IFPTE Applauds Senate Confirmation of Susan Grundmann to FLRA
Grundmann Confirmation Restores Fairness, Balance, and Functionality of the Federal Labor Relations Authority
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC – The executive officers of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) applauded the bipartisan Senate confirmation of Susan T. Grundmann, President Biden’s nominee for Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).
IFPTE President Matthew Biggs:
While long overdue, IFPTE applauds the news that the Senate has confirmed Susan Grundmann to serve on the FLRA. This federal labor board is critical to the protecting federal employees’ union rights, resolving union representation matters, and providing a necessary measure of predictability and stability to labor relations in the federal government. Our union knows all too well that federal employees’ rights, public services, good governance and due process, and agency operations all suffer when the FLRA is left to unqualified ideologues who do not understand or respect the federal labor relations statute. As a union that intends to organize federal employees – including reorganizing immigration judges at DOJ who were misclassified and denied their union rights by the pervious FLRA majority – we are hopeful that Susan Grundmann’s appointment helps restore fairness, balance, and functionality that has been missing the FLRA in recent years.
We thank the Senators who have worked to advance this nomination as well as the remaining FLRA nominees, all of whom are highly qualified and supported by IFPTE.
IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson:
We are relieved that Susan Grundmann has been confirmed to the FLRA with bipartisan support in the Senate and we are committed to making sure the remaining FLRA nominees, current FLRA Chairman Ernest DuBester and FLRA General Counsel nominee Kurt Rumsfeld, are confirmed soon. The FLRA now has members who respect the value of the Federal Service Labor Management Relations Statute, adhere to established precedent, and understand that labor unions are in the public interest. The FLRA board is pivotal for making sure agencies comply with federal labor law and unionized federal employees can resolve labor disputes and unfair labor practice charges, but it’s ability to function is entirely dependent on the quality of its Senate-confirmed board members. Susan Grundmann’s confirmation to the FLRA is welcome news because a fair and functional FLRA is good for federal workers, for the government, and for the public.
Across the United States and Canada, IFPTE represents 90,000 highly skilled workers in the federal, public, and private sectors. IFPTE is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO and the CLC. More information can be found at www.IFPTE.org.
###