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.

CRITICIZING UNIONS Almost every time we write about a union in anything other than glowing terms we hear from a few folks, not many at all, that we should avoid criticizing unions in public, that union flaws should be kept … Continue reading

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LEAVES OF ABSENCE FOR PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES The folks over at FMLA Insights put out an interesting post this week about the error an employer made denying a disabled probationary employee a LOA. It is our guess the employer never thought … Continue reading

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HAS OPM CHANGED LEAVE “POLICY” IN OFFICE CLOSURE SITUATIONS? If you missed OPM’s latest effort to interfere with collective bargaining, double back and read it closely.  OPM has announced that it wants “to change an outdated leave practice.”  To be … Continue reading

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WOULD E-HARMONY MATCH NFFE WITH NTEU, AFGE OR IAMAW? (Revised) Match-making has gone high tech in nearly every corner of society.  Corporations long ago saw the value of strategic planning algorithms to find acquisitions, drive mergers, sell business lines, etc.  At … Continue reading

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WHO WERE THE HIGHEST PAID UNION OFFICIALS? A few weeks ago we compared the four major federal sector unions to one another with a particular focus on how each spends its dues money. (See “Compare AFGE, NATCA, NFFE & NTEU … Continue reading

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NTEU’S JUNK YARD DOGS FIND MILLIONS-AGAIN Junk yard dogs are famous for never letting go once they sink their teeth into something–no matter how hard the victim struggles and fights back.  A good union needs a few of them around, … Continue reading

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ARE THESE ADVERSE ACTION SUSPENSIONS LEGIT OR NOT? Look over these facts to figure out how you would represent these two employees.  Then we will tell you the official outcome of the case. The Department of Justice suspended two attorneys … Continue reading

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BEHOLD! THE MEGA GRIEVANCE OPTION Twenty years ago if Sherman, our hypothetical disappointed non-selected employee, walked into the union office complaining that he thought the promotion interview questions were chosen to make one particular applicant look better than all the … Continue reading

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FEDERAL EMPLOYEES LEGAL SURVIVAL GUIDE REPUBLISHED A tip of the hat to the law firm of Passman & Kaplan for its new book entitled, FEDERAL EMPLOYEES LEGAL SURVIVAL GUIDE (3rd ed.).  The firm, whose lawyers only represent employees and unions, has produced … Continue reading

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WHAT MORE CAN THIS UNION DO FOR SHARON? Here are the facts.  A member, let’s call her Sharon, walks into the union office and asks for help because her manager just gave her an Unacceptable Performance rating and put her … Continue reading

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