoppge? 6 List other pertinent oservtions or sttements you mde to employee in connection with the work stoppge. 7 Wht other supervisors or employees were witnesses to sttements or ctions of this employee? 8 Signture of supervisor nd title. 9 Dtes covered y ove dt. 10 Dte this informtion ws recorded.