WHY DOESN’T MY UNION DO THIS?
OPM does it. The Department of Labor and a number of federal Labor Relations shops do it too. So why don’t unions provide the same simple automated service to its local leaders? Here is a good example of why it is needed. Suppose you are a local union president who has a question. Perhaps it is as simple as what kind of questions do law, regulations and the contract allow a promotion interview panel to ask BQ candidates about their alternative work schedule preferences? You call the regional/national staff member assigned to your local, but she is out, tied up, or otherwise unable to return your call the same day. When she doesn’t call back the next day you call her supervisor, but he says he needs to talk to her before he can give a reliable answer. The next day the staff member calls you, but leaves a message because you were in a grievance meeting. You call her back the following day, but that is her AWS day. In short, all too often local union reps cannot find staff as quickly as they prefer to get questions answered. That would almost never happen again if unions… Continue reading