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.

BARGAINING BY THE NUMBERS TRAINING PROGRAM Getting ready to negotiate a term contract? Or is it mid-term bargaining that lies ahead for you? With decades of experience with both as well as from both sides of the bargaining table, we … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining, Training | Tagged | Leave a comment

THE  INTELLECTUAL DISHONESTY OF “COVERED-BY” ADVOCATES There is an ALJ case lingering in the FLRA decision pipeline that will once again put the “covered-by” (CB) defense up for review. (See DoD and NEA) Having watched the CB defense come into … Continue reading

Posted in Bargaining Law | Tagged | Leave a comment

CAN THE AFGE BORDER PATROL COUNCIL SAVE DHS  BARGAINING RIGHTS? Way back in 2016 AFGE’s Border Patrol Council exercised the autonomy it has under the AFGE Constitution to back a different candidate for America’s President than AFGE and the AFL-CIO … Continue reading

Posted in AFGE | Tagged | Leave a comment

DOES THIS FED GET A FULL-TIME TELEWORK FOR PTSD? The employee was a GS-11 Claims Specialist with SSA working in an office alongside 15 other GS-11 Claims Specialists and two GS-12’s. He was also a combat vet diagnosed with PTSD … Continue reading

Posted in Disability, Telework | Tagged | Leave a comment

BARGAINING WITH JERKS – #1 (Information Access) There are a lot of different types of negotiators on the management side of the table and one of them deserves to be labeled The Jerk. This is the person who has come to bargaining … Continue reading

Posted in Information-Particularized Need | Tagged | 3 Comments

WANT AN EXECUTIVE BOARD OF PUPPETS? Wine them, dine them and fly them, but never ever tell them about (or let them decide) anything important. As our media headlines carry more and more stories about dictators and dictator wannabees, it … Continue reading

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged | 2 Comments

GRIEVANCE STRATEGY ISSUES – Part 2 Now let’s turn to the common labor agreement requirement that the grievance include “the article(s) and section(s) violated.” Again, this sounds simple and very often is, but there are important exceptions. 

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | Leave a comment

PREGNANCY RIGHTS VERSUS DISABILITY A management law firm just posted a piece entitled, “Doesn’t the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act just require employers to treat pregnant employees just like they treat employees with disabilities?” Although it is written for managers, union … Continue reading

Posted in Disability, Pregnancy | Tagged | Leave a comment

GRIEVANCE STRATEGY OPTIONS TO CONSIDER  (Part 1) Most labor-management agreements list a few simple items that must be addressed to file a valid grievance, e.g., 1- name of the grievant, 2- agreement article and section violated, 3- date of violation, … Continue reading

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | 1 Comment

BIG TRANSGENDER HEALTH CARE WIN FOR FEDS You have heard us describe other major employment law victories for federal employees delivered by Gilbert Employment Law (GEL). But this may top them all given that it overturns a Reagan Administration rule … Continue reading

Posted in Transgender | Tagged | Leave a comment