10.2190/TFWM-RTTQ-91WH-RLYX TFWMRTTQ91WHRLYX 245 FEDERAL-SECTOR LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS AT THE CROSSROADS: LESSONS FROM PARTNERSHIP 245 270 20040922 20040922 20040922 20040922 TFWMRTTQ91WHRLYX.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=TFWMRTTQ91WHRLYX 3 MARICK F. MASTERS ROBERT R. ALBRIGHT University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hartford, Connecticut Federal-sector labor-management relations stand at the crossroads. The parties may choose to compete or collaborate, a choice that is imminent according to legislation establishing the federal Department of Homeland Security. We inform the parties about the federal sector's experience with labor-management partnership in the past decade. Our evaluative study of partnership found that partnership-process elements were significantly correlated with perceptions of labor relations climate and agency-performance indicators. Union and management commitment to partnership, training, and union strength were factors critical to partnership success. We propose a cooperative model for DHS based on prior partnership best practices.