[Senate Hearing 108-95]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 108-95
NOMINATION OF PETER J. EIDE
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON THE
NOMINATION OF PETER J. EIDE, TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL, FEDERAL LABOR
RELATIONS AUTHORITY
__________
APRIL 10, 2003
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Chairman
TED STEVENS, Alaska JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan
NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii
ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois MARK DAYTON, Minnesota
JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey
RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama MARK PRYOR, Arkansas
Michael D. Bopp, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Johanna L. Hardy, Senior Counsel
John C. Salamone, Professional Staff Member, Oversight of Government
Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia
Subcommittee
Joyce Rechtschaffen, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Lawrence B. Novey, Minority Counsel
Jennifer E. Hamilton, Minority Research Assistant
Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Opening statements:
Page
Senator Voinovich............................................ 1
Senator Akaka................................................ 3
Senator Durbin............................................... 4
WITNESS
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Hon. Peter J. Eide, to be General Counsel, Federal Labor
Relations Authority
Testimony.................................................... 5
Prepared Statement........................................... 15
Biographical and professional information.................... 16
Pre-hearing questions and responses for the Record........... 26
Post-hearing questions and responses for the Record submitted
to the Hon. Peter Eide from Senator Lautenberg............. 47
Post-hearing questions and responses for the Record submitted
to the Hon. Peter Eide from Senator Akaka.................. 51
Appendix
Letters submitted by Senator Akaka from:
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, dated
April 9, 2003.............................................. 54
National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), dated March 26,
2003....................................................... 56
Association of Administrative Law Judges, Inc., dated August
1, 2002.................................................... 58
NOMINATION OF PETER J. EIDE
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THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2003
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:38 a.m., in
room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. George
Voinovich presiding.
Present: Senators Voinovich, Akaka, and Durbin.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH
Senator Voinovich. Good morning. I want to thank you for
coming, Mr. Eide.
Today, the Committee on Governmental Affairs meets to
discuss the nomination of Peter Eide for the position of
General Counsel at the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
I would like to extend a warm greeting to Mr. Eide and his
family that are here in attendance. Senator Akaka and I have
had a chance to meet your daughter Cheryl and son-in-law Ray,
and grandchildren Savannah and Austin, and daughters Karalyn
Eide and Merissa Eide. We are glad you are here today.
Mr. Eide, I strongly believe in the nobility of public
service and I commend you for answering the President's call to
serve our Nation. Your qualifications include extensive labor
management relations experience, first as an employee, and
president of the local union at the National Labor Relations
Board, and then in the private sector. As General Counsel, your
responsibilities would include managing the OGC's seven
regional offices, processing unfair labor practice allegations,
encouraging the use of alternate dispute resolution techniques,
and promoting stable and productive labor management relations
in the Federal sector.
As a former mayor and governor, I understand the importance
of establishing positive labor management relationships based
on open communication and trust. During my career I have worked
conscientiously to bring people together and when I came to the
Senate I embarked on a bipartisan approach to solve our
government's human capital challenges. I must say that Senator
Akaka has been my partner in this endeavor.
During this Committee's consideration of the homeland
security legislation, last July, I worked with Senator Akaka to
add key provisions of my human capital bill. The bipartisan
effort made necessary changes in the Federal personnel policy
to allow Federal agencies the flexibility to get the right
people with the right skills and knowledge at the right place
and time.
Also during the homeland security debate I strongly
encouraged the President to meet with unions to discuss their
concerns about the homeland security bill. I do not know
whether you know this or not, but the unions believed that they
were being excluded from the process because of the President
repealing the Executive Order establishing labor management
partnerships which had been in existence with the previous
administration. I encouraged the administration to continue the
partnership agreement, and unfortunately it did not happen. So
I understand why the unions are concerned and I would hope that
you might encourage the administration to review the
partnership agreement. I think it would help foster better
labor/management partnerships.
In addition, the administration issued an Executive Order
barring unions from the U.S. Attorney's Office. This issue came
up, Mr. Eide, in an unusual way and it worked its way through
the system and ended up before the Board, which became
irrelevant during the process because the President pre-empted
the Board's decision by issuing the Executive Order exempting
unions from the Office of U.S. Attorneys.
So there is a problem here, and I think we need to work on
it. Kay James, who is the head of the Office of Personnel
Management is aware of it, and we have worked with some of the
folks that are involved.
I was pleased with the new Homeland Security law, which
maintains the employee's right to organize and bargain
collectively. I am also glad that the administration is
following through with its commitment to consult with all
stakeholders as it develops the Homeland Security's personnel
system. Thus far this process seems to be going all right. I
talked with the union presidents and trust that this is going
to be an open and collaborative process that will yield a
flexible personnel system that is fair to all employees.
Further, I hope we can enact additional provisions to give
all of our Federal employees the tools they need to do their
jobs effectively.
If you are confirmed, I expected that you will do
everything in your power to ensure that the Department of
Homeland Security's labor management relations apparatus is
administered within the spirit of the law, and that unfair
labor practices rulings are applied without prejudice
throughout the government.
I hope you take a very active role in improving labor
management relations and that you aggressively pursue a program
that would provide training to Federal employees on the
benefits of consensus decisionmaking techniques for resolving
workforce disputes.
To begin this endeavor, I suggest that you conduct a
thorough assessment of the current labor management relations
environment and utilize the expertise of the new chief human
capital officers to accomplish this goal. This is a major
highlight of my legislation because it creates a chief human
capital officer in 24 major departments and agencies. We have
not had them. We have neglected the real important essential of
government today, and that is people.
I have observed Congress as a mayor and then as governor
and as chairman of the National Governors Association, and also
president of the National League of Cities. And I think it is
atrocious that the Federal Government's workforce has not been
given the kind of attention that is needed.
The General Counsel of the FLRA, in my opinion, is a very
important position. How well you do that job will have a large
impact on whether we can develop effective labor/management
partnerships in government today. The unions must feel that the
process is open, that they have somebody in your position
aggressively trying to make sure that a dialogue exists, and
frankly by doing that you may eliminate the need for people to
appeal. It is also important to make sure that employees and
managers are treated fairly and consistently based on the
guidelines of the Federal Labor Relations Statute.
So I look forward to your testimony today to hear how you
plan to apply your extensive private sector experience to the
government and to learn what steps you have taken to prepare
for this important position.
I would now like to call on Senator Akaka to give him an
opportunity to make his opening statement, and then we will
open it up for your statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR AKAKA
Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
It is always a pleasure to work with you, especially to
work with someone who I call a champion on human capital. I
look forward to continuing to work with you on that. And it is
a pleasure for me to be with you this morning and with Senator
Durbin, as well.
I want to add my welcome to Mr. Eide and your lovely and
handsome family. The only thing I can say is you are really a
fortunate man to have such a family.
Mr. Eide. That I am.
Senator Akaka. Just 2 days ago my friend from Ohio chaired
a hearing with our House counterparts on the Federal workforce.
I was unable to attend that meeting because Tuesday was the
first day of a 3-day Energy Committee markup. That is the kind
of problem we have here. We are members of other committees,
and when we have important markups, we have to be at those
meetings.
But I wanted to be here today because I feel that the
government's most important asset is its employees.
Mr. Eide, I want to congratulate you for being nominated to
serve as the General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations
Authority.
The FLRA is charged with protecting the rights of Federal
employees from unfair labor practices. Because of your prior
relationships and your jobs in the private sector, there have
been some concerns. Concerns have been raised by the American
Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury
Employees Union about your long association with the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce. The reason is they regard the Chamber as
an organization that has opposed most labor initiatives.
Mr. Chairman, I ask that letters from AFGE and NTEU be
included in the record, as well as a letter from the
Association of Administrative Law Judge's in support of Mr.
Eide's nomination.\1\
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\1\ The letters submitted by Senator Akaka appear in the Appendix
on page 54.
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Senator Voinovich. Without objection.
Senator Akaka. The FLRA will face major challenges
involving the creation of the labor management relations policy
at the new Department of Homeland Security. The sheer number of
employees within the Department and the ability of the
Department to waive Chapter 71 of Title 5 relating to labor
management relations undoubtedly will increase the workload at
the FLRA. It may also pose unique legal and policy questions
for the authority and for the General Counsel.
I look forward to this hearing, Mr. Chairman, and I want to
thank you for having it today. Thank you.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you, Senator Akaka. Senator
Durbin.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DURBIN
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I ask that my opening statement be made part of the record.
In the interest of time, I have a Judiciary Committee hearing,
and I will waive making a statement at this point. I hope I
will have a chance to ask some questions.
[The prepared statement of Senator Durbin follows:]
PREPARED OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DURBIN
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling this hearing. I would like to
welcome Mr. Eide. Thank you for testifying this morning.
The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) serves as an
independent, neutral third-party for resolving labor-management
disputes in the Federal Government. The Office of the General Counsel
is the FLRA's independent investigator and prosecutor.
Mr. Eide, if confirmed for this position to which you have been
nominated, you will have the important responsibilities of
investigating all allegations of unfair labor practices filed and
processing all representation petitions received; exercising final
authority over the issuance and prosecution of all complaints;
supervising and conducting elections concerning the exclusive
recognition of labor organizations and the certification of the results
of elections; conducting all hearings to resolve disputed issues in
representation cases; preparing final decisions and orders in these
cases; and directing and supervising all employees of the regional
offices.
I ask that letters submitted to the Committee in relation to this
nominee be made part of the record. I look forward to hearing your
testimony, Mr. Eide.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you.
Mr. Eide has filed responses to a biographical and
professional questionnaire, answering pre-hearing questions
submitted by the Committee, and has had his financial
statements reviewed by the Office of Government Ethics. Without
objection, this information will be made a part of the record
with the exception of the financial data, which are on file and
available for public inspection in the Committee offices.\1\
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\1\ Biographical and professonal information for Mr. Eide appears
in the Appendix on page 16.
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Mr. Eide, our Committee rules require that all witnesses at
nomination hearings give their testimony under oath. If you
would please stand.
[Witness sworn.]
Senator Voinovich. Now, I would like to hear from you.
TESTIMONY OF PETER J. EIDE,\1\ TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL, FEDERAL
LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
Mr. Eide. I have a few written comments, I would like to
read that, and then answer your questions, if that is all
right.
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\1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Eide appears in the Appendix on
page 15.
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Good morning, Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Committee.
My name is Peter Eide. President Bush has nominated me for the
position of General Counsel to the Federal Labor Relations
Authority.
I am truly honored and deeply appreciative and I would like
to express my sincere gratitude to you for this opportunity to
appear before you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Vice Chairman, for going
into the introductions that I had planned to make now. My
family members are behind me, sitting behind me. And you
certainly stated their names and indicated who they were, so
thank you for that. This is a momentous occasion for this
family, and I thought it would be good if they could witness it
firsthand.
I would like to assure you that, if confirmed, I will
enforce in a fair and consistent manner the Federal Service
Labor Management Relations Statute, the decisions and
regulations of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and I
will effectuate the statutes and regulations affecting all
employers and employees, including especially those focused
primarily on Federal Government employees.
I am familiar with many of the statutes and regulations
affecting employment in the Federal sector, having dealt with
them directly or on behalf of the public and clients for nearly
28 years.
As you know, the Federal statute that I will apply and
enforce is modeled on the National Labor Relations Act, a
statute I enforced as an employee of the National Labor
Relations Board for over 7 years, and which I have dealt with
directly on behalf of employers, clients, and the business
community for over 20 years.
Members of the Committee and your staff of the Governmental
Affairs Committee know, probably too well, that one of the
biggest challenges we face is activating the Department of
Homeland Security. Mr. Chairman, I think your comments
reflected that concern.
I want to assure you that of everything I do, one of my
highest priorities will be to make sure that activation is done
smoothly and promptly so that the Department can carry out its
mission to protect this country from terrorism and other
serious threats.
I look forward to applying my years of labor law and labor
relations experience in this position to which I have been
nominated. I also assure you that I will be at all times
responsive to the Governmental Affairs Committee and to the
entire Senate and the Congress, as well.
Thank you for considering my nomination and I will gladly
answer any questions that you have.
Senator Voinovich. Mr. Eide, before we start our
questioning, there are some standard questions that we have to
ask all nominees.
The first one, is there anything that you are aware of in
your background which might present a conflict of interest with
the duties of the office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Eide. No, sir.
Senator Voinovich. Do you know of anything, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and
honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to
which you have been nominated?
Mr. Eide. I know of nothing that would interfere with my
job.
Senator Voinovich. Do you agree to respond to any
reasonable summons without reservation? Without reservation, to
respond to any reasonable summons to appear and testify before
any duly constituted committee of Congress if you are
confirmed.
Mr. Eide. Yes, Senator, absolutely.
Senator Voinovich. We will start the first round of
questions and we will limit those to 6 minutes.
Mr. Eide, in March 1999, President Clinton introduced a
proposal to protect whistleblowers who were fired for speaking
out against health and safety hazards in the workplace.
President Clinton had a proposal to protect whistleblowers who
were fired for speaking out against health and standards in the
workplace.
In reactions to this proposed policy you said, the proposal
would ``open the floodgates to meritless charges, plaintiff's
lawyers are all too willing to sue an employer with no
intention of getting a verdict, simply to blackmail the
employer to force him to pay off the plaintiff.''
I am somewhat concerned that a past statement like this
gives the impression that you might lack the objectivity
necessary for the position of General Counsel.
So I would like to ask you a two-part question. First of
all, are these your personal feelings, or were you merely
reflecting the sentiments of the Chamber of Commerce?
And second, do you think that you can maintain the ability
to remain neutral and apply the labor relations statute in a
fair and equitable manner?
Mr. Eide. I do not recall making that statement, nor will I
deny making that statement. It is consistent with the Chamber's
position regarding what has been called, what has been termed
plaintiff's lawyers, and what the Chamber believes to be their
overwillingness to file charges and lawsuits against employers.
What I said, and I am not denying I made that statement, is
consistent with the Chamber's concern about overactive
plaintiff lawyers and too many lawsuits against employers.
I said that as a representative of the Chamber, as a
spokesperson for the Chamber. And I want to make sure that you
understand that does not necessarily reflect my personal views.
In fact, it does not reflect my personal views on that
particular subject.
The concern about whistleblowers, I think, is genuine and
has to be kept foremost in everybody's mind because that is the
way that these problems in the workplace, these health and
safety issues especially, are brought to light and corrected at
the earliest possible date and in the most efficient way
possible.
So I am not denying that I made the statement but that does
not reflect my personal views. It does, I think, reflect the
view of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at that time.
Senator Voinovich. The issue is do you believe that you can
bring impartiality to the job that you have and not be skewed
in favor of the employer?
Mr. Eide. Absolutely. I would like to point out that for
the first 7 years, over 7 years of my career, I worked for the
National Labor Relations Board. And the overwhelming majority
of the cases that I handled and investigated and made
recommendations on were charges against employers.
I think I did that job capably and did it well. And as a
result of my efforts in investigating those charges, a number
of complaints were issued and employers, as a result, settled
the charges, settled the allegations, or were brought before
Administrative Law Judge's and the entire labor board to have
the issue resolved.
I do not think it is accurate to say that what I said as a
representative of the Chamber and spokesman for the Chamber
reflects on my objectivity or ability to address issues in an
objective manner.
Senator Voinovich. Have you given any thought to
initiatives to try and foster better labor management
relationships?
Mr. Eide. Yes, sir, I have. The authority, the OGC, Office
of General Counsel has what I think is an elaborate program to
encourage representatives of labor and representatives of
management to get along, to air their disputes, to resolve
their disputes before it becomes an issue in contract
negotiations and they reach an impasse because of those
disputes, to try to get those resolved.
I consider it a pretty elaborate program. I do not know if
it is effective. It seems to me it would be effective. And I am
anxious to engage in whatever activities I can and have my
staff at the Authority do likewise, to encourage resolution of
disputes before they have to be litigated.
Senator Voinovich. How would you determine whether or not
the effort currently underway is a good one?
Mr. Eide. How would I determine?
Senator Voinovich. You are coming on the job and you have
got this in place. How would you go about deciding whether or
not the initiative in the Department was a good one, or whether
it needed improvement?
Mr. Eide. The Authority's initiative? Is that what you are
talking about?
Senator Voinovich. Yes.
Mr. Eide. Obviously, I am going to have to talk to a lot of
people, the staff of the OGC first and foremost, and then
representatives of organized labor and management
representatives and find out whether or not these programs and
policies are working.
If they are not working, then they need to be changed and
fixed. And I would be anxious to do that to make sure that the
whole system works. It is referred to as the FITE program and I
think that despite its name it would help the management and
union folks resolve their disputes before they are brought to
bear on the actual negotiations.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you. Senator Durbin.
Senator Durbin. Senator Akaka has been kind enough to allow
me to go first because of my other committee hearing, even
though he was first to arrive.
Mr. Eide, thank you very much for being here.
A basic question, did you seek this job?
Mr. Eide. Did I seek this job? I understood that there was
an opening for the General Counsel at the Federal Labor
Relations Authority, and I, after learning of that opening,
asked the White House if they would consider me for the
position.
Senator Durbin. So you did?
Mr. Eide. Yes.
Senator Durbin. You did seek the job.
I am curious as to why you did that? I think there are a
lot of positions in the Federal Government where your
credentials would be impeccable. This is one that, as the
Chairman has noted, raises a lot of questions about why, with
your background with the Chamber of Commerce you would want to
take on a position which is described under law as being a
neutral party in the settlement of disputes that arise between
Federal agencies and unions on matters outlined in the Federal
Service Labor Management Relations statute.
In the past 12 years you have been very outspoken and very
anti-union on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce. On issue after
issue, statute after statute, you have questioned worker
protections. You have supported the dilution of a variety of
protections of workers. You opposed OSHA regulations on safety
and health. You opposed provisions of the 1991 Civil Rights Act
that provides compensatory damage remedies and jury trials for
violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. You
advocated a policy that would exempt from employment
discrimination laws for 18 months employers who hired former
welfare recipients. You have consistently opposed increases in
Federal minimum wages and other minimum wages.
Can you understand why the labor unions are a little bit
worried if you are going to be their champion?
Mr. Eide. Yes, sir, I can. I can also say that those
positions that I took were as a representative of the Chamber.
And as you know, the Chamber of Commerce is composed solely of
businesses and employers and business associations. And their
concern was what impact those laws that were under
consideration at the time, or those regulations, would have on
them.
My job, as spokesperson for the Chamber, was to state what
the Chamber's concerns were and to effectively argue the
Chamber's position.
Senator Durbin. I understand that. I have been an attorney,
too, and I know that you represent your client. But I am going
to have to take you to the obvious question. I believe you are
a man of principle. Are you saying then that you were stating
positions which you did not personally agree with when you
represented the Chamber of Commerce?
Mr. Eide. I cannot say that applies to all of the issues
that you raised. There were concerns that I personally had
regarding some of the regulations that were proposed. The
welfare reform statute is a good example. What we thought would
be appropriate would be an exception for some employers for
liability under various Federal discrimination laws, so that it
would serve as an encouragement to hire people on welfare.
As it turned out, in that economic age or time period,
there was a shortage of employees nationwide and it was not
necessary to add an inducement for employers to hire people off
of welfare.
Senator Durbin. I only have a limited time, maybe 2 minutes
left here.
I note in your biography that before law school, or perhaps
at the same time as you were pursuing your legal education, you
were a member of a public employees union, and I suppose a
representative of that union, in the work that you were doing.
What would you say is the reason for unions? Why do you
believe that we have unions today?
Mr. Eide. I think that unions can provide a mouthpiece for
an employee, for all employees, an effective mouthpiece. In my
case, that was a situation where you had a management that
required formal notification of what employees rights were and
constant reminders of what employee rights were that might not
be able to be conveyed to management by individuals and could
easily be conveyed through a spokesperson. And I was that
spokesperson at that time.
Senator Durbin. Mr. Eide, in a 1997 article appearing in
the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, you were quoted in
reference to the Fair Labor Standards Act. You said as follows:
``the raison d'etre of unions is antagonism.''
That is a harsh statement. If I am a member of a union or
representing people in a union and I hear that you want to be
my advocate now and you believe that the reason unions exist is
to antagonize an employer, I am not sure I am going to get a
fair shake from you.
What you have just stated was a union serves as a
mouthpiece. If you had a little more time you might come up
with a different word. I hope you will.
But I hope you understand that on this side of the table,
this is a curious nomination by the administration. As I said,
I can think of a hundred jobs that would be perfect for someone
from the Chamber of Commerce. I do not think this is one of
them. Thank you.
Senator Voinovich. Senator Akaka.
Senator Akaka. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Eide, the General Counsel of the Federal Labor
Relations Authority has broad prosecutorial discretion in
determining whether to pursue allegations of unfair labor
practices and operates, to a large extent, without review by
the members of the Authority or any court. Refusal to pursue
allegations of misconduct leaves the injured party without any
legal recourse.
Given this considerable responsibility, what factors will
you use in deciding whether to take such an action?
Mr. Eide. To prosecute a case?
Senator Akaka. Correct.
Mr. Eide. There are a whole lot of factors to consider,
that must be considered. What exactly happened to the
individual? What is the complaint? What is the likelihood of it
being resolved through methods other than litigation? What
remedies can be provided to the individual if it, in fact,
occurred, if the individual did in fact suffer some sort of
discrimination or adverse impact? What is the remedy that is
involved and how will that be brought about? How can that be
achieved through the system where the employee works?
Those are a few of the considerations. I think that has to
be just some of them. There have to be a number of other
considerations that would go through my mind, as well.
I cannot list them all right now, right offhand, but it is
not something that is what you would call a slam dunk, by any
means. It would have to be very deliberate and would require
assessing a lot of facts, gathering and assessing a lot of
facts in every single case.
Senator Akaka. Legislation creating the Department of
Homeland Security provided the new Department with great
flexibility with its human resources management system. This
includes the authority to waive or modify Chapter 71 of Title
5, which governs labor management relations.
Such authority could have major implications on how labor
management relations are handled and what matters, if any, may
come before your office. Do you have any recommendations as to
what modifications should be made to Chapter 71 as it applies
to the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Eide. I do not have such a recommendation at this time.
I am sure that I will develop some over time, but I cannot
articulate those at this point. I simply do not know.
I know that there has to be some changes made. The
Chairman's comments about human capital issues, and revising
some issues in that area were intriguing because before I was a
lawyer or a labor relations rep, I was a human resources
manager and still am a member of the Society for Human
Resources Management. I chose to follow my mother's footsteps
rather than my father's footsteps. She was an human resource
manager for many years. For some reason I took to that rather
than my father's profession, pharmacy.
But I am familiar with the fundamental tenets of human
resource management and I really appreciate the comments that
the Chairman made about revisions to human capital issues and
working that side of the homeland security problem or
activation that I referred to earlier.
Senator Akaka. I want to thank you, Mr. Eide, for your
response. I hope you will keep this Committee updated on your
activities and also on any recommended changes you may be
proposing. As has been indicated here, there are concerns about
your experiences and some of your comments, but I wish you well
on this nomination.
Mr. Eide. Thank you.
Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you Senator Akaka.
Mr. Eide, I would like you to do a couple of things. First
one is to ask you to share your philosophy on labor
management's relationships, and how you envision your job
responsibilities.
And the second one would be what steps--maybe you ought to
answer the latter question before the former. That is what
steps have you taken thus far to prepare for this position?
Mr. Eide. I have read a number of Authority cases. I have
read large parts of the General Counsel's, former General
Counsel's statements, guidance documents on labor relations and
alternative dispute resolution.
I have read the statute carefully several times. I have
amassed a very small library of reference documents regarding
Federal Sector Labor Relations.
I have joined the ABA Section on Federal Sector Labor Law
and become active in that group. I have become a member of the
Society for Federal Labor Relations Professionals--I do not
know if that is the correct name of the group--and attended
their meetings.
And I have tried my best to become active in issues that
involve Federal Sector Labor Relations.
I do not know what more I could have done. I held down a
job in another area at the same time and was a single parent to
one of the people sitting behind me.
So I did what I could and I look forward to doing a whole
lot more as the situation will permit. Once I no longer have to
have two jobs and worry about two sectors, the public sector
and private sector, I can focus on the public sector, Federal
sector work.
In answer to your other question, on my philosophy on labor
management relationships, the quintessential labor management
relationship, productive labor management relationship, was
what I experienced when I was a labor management rep at Martin
Marietta in Baltimore. There was a 2,000 person bargaining unit
represented by the United Auto Workers. And the UAW had been
there since the early 1940's or late 1930's, I believe. They
had a very sophisticated relationship.
And I got to witness firsthand how management could,
working with the union, resolve disputes early and thoroughly
effectively, and refine disputes that could not be resolved
easily or quickly so that they could be resolved at the next
higher level, which usually involved corporate representatives
and national union representatives or international
representatives of the union. I witnessed those bargaining
sessions, as well, and saw again firsthand how a very
sophisticated and effective collective bargaining relationship
works.
I appreciated the fact that the union was there, had been
there for a long time and did have a great relationship with
the company. The company appreciated that and they were able to
do, I think, great things in their industry.
As you know, that company no longer exists but has been
merged with another large defense contractor. And I think they
still have the same relationship.
Senator Voinovich. I do not know the answer to this
question. How many employees will you have? I know that you are
in charge of seven regional offices. Do you know how many
people you will actually be responsible for?
Mr. Eide. Good question. I believe it is in the area of 90.
It might be a few more or a few less, I am not sure.
Senator Voinovich. Have you had any management experience,
90 people, in terms of organizational experience? You have got
regional offices, you have got people. What kind of experience
have you had in that regard?
Mr. Eide. In setting up regional offices?
Senator Voinovich. I am just talking about management
experience generally. For example, the job that you have now,
how many people are you responsible for? Prior to this, the
jobs that you have had, how many people were you responsible
for, in terms of management?
Mr. Eide. The direct line management relationship was not
there when I worked at Martin Marietta. It was a dotted line
relationship. I was in a position to advise line managers and
section managers and section directors on how to achieve their
human resources and labor relations goals, and when necessary,
effectively recommend action, disciplinary action if it was
necessary, in that area.
So it was not direct management relationship by any means,
but it was certainly dotted line, and certainly involved in the
management decisions and instrumental in what decisions were.
Senator Voinovich. How about when you were with the FLRB?
Did you have any management responsibilities there?
Mr. Eide. You mean at the National Labor Relations Board?
Senator Voinovich. Yes, the NLRB?
Mr. Eide. Other than training employees, I was a senior
examiner at the NLRB, and many new employees were assigned to
work with me for varying lengths of time. My job was to train
them and to supervise their daily activities, their daily work.
Other than that, there was no direct management.
Senator Voinovich. How about the Chamber?
Mr. Eide. Again, other than my personal staff, there is no
direct management. However, the Chamber is, I think, an unusual
operation because there is--a good example is I recently
conceived and produced and directed a webcast show involving
several people from OSHA and individuals from various
companies.
My job was to coordinate all of the activities and have
everybody at the Chamber do what they were supposed to do. The
camera work, getting the web site ready, getting the
information and the actual video presentation on the web site.
Again, it was not direct management, it was getting people to
do their jobs with respect to my particular interest and on a
timely basis, and a thorough and competent basis.
Again, it was a--I like to describe it as a dotted line or
matrix-type of operation. And that was successful and it is on
the web site now. It is a webcast on ergonomics, of all things,
and it can be viewed by going to the Chamber's web site.
Senator Voinovich. Is there anything else that you want to
share with me this morning?
Mr. Eide. No, I appreciate your having this hearing and
considering the nomination and I stand ready to answer any
questions that you may have.
Senator Voinovich. We are going to adjourn the hearing and
we are going to leave the record open until 5 o'clock in case
there are other Members of the Committee who were not able to
be here.
I apologize, that is the way it is around the Senate. I
have had a lot of these hearings, and sometimes I am the only
one who is here. So we are lucky to have a couple of other
Senators here.
Mr. Eide. As you know, I am a lobbyist and I have seen
umpteen hearings in both the House and the Senate.
Senator Voinovich. Then you understand. I just want to
explain to your family. It is an important hearing. It is just
that Senators, at any given hour of the day we could probably
be at three places and each of them is a legitimate use of our
time.
So again, I want to thank you very much, and thank the
family for coming here today with you, and we look forward to
seeing you again.
As I say, we will leave the record open but I will recess
the hearing
[Whereupon, at 10:22 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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