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.

NEGOTIATORS, DON’T MAKE THIS MANAGER’S MISTAKE Here are the facts. The union asked to negotiate over a proposed agency mid-term change.  The parties met a few times to negotiate over the topic and the management rep let the union know … Continue reading

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GRIEVANCE QUIZ: ALMOST PERFECT EXCEPT FOR … Below is a hypothetical grievance inspired by one that actually went to arbitration and FLRA. The union lost on a technicality in both forums. See if you can spot the error before we … Continue reading

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$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

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HOW TO AVOID THE “EXCESSIVE INTERFERENCE LITE” TRAP Now that Trump’s two operatives on the FLRA have made clear their intention to weaken unions and collective bargaining, unions would be wise to counter the pending onslaught of precedent-trashing decisions from … Continue reading

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MADAME CHAIR, MEET MR. NEWTON Sir Isaac Newton that is. We are suggesting this hook-up because you and your fellow Trumpian traveler seem to have forgotten about his third law of motion, namely, that for every action there is an … Continue reading

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CONGRATULATIONS, VELVA! YOU HAVE JUST WON 12 YEARS OF BACK PAY PLUS … These employees getting a decade or more of back pay for standing up for themselves must feel like the “Publishers Clearing House” van just backed into their driveway. … Continue reading

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NFFE ARBITRATION WIN IN THE TIME OF #METOO Although there has been a seismic shift on the media’s and public’s willingness to believe and support those reporting sexual harassment, it will be a while before we know how the #Metoo … Continue reading

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ARBITRATOR’S ALERT: FLRA BUILDS A BIGGER TRAP FOR ARBITRATORS President Trump has installed his two operatives on the FLRA and they have set about deciding what they consider to be “fake law.” Among their first moves was to make it … Continue reading

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YANKING OUR YO-YOS: ABROGATE AT ALL V. EXCESSIVE INTERFERENCE V. ENFORCEABILITY As Kiko and Abbott pointed out in their recent decision terminating the “abrogate at all” arbitration review test in favor of a watered down excessive interference test the FLRA … Continue reading

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WANT TO WORK AT HOME AS A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION? Back on January 2014 we wrote about an employee’s potential right to work at home if s/he otherwise qualifies for a reasonable accommodation. The post was entitled, “Want to Telework as … Continue reading

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