Many people are surprised to learn that attorneys in the SEC are actually part of a union--National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 293, to be specific. And just like birds gotta fly and fish gotta swim, unions gotta file some grievances. This week, NTEU Chapter 293 filed a national grievance claiming that attorneys in the SEC's Trial Unit are "getting the short end of the stick" when it comes to picking their own offices in a new building.

According to the union, an upcoming move planned for many employees from SEC headquarters to new space in nearby Station Place 3 requires the SEC "to negotiate with the employees' Union representatives over certain issues, including how offices will be selected. Under the SP3 agreement that the Union reached with management, employees are permitted to select an office based upon their seniority from among offices assigned to their 'Work Unit.'"

The SEC's new Chief Litigation Counsel in the Trial Unit, however, wanted to change past practices, and have all members of the Trial Unit "closely clustered near the Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel to whom they are assigned."  The union argued that this change in practice would limit the number of offices that the Trial Unit members would have to choose from, and had not been "bargained for" with the union. According to the union, the SEC nonetheless "decided to simply mandate this change unilaterally," leading to the grievance that will now go to arbitration.

NTEU Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman said it "really is unfortunate that we were required to file this grievance. We polled the affected Trial Unit attorneys, and they were overwhelmingly opposed to this unilateral diminishment of the office selection process that they had previously enjoyed." NTEU attorney Ralph Talarico, who will be handling the arbitration of this matter, added that "it seems ironic that management of the SEC's law enforcement Trial Unit would disregard the requirements of federal labor law by unilaterally changing the office selection policy, as it is this type of conduct they are charged with prosecuting when it comes to the disregard of the federal securities laws."