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Executive Order 10988 of 1962 and the Civil Service Reform Act of
1978
Chapter 9 Course
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Instructor: Alex J. Garcia Topete

Public sector employees are subject to some different labor relation laws. In this lesson, you'll learn about
Executive Order 10988, Executive Order 11491, and the Civil Reform Act of 1978. A short quiz follows.

Executive Order 10988

Gary works for a federal agency in Washington D.C. He's also a member of a union. This
probably doesn't appear to be a big deal to most. What may surprise you is that while private
sector employees have had the legally protected right to organize into unions and collectively
bargain with their employers since the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935,
public sector employees didn't enjoy the same rights under the Act.
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In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10988, entitled EmployeeManagement Cooperation in the Federal Sector, which was an important milestone toward the
expansion of labor rights for civil servants.
Executive Order 10988 gave civil servants like Gary the right to form, join and assist labor
organizations like unions. The Executive Order provides a three-level system of recognizing
labor organizations:
If a majority of Gary's co-workers designate a union to represent them, agency management must
negotiate with the union as the employees' exclusive representative over the terms and conditions of
employment. This is much the same as a private sector union.
If a group of employees, called a unit, is not exclusively represented, the agency must still give formal
recognition to all unions representing more than 10% of the employees in the unit. This means that
the agency must consult with each of these unions when creating and implementing agency
personnel policies and procedures that will affect employees' work conditions.
Even if Gary's union represents 10% or less of the employees in the unit, the order does not permit
the agency to ignore the union. The order requires that the agency informally recognize all unions,
regardless of whether another union has exclusive representation. All unions that represent
employees have the right to present the views and concerns of their members to agency
management.

Executive Order 11491

President Nixon revoked Executive Order 10988 with his issuance of Executive Order 11491 in
1969. This order expanded upon the rights of civil servants under Executive Order 10988. It
also developed a framework that regulated labor-management relationships in the Federal
Government. Finally, it outlined specic unfair labor practices and permitted binding
arbitration between unions and agencies in certain circumstances. An important distinction
between the private sector and the public sector under the order was that public sector
employees like Gary could not strike or picket their employers during labor disputes because it
is considered an unfair labor practice under the Executive Order 11491.
President Nixon's Executive Order also established the Federal Labor Relations Council and the
Federal Service Impasses Panel. The Federal Labor Relations Council was responsible for
overseeing the entire system. It was responsible for interpreting the Executive Order, making
policy decisions, handling appeals relating to unfair labor practices and responding to
representation claims. The Federal Service Impasses Panel, on the other hand, has authority to
help unions and agencies solve bargaining impasses.

Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

As a civil servant, Gary is subject to the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSA). The Act was
an attempt to create a more productive and fair personnel management system for the
federal government and help protect career civil service workers from undue political
interference. It codied many of the principles and concepts found in the previous Executive
Orders. Some of the key provisions include:
The Act established the Oce of Personnel Management (or OPM), which manages the federal civil
service system. It handles federal job announcements and hiring procedures for employees like Gary.
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It provides training and develops personnel policies to which Gary and other government employees
are subject. OPM also manages government pension programs.
The Act established the Merit Systems Protection Board (or MSPB), which hears appeals from
employees who believe their civil service rights have been violated.
The Act established the Federal Labor Relations Authority (or FLRA), which replaced the Federal
Labor Relations Council. It is focused on resolving unfair labor practices, union representation and
collective bargaining issues.
It provided expanded protections for whistle blowers, which are employees who go public about some
wrongdoing within the agency.
It established a formal performance evaluation system to not only increase productivity but also to
establish a relationship between performance and pay for agency managers.
The Act established a merit pay system of middle managers designed to provide nancial rewards for
performance.
It established the Senior Executive Service (or SES). These managers are near the top of the food
chain, right below presidential appointed ocials. These high-level executives choose to leave a more
secure civil service position in exchange for employment contracts that offer the possibility of higher
pay, career challenges and exibility. You can think of the SES as trying to use some private sector
techniques to encourage productive upper-level public servants.
Finally, the Act codies unfair labor practices of both agencies and unions. Importantly for civil
servants like Gary, unlike with private sector employees, it's an unfair labor practice for unions and
employees to strike or even picket if the picketing interferes with the agency's operations.

Lesson Summary
Let's review what we've learned. Executive Order 10988 permitted many types of government
employees to unionize and collectively bargain. It was revoked by Executive Order 11491,
which expanded upon the rights articulated in Executive Order 10988, created a more
formalized system for federal labor management and also outlined some specic unfair labor
practices.
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was a major revamp of federal personnel management.
Its goal is to increase federal employee productivity while increasing employee rights. It
codied many of the rights found in the previous Executive Orders. It also created several
agencies to handle labor relations and personnel management, including the Oce of
Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Federal Labor
Relations Authority.

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