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 March 19, 2012 by AdminUN

$300,000 FOR A DENIED REASSIGNMENT Employees almost never have the right to demand a reassignment to a different supervisor, job or location.  But if the employee has a disabling condition for which a reassignment would be a reasonable accommodation, the … Continue reading →

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

Posted on March 19, 2012 by AdminUN

ZIP IT! – WHEN MANAGERS VIOLATE YOUR PRIVACY        This is not the first time we have written about managers who either can’t keep their mouth shut or their documents clean.  The newest example is the Chief of Dental Services who … Continue reading →

Posted in Disability, Medical Issues, Privacy, Remedies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 16, 2012 by AdminUN

THREE BENCHMARK CONTRACTS JUST COMPLETED AFGE, NTEU, and NATCA all announced settlements for their major contracts in the last ten days.  AFGE has wrapped up the core of the SSA contract; NTEU has concluded mid-term reopener revisions to its IRS … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on March 15, 2012 by AdminUN

SSA’s $8,987 ONE-PERSON SPACE HEATER How did the Social Security Administration turn the cost of a hundred-dollar personal space heater for one employee into something nearly 90 times as expensive?

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

Posted on March 15, 2012 by AdminUN

FLRA FUBAR: THE PAST PRACTICE “ACQUIESCENCE” MESS The FLRA has done a lot of good, and it has had moments where it neither helped nor harmed.  But there also have been times when it has Fouled Up Beyond All Reason … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Law, FLRA, FUBAR | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Posted on March 13, 2012 by AdminUN

WHEN UNIONS LIBEL MANAGEMENT More than a few contracts state that the union may not libel (or slander) any manager when using the agency’s internal communications systems.  But what can management do if the union does cross the line.  An … Continue reading →

Posted in Arbitration, Bargaining, Membership Building | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 12, 2012 by AdminUN

OCTOMOM AND THE “COVERED-BY” BARGAINING DEFENSE Much of science is devoted to finding out where things came from, e.g., the universe, global warming, the Kardashians, etc.  But there is no need to search very far for the origin of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Law, Covered-by, FLRA, ULPs | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 11, 2012 by AdminUN

SEXUAL HARASSMENT LEADS TO $168 MILLION JUDGMENT YIKES! We all know what can happen when a dispute goes to a jury, but when the jury in this case gave the employee $168 million in damages for the harassment she suffered, … Continue reading →

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

Posted on March 7, 2012 by AdminUN

HOW NTEU DEALS WITH RECLASSIFICATIONS Assume that management wants to change the series classification from one series to another without any change in the employees’ grade, work, or location.  What can the union do about that given that it cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining, FLRA, ULPs | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 6, 2012 by AdminUN

RESIGNATION REGRET & PROBATIONERS What do you do for the probationary employee who calls you from home not only to tell that he resigned last week, but that he wants the union to get his job back? Extend your sympathies? … Continue reading →

Posted in MSPB, Probation Period | Tagged , , | Leave a comment