Labor-Management Relations

In response to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Federal Labor Relations Authority's (FLRA) effectiveness in carrying out its responsibilities for investigating and resolving unfair practices at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to determine whether: (1) FLRA effectively met its statutory responsibilities for timely resolving labor-management disputes; (2) FLRA experienced any problems in meeting its responsibilities; and (3) any of the problems were only of local concern or were national in scope, requiring statutory changes.

GAO found that: (1) FLRA received 199 unfair labor practice charges between October 1984 and June 1988 from the Fort Leavenworth union local, comprising 7 percent of all charges filed by the Army, while the installation represented less than 1 percent of the Army's total civilian population; (2) 102 of the charges were filed during the 12 months ended June 1988; (3) FLRA sent notification letters to the charged parties within 7 days, initiated investigations within 13 to 79 days, closed 90 percent of the cases in less than 90 days, and completed 74 of the 102 charges as of July 1988; and (4) FLRA issued a formal complaint against management for 1 of the 74 charges and dismissed 1 charge, while the union withdrew the other 72 due to resolution or unsubstantiated charges. GAO also found that: (1) FLRA did not experience significant problems in its investigations; (2) both management and labor representatives stated that FLRA effectively and timely carried out its responsibilities; and (3) although FLRA met its responsibilities, labor-management difficulties have persisted at Fort Leavenworth.