The Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) is the union representing patent agency employees. In January, 2001, the USPTO and POPA signed an agreement calling for the agency to maintain a 10%-15% pay differential over equivalent government employee pay rates for five years, so as to maintain examiners and minimize turnover. As one patent examiner put it, "an understandable stance as the position requires advanced degrees for optimal performance."

The agency denies that such a differential was ever to be maintained. Various explanations have been offered by management at employee meetings such as (1) pay agreements are handled by OPM and, therefore, PTO lacked authority to sign a binding pay agreement when it signed the agreement and (2) the agreement was for a one-time and one-time only pay raise.

POPA was just handed a rousing victory by the arbitrator for this, finding for POPA on virtually every issue of contention. From the POPA email to its members -

The Arbitrator agreed with POPA that the remedy should provide for the full amount of pay to maintain the 10% and 15% differentials over the DC area GS pay. Furthermore, the Arbitrator has retained jurisdiction over the administration of the remedy(ies) that the agency and POPA may propose. This puts us one giant step closer to realizing the pay deal that management made with us in the Millennium Agreement.

POPA expects office management to appeal.