United States Department of Health & Human Services v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

OPINION

ERVIN, Chief Judge:

This case involves a dispute between the Federal Labor Relations Authority (the “FLRA” or the “Authority”) and the Social Security Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (the “SSA”) regarding the standard that should be applied when assessing whether the parties’ collective bargaining agreement has waived certain of the SSA employees’ statutory rights. We find that the “clear and unmistakable waiver” analysis, employed in this case by the FLRA, impermissibly biased the interpretation of the relevant collective bargaining agreement…