In 1993, the Clinton-Gore administration launched a comprehensive effort to reinvent the federal government. Labor-management partnership glued the various pieces of the reinvention blueprint together. The perceptions of two sets of pivotal stakeholders in the partnership effort mandated by Executive Order 12,871, partnership council representatives and the surrounding federal workforce, are examined. Council representatives viewed partnership as achieving some process effectiveness, which correlates with perceptions of the labor relations climate and partnership impacts. Although a sizable percentage of the federal workforce appeared largely unaware of partnership activities, many perceived a positive impact on labor-management relations. Significant differences existed between union and management council representatives. These findings have implications for the future of federal-sector labor-management cooperation, particularly in light of recent policy developments in the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Without a partnership mandate, such relations may revert to their more adversarial past.
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