After four years of contentious negotiations, the Education Department reached a final settlement with its federal union.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents close to 4,000 Education Department employees, lauded the resolution as a “huge victory” for the union in a Nov. 21 press release.

The settlement initially stemmed from the agency’s decision in March 2018 to end all ongoing negotiations with AFGE and implement its own document of union terms and policies.

“Most of the disputes flowed from that one action,” AFGE Deputy General Counsel Cathie McQuiston said in an interview with Federal News Network. “The agency continued to try and enforce their unlawful contract over three years. The subsequent violations, as far as taking our official time, taking the union offices, not allowing the union to bargain, not allowing us the use of a grievance and arbitration procedure — all those subsequent disputes flowed from the original decision to impose their contract unilaterally on us.”

An Education Department spokesperson confirmed to Federal News Network that the agreement was reached, but did not provide additional comments about the settlement.

After Education released its union policy document, AFGE filed a host of charges against agency between March 2018 and August 2020, including 14 unfair labor practice complaints (ULPs), 10 grievances and arbitration cases, and much more.

The 2018 terms that Education put forward, after ending union negotiations, didn’t include previously-agreed-to policies on telework, training and disability exceptions, to name a few.

The terms also included stricter policies around union employees’ use of official time, and restrictions on the union’s use of the department’s office space and supplies. Education removed about 600 Education employees from payroll dues deduction between July 2018 and 2020, AFGE said.

The agency document additionally changed policies around employee performance standards and relocated both the Chicago and Dallas regional offices. AFGE said it never agreed to the terms that Education put forward.

At the time, the inconsistent guidance left Education employees feeling confused and demoralized.

“This was a really difficult, contentious period,” McQuiston said.

The agency’s contract terms were initially intended to remain in effect through 2025, but now just four years later, the settlement created a new collective bargaining agreement, which replaced the previous contract that Education put forward without union negotiations.

The new agreement between AFGE and Education will remain in place until at least May 2023. At that point, either or both of the parties will be able to reopen provisions to negotiations. But as of now, there haven’t been any decisions on next steps for the collective bargaining agreement.

In addition to the new agreement, some of the changes coming from the settlement included restoring payroll dues deductions, refunding lost union dues, returning union office space and equipment, and compensating union officials for previously denied official time. Bargaining unit employees will now also be able to file grievances over the agency’s actions, when or if needed — the 2018 policy from Education previously prohibited the practice.

The recent settlement was the result of years of negotiations between the agency and the union. AFGE said it was more easily able to negotiate after the end of the Trump administration.

“We tried along the way to resolve it unsuccessfully for most of that time,” McQuiston said. “The final settlement agreement that we entered into, we spent a little over a year on the specific terms of that agreement.”

Now, AFGE said it hopes to continue rebuilding its relationship with the agency.

“As with many agencies in the Trump administration, it was a contentious relationship between the union and management, and this was no exception,” McQuiston said. “Hopefully that can be improved upon, and we can work together to make it a great place to work at the Department of Education.”

McQuiston also said she hopes the years-long negotiations also serve as a “lesson” to future administrations.

“AFGE is always going to fight for the rights of the employees we represent and our rights as the union,” said McQuiston said in a press statement. “And this fight took over four years, but we turned back all the illegal attempts by the Trump administration to bust the union at Department of Education. We had our rights restored and want this to be a lesson for any future administrations that try these kind of union-busting tactics that AFGE will never give up fighting for the employees we represent.”

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