Monthly Archives: April 2018

ATTORNEY FEE TURMOIL AHEAD? In NAGE and DOD, DLA, 69 FLRA 572 (2016) the Authority signaled that it is willing to reconsider the criteria for approving employee attorney fee petitions. Given the pre-disposition of the two Trump appointees, Kiko and Abbott, unions and … Continue reading

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HOW UNIONS CAN BOOST MEMBERSHIP AND OFFICIAL TIME Now that FSIP has announced that it is going to reduce unions’ official time allotment if the unions do not increase their activity on behalf of employees, unions need to step up … Continue reading

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WHAT IS CO-WORKER HARASSMENT? This VA case will give you a good idea. In a case of co-worker harassment, an agency is responsible for acts of harassment in the workplace where the agency (or its agents) knew or should have … Continue reading

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WE STAND CORRECTED; CONGRATS NFFE! No sooner had we posted the story about AFGE reporting 18 consecutive years of membership growth and concluded that they outdid everyone else then we learned that NFFE rocked the federal sector labor community by … Continue reading

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A MINISTER, A MULLAH AND A MOHEL… simultaneously report to the Herring Brook District Office of a federal agency for their first day of work. They were each hired as Customer Service Representatives for the agency.  The Mullah and the … Continue reading

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SAY “THANKS, BUT NO THANKS” TO BACK PAY FROM FSIP OR INTEREST ARBITRATORS Few things make a union negotiator and members as happy as a Panel order that makes a pay increase retroactive. A fistful of cash relieves a lot … Continue reading

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THE AMAZING AFGE While there are things that AFGE could do better, it is hard to imagine it or any other federal employee union doing a better job at building membership year after year. In fact, we can’t find another … Continue reading

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DON’T STOP READING WITH THIS FMLA/ADA HEADLINE The Supreme Court just decided to not overturn a 7th Circuit decision that held a disabled employee was not entitled to additional leave once his/her FMLA leave ran out. The typical story headline reporting … Continue reading

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NEGOTIATORS, DON’T MAKE THIS MANAGER’S MISTAKE Here are the facts. The union asked to negotiate over a proposed agency mid-term change.  The parties met a few times to negotiate over the topic and the management rep let the union know … Continue reading

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GRIEVANCE QUIZ: ALMOST PERFECT EXCEPT FOR … Below is a hypothetical grievance inspired by one that actually went to arbitration and FLRA. The union lost on a technicality in both forums. See if you can spot the error before we … Continue reading

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