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FLRA San Francisco office explains how federal employees can petition for union elections
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Summary
Vanessa Lim of the FLRA’s San Francisco Regional Office outlined who is covered, the 30% showing requirement, what documents count, where to file, and timing limits such as the election, certification, and contract bars.
Vanessa Lim of the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s San Francisco Regional Office outlined steps federal employees must take to seek union representation through an FLRA‑administered election. She said a union or group of employees can petition the FLRA to hold an election to determine whether employees want representation for collective bargaining.
Why it matters: The FLRA is the federal agency that oversees representation elections for most civilian federal employees. Workers seeking collective bargaining representation must meet statutory eligibility requirements, assemble required documentation and file in the correct regional office; mistakes can delay or bar an election.
Lim described the first practical step as confirming eligibility under federal law. “Under the Federal Service Labor‑Management Relations Statute, a union can petition the FLRA to hold an election among federal employees to determine if they want representation for collective bargaining purposes,” she said. She emphasized that the statute covers federal employees only; state, local and private‑sector workers are excluded, and postal service employees are governed by a different law administered by the National Labor Relations Board.
Lim listed several agency and employee exclusions, noting that some agencies (she named the FBI, CIA and GAO) are expressly excluded from the statute and that other agencies may be excluded by executive order for national‑security reasons. She also said the statute excludes supervisors, managers, confidential employees, personnelists, employees whose work directly affects national security, and auditors of agency employees.
Organizers must either find a labor organization willing to represent them or form their own. Lim said organizations forming their own union must follow statutory and regulatory requirements and submit required documentation to relevant agencies: “If you are establishing your own union, you need to comply with 5 USC 7111(e) and 5 CFR 2422.3 and submit documentation to the Department of Labor, including a roster of representatives and a copy of your constitution and bylaws,” she said.
A showing of interest from at least 30% of the employees in the proposed unit is required to file a petition. Lim explained that acceptable evidence may include authorization cards, petitions, dues‑allotment forms, membership proof or other approved evidence and that a petition should include a preamble stating its purpose and be signed and dated by each employee. She noted timing rules: signatures must be dated within one year of filing (or within two years when an election would include more than 10,000 employees). “Electronic signatures are not allowed. However, the FLRA accepts scanned documents with actual signatures,” Lim said.
Petitions should be filed with the regional director of the FLRA region where the affected employees or unit are located (for example, offices in California or Hawaii file with the San Francisco regional office). If the proposed unit spans multiple regions, Lim advised filing in the region where the agency or activity headquarters are located and said the petition can be filed in person, by mail or electronically. She also instructed petitioners to serve a copy of the petition on the agency but not to provide the agency with the showing of interest; the showing must be submitted to the FLRA with an alphabetized list of signers.
Lim warned of timing restrictions that can prevent an election: the election bar (no more than one valid union election per year), the certification bar (no election within a year of FLRA certifying a union), and the contract bar (circumstances where an existing lawful contract precludes a new election). She recommended contacting the regional office to discuss whether any of these bars apply in a given case.
The FLRA’s San Francisco Regional Office offers guidance online, including forms and an e‑filing video, and staff are available to answer questions about filing and procedural requirements.
