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.

Posted on July 30, 2013 by AdminUN

HOW TO LOSE MILLIONS FOR MEMBERS Recently, an agency served notice on each of the two unions that represent its employees that it plans to cut the funding of its awards program nearly in half. It currently distributes annually an … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on July 30, 2013 by AdminUN

NTEU BREAKS OVERTIME RESTRAINTS ON FORMER AFGE MEMBERS Decades ago the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued a proclamation stating that he was taking away the right of INS employees to two consecutive days off a workweek and … Continue reading →

Posted in Arbitration, Back Pay | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on July 21, 2013 by AdminUN

CAN THIS EMPLOYEE’S JOB BE SAVED? Here are the facts.  Marisa, a unit employee, came to you a few minutes ago with a copy of an adverse action letter proposing to fire her for a chronic leave problem.  According to the letter, … Continue reading →

Posted in FMLA | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on July 21, 2013 by AdminUN

BARGAINING WITH JERKS #3- (Tactics) Table Jerks are all about game-playing at the edge of unethical/illegal bargaining behavior.   They spend most of their time refusing to provide information, proclaiming there is no demonstrated need for the union proposal, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Tactics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on July 17, 2013 by AdminUN

WHAT DID THIS UNION DO WRONG? Here are the facts.  See if you can figure out two things the union did wrong.  The agency had a practice of placing a guard at each of its strategically important locations around its property every … Continue reading →

Posted in Test Yourself, ULPs | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on July 17, 2013 by AdminUN

FMLA, DOMA AND SAME SEX SPOUSES Now that the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act there seems to be a lot of chatter about what that means for same sex spouses seeking FMLA benefits. As of today, if … Continue reading →

Posted in FMLA | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on July 17, 2013 by AdminUN

OBESITY AS A DISABILITY Back on March 24, 2012 we posted an article entitled, “When Severe Obesity Is a Disability.”  It explained how EEOC now recognizes obesity as a disability qualifying employees for reasonable accommodations.  Well, now the American Medical … Continue reading →

Posted in ADA/ADAAA | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on July 11, 2013 by AdminUN

LABOR’S VERY BIG BLUNDER (The AFL-ABA-CIO) Organized labor has been shrinking in numbers and influence for over 60 years. There are a lot of reasons: well-funded enemies, relentless lawlessness by many employers, a toothless labor law, foreign competition for jobs, … Continue reading →

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Posted on July 11, 2013 by AdminUN

BARGAINING WITH JERKS- #2 (Negotiability) What do you do with the Jerk on the other side of the table who needlessly declares union proposals non-negotiable just to screw-up bargaining and prevent problem-solving?  Well, we can think of eight things, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Tactics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on July 11, 2013 by AdminUN

OUR APOLOGIES TO THE DVA RNS A few weeks ago we posted a piece entitled, “Why VA Nurses Should Study Wall Street.”   It reviewed the advantages for employees working for the same nationwide employer to be represented by one union … Continue reading →

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