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.

MARYLAND LAWYER SAVES BREASTFEEDING CBP OFFICER Socorro Thome was a trained and experienced Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO) in the tough port of El Paso, Texas when she became pregnant in November 2010.  At that point, she began light … Continue reading

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GRIEVANCE DRAFTING TIPS 4, 5, & 6 Before we turn to three other parts of a grievance where you can boost its winning potential and impact, remember this.  If you were unable to draft the grievance broadly enough during the … Continue reading

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GRIEVANCE DRAFTING TIPS 1, 2 & 3 Most contracts merely require the union to put the following in the grievance: 1- Article and section violated, 2- Description of the grieved event, and 3- Remedy desired.   As clear as that or … Continue reading

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WE REALLY LIKE THIS WEB SITE Although great web sites are not the cure for everything that ails unions, they can do a lot of good, such as A-Z topic pages. So, we like to point out examples of good … Continue reading

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IT IS TIME FOR THE TALK. THE BIRDS, THE BEES AND THE PDA. How much do you really know about that facts of life and particularly pregnant employees? Probably not enough, especially if you cannot answer the five questions below. … Continue reading

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AFGE BOOSTS ITS FINANCIAL STRENGTH AFGE recently announced that it has paid off the mortgage on its headquarters building, located in a prime spot just a couple of blocks from the U.S. Congress in Washington, DC. Based on its DOL … Continue reading

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INTERESTING FURLOUGH MOU The FLRA just issued a decision describing the creative way that one union structured sequester furloughs through an MOU. The National Association of Independent Labor (NAIL) negotiated the following concerning employee rights to pick the days on … Continue reading

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POPA’S AWARD AGREEMENT ASTONISHING The Patent Office Professional Association is one of our favorite unions if for no other reason than it knows how to protect benefits once negotiated.  It wrote the book on how a union can dig its heals … Continue reading

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ANOTHER AMAZING AFGE ACCOMPLISHMENT If your read Joe Davidson’s column in Washington Post on February 16th, you already know about AFGE’s latest achievement in Homeland Security. We know it is a blockbuster because we cannot think of the last time … Continue reading

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MANIPULATING EXECUTIVE BOARD EXPERTISE While national union leaders are constantly asking agency managers to involve employees in workplace decisions, some leaders operate under constitutions that deliberately exclude the best local union leaders from also setting internal union policy.  We can’t point … Continue reading

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