The Federal Managers Association's new president, Patricia Niehaus, told Federal Times in an interview this month that technology could play a role in bargaining, but not to the extent of dictating what an agency should buy. An excerpt from the interview:
I think probably appropriate arrangements for using the technology would be a better area to bargain as opposed to the actual technology because I think that partially falls under the budget -- you know, purchasing technology is not cheap. . . . Right now, under the current labor relations, we would bargain on things like training for the technology, how long a person would have for a break-in period to get used to new technology, that kind of thing. So I think that would be a more appropriate avenue of bargaining on technology issues as opposed to, 'We want you to buy a Microsoft product instead of a brand X product,' or whatever.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Nextgov does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.