The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal government's central human resources agency, is an independent agency within the Executive Branch. Its director and deputy director are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) administers the federal labor relations program, performing the "third party" functions as an independent and neutral body.
Each of the federal appeals agencies employs various alternative dispute resolution techniques and settlement initiatives to adjudicate matters over which it has jurisdiction, and each is engaged in substantial outreach efforts to encourage potential litigants to use their respective ADR and settlement processes.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), with headquarters in Washington, D.C., and post offices, processing plants and other facilities across the country, is the second largest civilian employer in the country, with about 557,251 career employees in 2011.
Most postal employees belong either to labor unions or one of the management or supervisory organizations. The 1970 Postal Reorganization Act authorized collective bargaining on wages and working conditions generally under laws applying to the private sector and provided for binding arbitration if an impasse persists 180 days after the start of bargaining.
There are multiple pay structures currently used by the U.S. Postal Service. Each bargaining unit has its own pay schedule structure, as well as administrative rules for personnel action processing.
Postal unions have been bargaining with USPS over pay and other working conditions since the passage of the Postal Reorganization Act (P.L. 91-375) in 1970.
If you have questions about an OPM program, please contact the agency’s Call Center at (202) 606-1800
Contact information for commonly consulted professional organizations.
Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA), established a system for federal employees to form, join, or assist any labor organization, or to refrain from any such activity, freely and without fear of penalty or reprisal.