Posted on December 18, 2014 by AdminUN

BEHOLD! THE MEGA GRIEVANCE OPTION

Twenty years ago if Sherman, our hypothetical disappointed non-selected employee, walked into the union office complaining that he thought the promotion interview questions were chosen to make one particular applicant look better than all the others, the union would have probably filed a grievance on behalf of Sherman.  Ten years ago most unions had recognized that they should file a grievance on behalf of everyone in the promotion package. That covers any others also potentially harmed and boosts the chances of getting some remedy should Sherman not be the one entitled to corrective action. Today, more and more union reps know that there is an even better approach, namely, the class action and the mega grievances which generate clout for the union far beyond the grievance process. Continue reading →

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on December 18, 2014 by AdminUN

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES LEGAL SURVIVAL GUIDE REPUBLISHED

A tip of the hat to the law firm of Passman & Kaplan for its new book entitled, FEDERAL EMPLOYEES LEGAL SURVIVAL GUIDE (3rd ed.).  The firm, whose lawyers only represent employees and unions, has produced a book that will benefit any full-time union rep, chief steward or local president.   The first thing we liked about it is its thoroughness.  It covers virtually every topic a union rep is going to run into. We have reproduced its Table to Contents below in case you doubt us. Another part we and many of you will appreciate are the many representational “Tips” the firm provides for union reps as it walks the reader through the procedures and rights associated with 33 different representational issues we can face.  Finally, the page layout makes it very easy to read as opposed to some of the advice books that jam a zillion words on a page in eight-point type.  Give it an A+ for being reader-friendly. This is something you should have in the union office to fill in the gaps for the experienced local union reps and to help new union reps get a very good overview of areas they will work. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on December 15, 2014 by AdminUN

WHAT MORE CAN THIS UNION DO FOR SHARON?

Here are the facts.  A member, let’s call her Sharon, walks into the union office and asks for help because her manager just gave her an Unacceptable Performance rating and put her on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).  You look it over quickly, conclude that the manager seemed to base the letter on rather thin evidence, and ask the employee if there is anything else going on between her and her manager. Continue reading →

Posted in Whistleblowing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on December 15, 2014 by AdminUN

$50 MILLION IN BACK PAY OR 210,000 DAYS OF RESTORED LEAVE OR OPTION 3?

IRS has a tough decision to make.  An arbitrator just ruled that when it furloughed employees for three days in 2013, it violated the law.  But rather than impose a specific remedy, he told the parties to negotiate a “status quo ante” remedy and to come back to him for a specific decision if they can’t agree.  There are three obvious options that highlight how complex a remedy decision can be.  Continue reading →

Posted in Back Pay, Furloughs | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on December 7, 2014 by AdminUN

HOW TO HACK INTO THE FEDERAL PROMOTION PROCESS 

Ten of millions are spent each year to ensure that federal promotions are based on merit factors, e.g., professionally developed, job-related criteria rationally related to the position to be filled. Laws have been passed and regulations implemented listing specific actions that violate the merit concept, and computer systems have popped up all over government designed to increase objectivity.  But like any modern system, the federal promotion process has at least one flaw that any enterprising merit menace can use to hack through the alleged system firewalls to corrupt the merit process.  Here is how it works. Continue reading →

Posted in Promotion/Hiring | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on December 7, 2014 by AdminUN

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 →

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on December 3, 2014 by AdminUN

COMPARE AFGE, NATCA, NFFE & NTEU BY THE NUMBERS

We have not made it a secret that we think that unions should be run as efficiently as any business.  In fact, we wish that Goldman Sachs and other investment bankers had an opportunity to bring some sense to the often nonsensical union market place—but that is an article for another time.  For now, we thought you might like to see how the four major federal sector unions, namely, AFGE, NATCA, NFFE and NTEU, compare when the raw financial numbers are examined using their 2013 DOL LM-2 reports. Continue reading →

Posted in Union Administration | Tagged | 2 Comments

Posted on December 1, 2014 by AdminUN

WEIGHT DISCRIMINATION “AS HORRIBLE AND DEPRESSING AS EVER”

Time Magazine just published a story about a new university study confirming the rampant presence of weight discrimination.  We found it worth checking out and a good place to start a conversation among stewards about watching for evidence of it. That can come in the form of Direct Evidence, such as manager statements he denied someone a job because of his appearance, disparate treatment, such as holding an obese person to a higher standard, harassment or the denial of a reasonable accommodation request.  Also check out FEDSMILL’s two previous postings on the topic that cover some federal employee discrimination cases: “Obesity As A Disability” and “When Is Severe Obesity a Protected Disability.”

Posted in EEO/Discrimination | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on November 25, 2014 by AdminUN

WHAT DO THE CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICERS HAVE TO SAY?

If you want to know, click into their web site every week or so to see.  It is entitled CHCOC.gov and contains transmittals that have been sent around among them.  Some of them address topic we should keep track of, e.g., Keeping the Workforce Healthy During Flu Season, Enhanced Workplace Flexibilities, and HR Flexibilities for Severe Weather.

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Posted on November 24, 2014 by AdminUN

CONGRATS TO AFGE’S TSA COUNCIL

We just noticed that the TSA council posted a Dept. of Labor report last month showing that it has over 15,000 members.  That is great news for the employees of that unit, AFGE, and the rest of us union supporters.  Congrats and kudos.  AFGE is obviously delivering on the promises it made those employees.  AFGE fought long and hard to get that unit. You might remember the bruising battle against NTEU that cost the two unions an amount measured in the tens of millions to wage. Then AFGE had the even tougher fight against management to get a contract. We could not be happier for you.

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