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.

WHICH GS GRADES PAY BELOW THE MINIMUM WAGE? Thanks to SEIU and a few other justice-minded folks the City of Seattle has set the minimum wage at $15.00 an hour, giving over 100,000 workers around the city a raise.  While … Continue reading

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DETAILS: WHAT ABOUT THOSE LEFT BEHIND? Most agreements contain a clause that spells out how employees are to be selected for details, but what about the employees who are left behind when someone leaves on a detail or reassignment?  The … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining, Details | Tagged | 1 Comment

NAVY DELAY TOSSES $300,000 OVERBOARD These stories just keep on coming thanks to less-than-stellar agency efforts to provide reasonable accommodations–and employees willing to stand up for themselves.  EEOC just issued a new decision ordering the Department of the Navy to … Continue reading

Posted in EEO/Disabilities, Reasonable Accommodations | Tagged | Leave a comment

GRIEVING NON-SELECTION FOR PROMOTION Knowing how to overturn a Selecting Official’s decision not to promote someone is a critical skill every union local needs.  Success might not only get a member priority consideration, but also retroactive promotion, back pay with … Continue reading

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HOW TO CHALLENGE VAGUE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS Do your members work under performance standards that require tasks be completed “in a timely manner” or that the employee efforts “result in timely service?”  If so, MSPB just issued a decision that will … Continue reading

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CAN THE UNION  GET THIS EMPLOYEE COMPENSATED? Imagine an employee walks into the union office asking for help because she believes her manager has retaliated against her for filing an EEO discrimination race, age and disability charge.  She tells you … Continue reading

Posted in EEO/Disabilities, Remedies | Tagged | Leave a comment

10 NEW (AND LEGAL) WAYS AGENCIES CAN SPY ON EMPLOYEES A union not only works on current employee problems, but also looks ahead to looming ones. Agency spying on employees (or monitoring, if you want to be polite) is one … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining, Privacy | Tagged | Leave a comment

ETHICS TEST: DID THIS UNION SELL OUT ITS MEMBERS? (ANSWER)  Last week we posed a hypothetical fact pattern involving a union’s decision to trade five grievance/ULP charges, that potentially could have given unit employees millions in back pay, in return … Continue reading

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WHEN EMERALDS FIGHT VULCANS UNIONS LOSE When is it correct for a labor union to work with management to oppose back pay and other relief for the victims of management’s racial discrimination? Stumped? Well, take a look at this actual … Continue reading

Posted in EEO/Discrimination, Union Administration | Tagged | Leave a comment

WHEN CAN EMPLOYEE “LEADS” EVALUATE CO-WORKERS? Answer:  They can’t or never are the only acceptable answers. But while the answer is easy, trying to convince managers not to ask Leads to draft performance appraisals is a lot harder. Delegating the … Continue reading

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