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’S DIRTY LITTLE COVER-UP That’s right, C-O-V-E-R—U-P!  Since the mid-90s, MSPB has been touting the cure-all benefits of category hiring over the rule of three or similar systems based on hiring from the top of a merit list first.  If … Continue reading

Posted in Promotion/Hiring | Tagged | Leave a comment

DON’T LIE ABOUT OFFICIAL TIME, PLEEEEEEEAZE Not long ago, media material started pointing out that when federal employees act together to defraud the United States, it exposes them to potential criminal conspiracy charges under 18 USC 371.  That got us … Continue reading

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged | Leave a comment

“IT’S PART OF YOUR JOB” SUGGESTION AWARD GRIEVANCE Grievances over suggestion awards are not new.  The two most common deal with disputes over the amount of money paid the employee for an adopted suggestion and whether an employee’s suggestion was … Continue reading

Posted in Awards | Tagged | Leave a comment

EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION The EEOC just published a wonderful guide to help employees and their union reps fight pregnancy discrimination. It is a bit long, but so thorough and easy to follow.  The Commission offers 22 examples … Continue reading

Posted in Pregnancy | Tagged | Leave a comment

LIST OF EEOC AWARDS FOR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS DAMAGES OVER $100,000 Too often employees decide not to file a discrimination claim because they believe it will mean a lot of work and heartache for very little payoff.  We have tried to regularly … Continue reading

Posted in EEO/Remedies | Tagged | Leave a comment

NTEU’S “ALVARA-RASSENFOSS” DILEMMA One thing that distinguishes NTEU from almost every other multi-local union operating in the federal sector is that the decision to arbitrate a case in any unit is made by NTEU’s National President, the highest officer in … Continue reading

Posted in Arbitration, Union Administration | Tagged | 2 Comments

CONGRATS TO US (FEDSMILL) FOR OUR 3/400! Even if we have to say so ourselves, “Bravo, Fedsmill.com for hanging in there.”  Next month is our three year anniversary and just this week we posted out 400th article. Not bad for a phone … Continue reading

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged | Leave a comment

WHY BARGAIN OVER (& GRIEVE) AGENCY REGULATIONS? MSPB wheeled out a great example why in a decision this week reversing an employee’s removal due to the withdrawal of his security clearance. After finding that the agency complied with all statutory … Continue reading

Posted in Discipline/Adverse Action | Tagged | Leave a comment

KEN MOFFETT, JR. TAKES OVER NTEU NEGOTIATIONS DEPARTMENT We did not see a formal public announcement about this, but are delighted to hear that Ken Moffett, Jr. has taken over as NTEU’s Director of Negotiations. (He replaces Frank Ferris, who … Continue reading

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged | Leave a comment

CONGRATS TO IFPTE There are several unions that specialize in representing federal employees, e.g., AFGE, NFFE, and NTEU.  You could even say that they dominate the federal sector union landscape.  However, the IFPTE continues to rack up organizing victories in … Continue reading

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged | Leave a comment