Author Archives: AdminUN

About AdminUN

FEDSMILL staff has over 40 years of federal sector labor relations experience on the union as well as management side of the table and even some time as a neutral.

MSPB SUDDENLY OUTLAWS MOST RETROACTIVE REQUESTS FOR FMLA If you think you can ask for FMLA leave retroactively, think again.  It is not always possible. The Board has held in the past that an employee is not required to specifically … Continue reading

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MSPB HIGHLIGHTS SICK LEAVE AND DISABILITY RIGHTS The Board recently wrote that an agency cannot rest an AWOL charge solely on an employee’s failure to submit medical documentation on a particular form. If the employee has sufficient sick leave to … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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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. … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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