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.

HOW TO BARGAIN OVER PERMISSIVE SUBJECTS NOW President Biden has made the decision on behalf of all federal managers to elect to bargain over those subjects the statute identifies as permissively negotiable with the agency. (They are also known as … Continue reading

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BARGAINING OVER THE “METHOD AND MEANS” OF PERFORMING WORK President Biden just gave unions the right to bargain over the method and means of doing work, but not a lot of union reps know what that term includes. That is … Continue reading

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HOW INTERIOR PASSED OVER A GAY FIRE ENGINE CAPTAIN FOR PROMOTION It happens all too often to gays, women, minorities, union reps, the disabled, seniors and others considered too different from those with the power to make decisions – and … Continue reading

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“CBP NATION”- A MANAGEMENT FACEBOOK PAGE Some managers in a Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Patrol Texas port set up a Facebook page allegedly as “an outreach program for suicide prevention and awareness” for current and former employees.  It had … Continue reading

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FLRA BOOSTS TELEWORK REMEDIES   Few things are as frustrating as winning a grievance, arbitration or ULP only to find that the sole remedy imposed is an order that management not violate the law or contract again.  FLRA claims that remedies should … Continue reading

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COVID-19, THE ADA, THE REHABILITATION ACT, OTHER EEO LAWS, AND ULPs Along with the surge on COVID cases our county is experiencing there is a surge in employee requests for union help in connection with those who get the disease … Continue reading

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EEOC OK’S “REQUIREMENT” THAT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE COVID-19 VACCINE This is an important point in the inevitable litigation fight over whether employers can require staff to be vaccinated that is well reported by our friends at FMLA Insights.

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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 awards program funding nearly in half. It currently distributes annually an amount of … Continue reading

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70-PLUS ELEMENTS OF NEGOTIATIONS LAW If you want to be a highly skilled negotiator–or just avoid being taken to the cleaners in a bargaining relationship–you had better know about the many, many points in the bargaining process where the law … Continue reading

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LABOR AGREEMENTS VERSUS EEO RIGHTS Because of her physical limitations, the employee was no longer qualified to perform her duties. According to EEOC, that obligates the agency to consider reassigning her to a position she can perform.  The agency refused … Continue reading

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