Federal Labor-Management Relations Reforms Under Bush

Abstract

The Bush administration is promoting radical change to the labor-management relations status quo in the federal sector. Provisions of the 1978 Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute already leave the federal employee unions in a disadvantageous position vis-à-vis management. The changes by President Bush would tip the balance of power even further in favor of management. Are those changes an attempt to expand presidential control over the bureaucracy, or do they simply represent an alternative, promanagement philosophy of workplace relations? The conclusion here is that Bush has adopted a political management model of governance in which operational considerations are subordinate to control considerations.

Varieties of new public management? The reform of public service employment relations in the UK and USA

“…Not surprisingly, President Bush dissolved the National Partnership Council, a precursor to radical attempts to enhance managerial prerogatives and undermine collective bargaining within the federal government. The Bush administration, used the so-called War on Terror to rebrand employment relations reforms as necessary measures to safeguard national security (Thompson 2007).…”