Tensions come as negotiations continue over other important issues. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Union strife at consumer watchdog

Tensions are rising among members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s union as a growing faction, dissatisfied with how the bureau handles employee grievances, push for the ouster of the chapter’s president, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

Two of the union’s five executive board members have resigned in recent weeks, accusing the president of the chapter — part of the National Treasury Employees Union — of sidestepping their authority and installing a “shadow board” to conduct union business, while NTEU’s national leaders look the other way.


Last month, a group of more than 45 employees signed a letter calling for “important structural changes” to the chapter’s leadership, and said they no longer believed it was representing their interests.

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“We are exploring a number of options ranging from asking the Executive Board to commit to third-party mediation, to calling a special meeting of the membership, to requesting resignations,” the Aug. 13 letter said.

The move underscores a growing divide among members of the bureau’s union in the wake of revelations about problems with hiring practices, employee diversity and discrimination at CFPB, which have been the focal point of a House GOP investigation for several months.

One of the bureau’s chief challenges as a new agency created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law was to set the policy direction for the new financial watchdog. The other huge challenge was actually building a new government agency — including finding office space, hiring workers and eventually, dealing with a new union — with the goal of making sure it doesn’t become another big bureaucracy.

The upheaval could provide a new political opening for CFPB critics eager to paint the bureau as a workplace in chaos.

It also comes as the union and CFPB negotiate over several significant issues, including the development of a new framework to evaluate employee performance, and the backlog of employee grievances relating to discrimination.

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Some union members claim Chapter President Rob Cauldwell — an examiner for the bureau’s Southeast region based in Jacksonville, Fla. — is undermining their position, supporting management to the detriment of workers, sharing sensitive emails with CFPB officials and keeping the board and other union representatives in the dark, according to the resignation letters of the two former board members, and the letter signed by 45 employees.

In a statement Monday, Cauldwell touted the work the union has done on behalf of workers, noting “major gains” relating to pay, travel policies and improvements to the way employees are evaluated. He said ensuring a workplace “free of discrimination” continues to be a top priority.

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“There have been some disagreements about the authority of the president versus the authority of the board,” he acknowledged. “Even as this internal discussion continues, the chapter is being run according to the bylaws adopted by chapter members.”

The divisions first became apparent in May when Republicans who control the House Financial Services Committee called Benjamin Konop, the executive vice president of Chapter 335, to testify about allegations of discrimination at CFPB.

The NTEU’s national leaders, who had said little about the allegations as they were unfolding, issued a lengthy statement making clear that Konop’s testimony — detailing perceived problems with how the bureau handled discrimination complaints by employees — did not represent the views of the union.

“The NTEU Chapter 335 bylaws designate the Chapter President Robert Cauldwell as the official spokesperson for the chapter,” NTEU President Colleen Kelley said, noting that both she and Cauldwell had volunteered to testify.

Kelley said Cauldwell “has been instrumental in presenting the union proposals to remedy these matters.”

In an Aug. 27 email to employees, Executive Board Secretary Craig Erdmann said he was resigning from the board over “a fundamental disagreement between the Board and the president about who decides the policies of the union.”

“The Executive Board believes the bylaws rest this authority in the Board, while the president believes it rests solely in him,” Erdmann, an attorney in the Office of General Counsel, wrote in the email.

The national office sidestepped the infighting at the CFPB.

“NTEU works with the chapter to abide by the bylaws which were adopted by chapter members to govern the operation of the chapter and the respective roles of chapter officers,” Kelley said in a statement Monday.

A CFPB spokeswoman declined to specifically comment on internal union business.

“We support our employees’ right to choose their union representation, and will continue to work with the NTEU on the issues that matter to our employees,” spokeswoman Jennifer Howard said.

The CFPB earlier this year agreed to scrap its employee performance evaluation system after reports surfaced that minorities routinely received lower ratings than white employees. It also agreed to pay out approximately $5.5 million to compensate employees that may have received a lower rating than they deserved.

The union is still negotiating with the bureau on a new framework for evaluating employee performance.

Treasurer Angela Martin — whose grievance became the focal point of a series of House Financial Services Committee hearings about discrimination within the bureau — said Cauldwell has refused attempts to mediate differences with the board, and he also refused to meet or hold calls with the other board members.

Martin said Cauldwell also unilaterally withdrew a request for information from the union to CFPB management without discussing it with the board or with the union stewards, who handle and process grievances on behalf of employees.

“Under Cauldwell, the Chapter is becoming an arm of management and we, the workers, are being harmed, collectively and individually,” Martin wrote in a July 24 email to workers, announcing her resignation from the board.

Martin declined to comment for this story, and Erdmann did not respond to requests for comment.

In a “resolution” obtained by POLITICO that was presented to CFPB Director Richard Cordray last month, several board members insist the chapter bylaws do not grant the president jurisdiction to make unilateral decisions, noting such a provision “would be undemocratic and likely illegal, and is antithetical to Chapter 335, to the Executive Board and most of all, to CFPB workers.” It’s not clear who voted for the resolution or when it was adopted.

In her email to employees, Martin said she and others have also filed several unfair labor practice charges against Cauldwell with the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

While some sources speculated that the union could take over and run the chapter — known as receivership — Kelley said they were not contemplating that move.

Based on his interactions with NTEU’s national leaders, Erdmann said he believes they would prefer a “unilateral actor” running the chapter.

“Their interests will regularly diverge from yours,” he wrote in an email to employees, “and it is easier for National if they can deal with one person who dictates.”

“They have not helped the board resolve its personal conflicts,” he added.