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Pay bargaining update 11/2/23

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What does Management have to hide?

Management were no-shows again at yesterday’s second day of bargaining over pay. (Dues-paying members: read our updated compensation bargaining proposal here.)

After previously emailing us on Monday to say that the parties are "quite close to an agreement on ground rules," Management responded last night with their counter-offer which struck all the language about observers, calling this their "last best offer." Since this offer fails to agree to a reasonable number of observers, we are confirming mediation for Monday afternoon with Kevin Wagner from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

Management's position on observers in this last offer is: "Allowing observers to participate as part of the collective bargaining negotiations is a non-starter for management. Each party already has 10 representatives at the table."

This is after several seven rounds of counter-proposals, during which management offered at most 3 observers per side (in a previous counter last week) and NTEU offered at minimum 25 observers per side. CFPB and NTEU agreed to 12 observers at our 2020 pay bargaining AND our 2022 remote work negotiations. Clearly there is a reasonable middle ground here and CFPB's position is all over the map.

CFPB's reasoning for being willing to have a handful of observers last week, to now insisting that their position is "observers are a non-starter" is nonexistent. Ultimately it's about keeping employees in the dark about Management's positions on the most important terms and conditions of our employment, our pay and benefits. Keep up the pressure on management, folks! We need this administration to move us FORWARD and to strengthen our union and our workplace protections, not to weaken our union and go backwards. It's a shortsighted approach that will absolutely backfire on this agency and its mission in the future.

We're updating our call to action to get Management to show up to bargaining and stop trying to prevent CFPB employees from observing the negotiations. Email these folks today:

Here's a sample message you can use - rewrite as you see fit:
 
I am concerned about the delays in pay bargaining due to Labor Relations' refusal to continue the practice of inviting employees to silently observe bargaining. CFPB and NTEU have agreed to observers at bargaining since 2020. We need to keep this transparency in pay negotiations, not take it away. Employees aren’t interested in going back to the days of secret bargaining sessions behind closed doors.
 
We are already a week behind schedule and cannot risk delaying pay raises in January during these times of high inflation. We need you, as leaders and management representatives, to be a voice of reason so we can agree to ground rules with observers and start bargaining over pay next week.

 

Tell CFPB you support transparent negotiations

CFPB refuses to agree to show up to compensation bargaining October 30 unless employees give up your right to observe the contract negotiations. What does CFPB want to hide from you? And why does Director Chopra want to be less transparent with his employees than former Trump-appointed Director Kathy Kraninger?

We’re not sure, so we're calling the Director’s Chief of Staff, Jan Singelmann, to find out why. Leave him a message-- he isn't picking up for some reason-- urging him to intervene to ensure bargaining starts on time October 30 and with your right to observe intact.

Tell Jan: “No more secret bargaining sessions! We want to observe negotiations!” so we can start and finish pay bargaining on time on October 30!

Jan’s CFPB mobile phone:
(202) 430-2778

Jan’s CFPB office phone:
(202) 435-7394 or (202) 435-5162

If the first number’s voicemail is full, try the next! It’s your protected right to advocate with fellow workers to CFPB management about workplace matters like pay and transparent negotiations.

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