Posted on March 17, 2026 by AdminUN

THE KINGDOM OF NTEU – Part I

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is a very successful union of over 100,000 federal employee members across 35+ agencies with tens of millions in surplus investments. In many ways it is a model for how unions should operate. But it is also more of an autocratic kingdom run by one person alone than a democracy built atop checks, balances, and shared power as the law requires. (5 USC §7120) I know that because I worked for the union for 38 years, held its second highest elected political office for over a decade, and remain a member today. Consequently, I am going to use the FEDSMILL forum to highlight what is questionable, if not plain wrong, with the union and offer some suggestions to move it closer to the open democracy it should be.  I will not only focus on certain aspects of the union’s governance, but also compare it to how three other unions operate. The first is the National Labor Relations Board Union (NLRBU) whose members are experts in labor law and union operations. The second is the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) which has the highest percentage of union membership among the feds it represents. The third is the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) which is the biggest federal employee union.  If I do this right, it should generate some serious questioning among local NTEU leaders as well as changes at its next convention, if not sooner. It should also help those in other unions consider what they want to adopt from the NTEU model. This first part of the series examines several flaws in the national elected leadership of NTEU.  Continue reading →

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Posted on March 17, 2026 by AdminUN

DO NOT SIGN THIS  FORM; TELL EVERYONE

As part of his plans to destroy America’s civil service as an effective institution protecting citizens, Trump has created a fictional status for federal employees that will enable him, Elon or whatever other mogul, hanger-on, groupie, or family member wants to fire a fed for any reason at all without  appeal rights.  God help these feds if they do not raise an arm in praise of him, or offend a donor, or protest the demolition of the White House in favor of a neo-bordello, Mara Largo theme,  or get in the way of one of his family’s get-rich-quick-while-in-office schemes.  It is the exact opposite of what President Teddy Roosevelt proved that the public needed from government and that the law allows.  Unions, which are proving to be the last line of defense for a legitimate civil service, have moved to the courts to stop Trump from doing this. But in the meantime, it looks like the White House mafia is going to try to trick feds into signing away their rights by insisting they waive every protection they have under the law no matter what the courts say. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 10, 2026 by AdminUN

HOW TO FIGHT A WITHIN-GRADE OR ALOC DENIAL

You do not often hear about step increase denials, also known as WIGI or ALOC denials, but they are a big deal for an employee and not the easiest things to grieve or challenge.  The first step for a union rep lacking experience with these denials probably should be to look over the four following FEDSMILL posts to get a big picture view of what is possible and mistakes to avoid. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 10, 2026 by AdminUN

TDY POV/PARKING FEES: WEBSITE ESTIMATIONS V. REALITY

Terri, a Dep’t. of Interior employee, took an Uber to the airport for  her four-day trip.  When she filed a voucher asking for the agency to reimburse her $40.00 costs, it refused to pay.  It alleged that if she had taken a cab, Uber or similar ride to the airport it would only have cost her $16.74. It based that on a website estimation of what the cost of the trip would have been on average. The employee appealed to the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) which is where feds take travel disputes if they cannot grieve the agency’s denial. The Board slapped Interior down and ordered Terri fully paid.  But it is the reasoning it used that is important because we would not be surprised if other agencies are also using website estimations to reject employee travel claims. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 4, 2026 by AdminUN

NFFE WINS AGAIN—AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

NFFE just announced it latest organizing victory adding another 174 workers to its Forest Service unit, but the even better news is that NFFE has won 60 straight organizing drives in 2025 and has already added 10 more to that streak. That kind of success is unheard of and an enormous testament to what the national leadership is doing there.  It is also further evidence that The King of the golden gilded, bordello-like White House has created a Trump Bump for unions. Congrats NFFE.

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Posted on March 4, 2026 by AdminUN

BORDER PATROL HUMBLED BY TRUMPERS AGAIN

Once it endorsed Trump in the 2016 election, he rewarded the Border Patrol Council with the most lavish collective bargaining agreement ever negotiated in the federal sector. (It was particularly sumptuous for the union leadership that was given near-endless amounts of official time. See our 2019 post entitled, “Trump Pay Off Border Patrol Union.”)  But things have not gone so well for them since, as seen this week when Trump’s two FLRA appointees overturned a union arbitration victory. Continue reading →

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Posted on February 17, 2026 by AdminUN

20+ FLRA PRECEDENTS UNION NEGOTIATORS MUST KNOW

Having spent over 30 years as a union’s chief negotiator,  I am convinced that for a union to succeed at the table it needs to know ever bargaining right it has under law. Otherwise, it is going to miss an opportunity, fall for a management trick, or embarrass itself.  For example, a union-hating DHS negotiator convinced the FSIP to take quick jurisdiction over the ground rules (GR) for reopening our term contract that the union did not want reopened anytime soon.  As expected, the Panel screwed the union by ordering us to accept management’s proposed GR despite our argument that they were riddled with gaps and ambiguity. When DHS negotiator called to gloat and arrange a signing date, he offered to clarify some provisions and fill some gaps if we signed immediately. BANG! BIG MISTAKE! I HAD HIM!  I said, “Sure, just send over your proposals and thanks for being so reasonable.”  When he sent his proposed changes, I sent back counter proposals rather than sign them as he expected. Why? Because a little-known piece of case law held that he had just reopened negotiations—something the management negotiator did not know. His error required management to go back to the bargaining table before any FSIP decision had to be implemented.  The agency fired him when it found out how badly he had blundered and the union got the bargaining GR it wanted and ultimately a very good new contract.   We have pulled together almost  two dozen critical bargaining case law precedents that, if used, boost union bargaining power. Just click here

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Posted on February 16, 2026 by AdminUN

NTEU’S BOARD VOTES FOR LESS MEMBER DEMOCRACY

It was bound to happen that leaders would start to copy Trump’s control tricks, but it is sad to see a union leader doing it to her members.  One of the most fundamental elements of democracy within a union is the right of a member to file charges against the union president for violating law, regulation, or union policy. Given that union president’s are predisposed to reject any claims they did wrong –as we all are, democracy requires that the member have the right to appeal the president’s dismissal of charges to the executive board and on to the convention. If there is no right of appeal, by definition you have an autocratic president—or to be more blunt, you have a Mini-Trump. NTEU’s national executive board just voted to make its president’s dismissal of charges unappealable to the board or the convention. Here is the very crafty way they did it. Continue reading →

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Posted on February 12, 2026 by AdminUN

AFGE LED THE WAY ON TELEWORK TERMINATION REMEDIES

Last week NTEU announced it had just won several arbitrations overturning the nutty White House “vengeance-against-feds” decision to unilaterally terminate telework programs throughout government. Great legal work. In assume other unions are having similar success and that is wonderful. But the real measure of whether unions are successful with these grievances will be whether they get tangible remedies that will make members cherish them even more.  My all-time favorite telework remedy was won by AFGE in a case entitled, HUD and AFGE, Local 3856,  66 FLRA No. 23 (2011).  FLRA upheld the union’s grievance wherein “the Arbitrator directed the Agency to compensate teleworkers for additional mileage travel expenses agreements (the travel-expenses remedy) that they incurred as a result of not being able to telework under the terms of their prior agreements.” KA-CHING, KA-CHING.  But there are also some other great remedies to be had.  For example,…   Continue reading →

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Posted on February 12, 2026 by AdminUN

WHERE ADA MEETS FMLA

The Deakins law firm just posted a useful advice memo written for managers.  But, it is just as useful for union reps facing a situation where an employee needs time off (or more time off) due to a medical or psychological condition.  It is entitled, “ADA Meets FMLA: Where They Overlap and Where They Diverge.”  We recommend you forward it to whoever in your local deals with disability and FMLA claims. Better yet, pass it along to members to alert them to the possibilities when these crises arise in their families.

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