1. POLICY. It shall be the policy of the Employer to inform the Union of any contracting-out review of a function that could affect the bargaining unit. The Employer agrees to comply with all provisions of Federal Acquisition Regulation 48 C.F.R. Section 7.3 et seq., Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76, this Agreement, and other applicable laws, rules, and regulations concerning contracting-out.
2. NOTIFICATION, CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION. The Union President or his/her designee will be notified of any A-76 study scheduled or decision to contract out work which affects bargaining unit Employees in accordance with this Agreement, and will receive add-ons and deletions as they occur. The Employer agrees to provide the Union with all other related information appropriate for general release and will quickly process any proper requests for further information as appropriate. Concerns by the Union regarding contracting of work that might affect the bargaining unit may be addressed through the Labor Management Partnership Council.
3. PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT. The Union will be provided the Performance Work Statement simultaneously with the submission for Invitations to Bid or Requests for Proposals for contractual services.
4. BID OPENING. The Union will be given an opportunity to attend any bid opening that may impact bargaining unit Employees.
5. REVIEWS. After review of the outside contractor bids and a decision to contract-out has been made, the Union will be provided appropriate data to the extent not prohibited by law. The Union will be provided a copy of the most efficient operation (in-house bid) and the low bid figure from the outside contractor.
6. PERSONNEL AFFECTED BY CONTRACTING-OUT. The Employer agrees to reduce the impact on bargaining unit Employees when a function is contracted-out to the fullest extent possible. To the extent possible, consideration will be given to placement of affected Employees through reassignments or retraining.
7. UNION REPRESENTATION. The Employer will afford the Union the opportunity to appoint a representative to attend those meetings with third-party organizations to discuss/explore avenues for contracting-out additional activities that would affect bargaining unit Employees. The Employer will provide the Union representative with copies of correspondence announcing such meetings and that which is provided to other attendees.
8. TRAINING MATERIALS. The Employer will promptly provide to the Union all training materials which the Bureau has (if any) on preparation of a commercial activity review. These materials may include written and video training materials on preparation of a commercial activity review including the Performance Work Statement, the Most Efficient Organization, the Cost Comparison, and the Administrative Appeal Procedure. The Union shall be included in any training sessions the Bureau conducts on preparation of a commercial activity review.
9. The Employer recognizes that an Employee's refusal of an offered position with the contractor shall have no affect on any statutory right of the Employee.
10. GRIEVANCES. When a function is contracted-out, the Union or Employees may pursue grievances in accordance with current case law at the time the determination is made, under the negotiated grievance procedure in this Agreement. The Parties recognize that the Union and bargaining unit Employees may have and may exercise additional appeal rights in accordance with appropriate law, rule, and regulation.
11. The Parties agreed that if the Union appeals or grieves an agency decision to contract out bargaining unit Employees work, a stay (i.e., status quo ante) shall be granted pending the outcome of such an appeal or grievance.
*The Parties have not agreed to this provision. The Parties agree to implement all other provisions of this Agreement prior to third-party resolution of differences regarding the provision. By entering into this Agreement, neither Party waives its rights under 5 U.S.C. 7123. Should the Union proceed to the Federal Services Impasse Panel, the Parties will return to the bargaining tables as may be appropriate. Should the language be determined to be negotiable, the Parties will continue the bargaining process over the provision. Should the language be determined to be nonnegotiable, it will be eliminated from the Agreement.