Summary: How well is the federal labor-management relations program working? Are changes needed for the future? Has the program fostered a cooperative spirit between management and labor to help agencies' quality improvement initiatives succeed? GAO interviewed experts on federal labor-management relations, a large majority of whom said that the program is not accomplishing its objectives. They said that the program is characterized by excessive litigation, adversarial relationships between agency management and unions, and too little focus on issues that are of greater importance to employees. GAO also surveyed union representatives connected with 13 departments and agencies. These respondents tended to agree with the experts' assessments of the program. On the basis of these findings, GAO testified that the program needs substantial reform. Rather than a piecemeal approach to technical changes, GAO recommends that a special panel of nationally recognized experts in labor-management relations and participants in the federal program be created to develop a plan for comprehensive program reform.
