EPA and Its Biggest Union Agree to Return to Bargaining Table

The EPA and its biggest union have agreed to return to the bargaining table and hammer out a new contract, agency chief Andrew Wheeler said in an internal email Dec. 5.

The announcement signals a possible end to an ongoing dispute between the Environmental Protection Agency and the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents some 7,500 of the agency’s 14,000 workers.

Under a new agreement, the AFGE will withdraw pending litigation over the July implementation of a new contract, which the union said was imposed without its input or consent.

But an EPA spokesperson earlier told Bloomberg Environment that ...