6 U.S.C. § 412 — Labor-management relations

(a) Limitation on exclusionary authority. (1) In general: An agency (or part of one) moved into the Department under this chapter keeps its normal union-bargaining coverage under Title 5, chapter 71. An order issued after June 18, 2002 cannot take away that coverage unless both (A) the agency's mission and responsibilities materially change, and (B) most of its employees now mainly do intelligence, counterintelligence, or terrorism-investigation work. (2) Exclusions allowable: This limit does not affect an order that excludes part of an agency where (A) that part was never recognized as a bargaining unit, or (B) its recognition was already revoked or ended by a decision made under subsection (b)(1). (b) Provisions relating to bargaining units. (1) Limitation relating to appropriate units: A unit recognized as an appropriate bargaining unit the day before this chapter's effective date keeps that recognition after moving to the Department, unless (A) its mission and responsibilities materially change, and (B) most of its employees now mainly do intelligence, counterintelligence, or terrorism-investigation work. (2) Limitation relating to positions or employees: No job or employee within a protected unit can be excluded from it unless that job's main duty (A) materially changes, and (B) becomes intelligence, counterintelligence, or terrorism-investigation work. For jobs created, or employees first hired, on or after the effective date, only the (B) requirement applies — the "materially changes" requirement in (A) is dropped. (c) Waiver: If the President decides that applying subsections (a), (b), and (d) would seriously hurt the Department's ability to protect homeland security, the President may waive those subsections. The waiver takes effect 10 days after the President sends Congress a written explanation of the reasons. (d) Coordination rule: No other part of this chapter, and no amendment made by it, can be read to limit, override, or otherwise affect this section — unless it specifically says it is changing this section. (e) Rule of construction: A separate law, 5 U.S.C. § 9701(e), does not apply to any agency (or part of one) excluded from union coverage by an order made under section 7103(b) of title 5 and this section — nor to that agency's employees, nor to anyone or any entity representing them.