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.

NTEU BREAKS THROUGH CONTRACTING OUT BARRIER Unions have had a hard time even slowing agencies down in their pursuit of outside contractors.  OMB removed a lot of the issues from negotiations by issuing a detailed government-wide regulation. The Supreme Court … Continue reading

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HAS MSPB GUTTED ADVERSE ACTION PROTECTIONS? It sure seems like that to us.  Imagine that you represent a group of ten GS-11 Claims Analysts, one GS-7 Claims Technician and one GS-5 Secretary. Then one day the group supervisor calls you … Continue reading

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

DREADLOCK DISCRIMINATION Although we do not hear much about agencies prohibiting dreadlocks, we doubt the issue is over forever.  So, take a minute to see how to push back against an agency demand to be dredlock-free. Check out the EEOC … Continue reading

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MSPB SPLITS ON EMPLOYEE FURLOUGH RIGHTS Is a furlough of 22 work days or less an adverse action or an adverse action “lite”?  The three MSPB members just issued a split decision on that and it promises to be the … Continue reading

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HOW TO GRIEVE TEMPORARY PROMOTION DENIALS Most Fed labor agreements require management to temporarily promote employees when it details them for more than some number of days in a year to a higher graded position, e.g., 30 days.  For literally … Continue reading

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SEPARATE BUT EQUAL PERFORMANCE AWARD SYSTEMS In a country that knows more than a little bit about the vicious fallacy of a “separate but equal” approach to treating people, one would think there would be little tolerance for it in … Continue reading

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THE COST OF UNDERFUNDING GOVERNMENT While whining about the cost of government has become an obsession for some, this summer provided several examples of what happens when Americans do underfund their society. This week The Today Show focused on how … Continue reading

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HOW TO AVOID EXCESSIVELY LONG TRAVEL DAYS Here are the facts as recently described by the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA), which rules on travel expense disputes for those employees who cannot file a contract grievance to settle them.  “Claimant … Continue reading

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NAMING GRIEVANTS: A SOURCE OF UNION POWER  Two members come to you, the union steward, complaining that the manager is no longer following the agreement’s provision about how to distribute overtime and they want to grieve.  After they leave, you … Continue reading

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | 1 Comment

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Two employees walk into the union office and tell you that their new manager changed the rules for when employees get charged AWOL and disciplined.  In the past, employees could arrive as late as seven (7) … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining, Discipline/Adverse Action, Past Practice | Tagged | Leave a comment