Executive Order 13522-Creating Labor-Management Forums To Improve Delivery of Government Services
Issued 2009-12-09 by Barack Obama
Plain-English Overview
AI-generated summary explaining what this action does, who it affects, and why it matters
This executive order creates discussion forums where federal employees, their union representatives, and government managers can work together to improve how government services are delivered. The order establishes these forums as complements to the existing collective bargaining process, encouraging managers and employees to jointly solve workplace problems rather than managers deciding solutions first and then negotiating afterward. The stated goal is to establish a more cooperative form of labor-management relations throughout the executive branch.
The order creates a National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations, co-chaired by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget. The Council includes representatives from federal agencies, presidents of several federal employee unions (including the American Federation of Government Employees, National Federation of Federal Employees, and National Treasury Employees Union), and heads of federal management associations. This Council advises the President on labor-management relations and supports the creation of similar forums within individual departments and agencies.
The order affects federal employees across the executive branch and their union representatives by creating structured opportunities for collaboration on workplace issues. The constitutional authority for this action rests on the President's power to manage the executive branch under Article II, though questions exist about whether creating such forums falls within acceptable White House advisory bodies or conflicts with existing agency structures established by Congress.
AI-generated summary for educational purposes
Constitutional Analysis
How this action fits (or doesn't) within Article II authority and existing law
Executive Order 13522 ("Executive Order 13522-Creating Labor-Management Forums To Improve Delivery of Government Services") restructures or establishes federal entities. The stated purpose: "establish a cooperative and productive form of labor-management relations throughout the executive branch, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1." The President has authority to manage the executive branch under Article II, including creating task forces, councils, and working groups within the White House. However, creating independent agencies with binding regulatory authority, or fundamentally restructuring congressionally created departments, typically requires legislative authorization.
The Reorganization Act historically provided a framework for executive reorganization subject to congressional review. Current reorganization authority is more limited. The constitutionality depends on whether this order creates White House advisory bodies (acceptable) or attempts to restructure agencies in ways that conflict with their enabling statutes (questionable).
Official Summary
Administration of Barack H. Obama, 2009 Executive Order 13522—Creating Labor-Management Forums To Improve Delivery of Government Services December 9, 2009 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish a cooperative and productive form of labor-management relations throughout the executive branch, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy. Federal employees and their union representatives are an essential source of front-line ideas and information about the realities of delivering Government services to the American people. A nonadversarial forum for managers, employees, and employees' union representatives to discuss Government operations will promote satisfactory labor relations and improve the productivity and effectiveness of the Federal Government. Labor-management forums, as complements to the existing collective bargaining process, will allow managers and employees to collaborate in continuing to deliver the highest quality services to the American people. Management should discuss workplace challenges and problems with labor and endeavor to develop solutions jointly, rather than advise