Posted on May 10, 2014 by AdminUN

CAN THE UNION  GET THIS EMPLOYEE COMPENSATED?

Imagine an employee walks into the union office asking for help because she believes her manager has retaliated against her for filing an EEO discrimination race, age and disability charge.  She tells you that she had already withdrawn the EEO charges before the retaliation, and that the high blood pressure she has had throughout her life has gotten worse.  She goes on to say that ever since her manager informed her she was no longer scheduled to attend a career-enhancing training class, she has been crying due to severe headaches, had anxiety attacks, felt depressed, and experienced other symptoms. Her doctor told her that each of those symptoms is related to her blood pressure being even higher than normal. Can you file a grievance or EEO retaliation charge and expect that she be compensated for the damage done her if her medical problem are due to a pre-existing condition she brought with her into the federal government? Continue reading →

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Posted on May 4, 2014 by AdminUN

10 NEW (AND LEGAL) WAYS AGENCIES CAN SPY ON EMPLOYEES

A union not only works on current employee problems, but also looks ahead to looming ones. Agency spying on employees (or monitoring, if you want to be polite) is one of those looming problems because of the many technological advances constantly boosting agency capabilities. We recently ran across an article on another blog listing the new technological workplace spying mechanisms that we thought you would enjoy. Check it out. Below are some ideas unions can pursue at the bargaining table to protect employees from future spying/monitoring/tracking advances. Continue reading →

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Posted on May 4, 2014 by AdminUN

ETHICS TEST: DID THIS UNION SELL OUT ITS MEMBERS? (ANSWER) 

Last week we posed a hypothetical fact pattern involving a union’s decision to trade five grievance/ULP charges, that potentially could have given unit employees millions in back pay, in return for a few hundred hours of official time for a union officer.  One reader called it a “Jack-in-the-Beanstalk” swap but without the sleepy giant’s gold or even fertile beans.  While we asked for thoughts on whether the union’s actions were ethical, let’s first look at the narrower questions of whether they were at least legal.  Continue reading →

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Posted on May 4, 2014 by AdminUN

WHEN EMERALDS FIGHT VULCANS UNIONS LOSE

When is it correct for a labor union to work with management to oppose back pay and other relief for the victims of management’s racial discrimination? Stumped? Well, take a look at this actual case to see if you can answer that by the end of this post. Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Discrimination, Union Administration | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on April 30, 2014 by AdminUN

WHEN CAN EMPLOYEE “LEADS” EVALUATE CO-WORKERS?

Answer:  They can’t or never are the only acceptable answers. But while the answer is easy, trying to convince managers not to ask Leads to draft performance appraisals is a lot harder. Delegating the task saves first line managers hours of work because first line manager need not personally track each employee’s performance closely throughout the year. But, it also puts the Lead in a bad, if not illegal, position with co-workers, not to mention they never get paid to draft evaluations.   So, here are some arguments to make if you face this problem and thoughts on what to do, especially for union-represented employees. Continue reading →

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Posted on April 24, 2014 by AdminUN

BILL GATES PREDICTS THE END OF THE ACCOUNTING/AUDITING OCCUPATION

Given that the feds employ about a quarter of a zillion accountants and auditors, many of whom are union members, here is something to think about. Bill Gates spoke recently about occupations that technology would soon replace. While there is a 100% certainty that “telemarketers” will be replaced by a few computer chips, there is a 94% certainty that accountants and auditors will be standing next to them in the unemployment line.

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Posted on April 24, 2014 by AdminUN

WHEN EMPLOYEES MAKE MANAGERS SAD

Perhaps she has watched too much of TV’s “Dr. Phil,” but when a Treasury Department manager met with a dissatisfied employee no one had to ask her “How does that make you feel?” As she told the judge, “I also said his decision to file made me feel sad and I would have to be a lot more careful about what I say.”  While we can admire her willingness to share her feelings, EEOC had a different feeling about all that.  Continue reading →

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Posted on April 22, 2014 by AdminUN

GENERALIZED ANXIETY AS A DISABILITY

Anxiety attacks are not only real, but they are a recognize disability protected by the EEOC under the disability statutes. When an employee was denied the right to bring a service dog to work that helped her deal with her attacks, she filed a charge with EEOC, which took the employer to court and won $53,000 in damages for the employee. EEOC took the position that the dog alerted the employee to oncoming panic attacks, helped alleviate symptoms during a panic attack, and could also do other tasks, such as retrieve small objects, retrieve her medical bag and guide her to an exit.  This is another good example of how powerful that law can be.

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Posted on April 21, 2014 by AdminUN

WHAT TO DO ABOUT ZOMBIE LOCALS

What is a zombie local?  It is a single local of a successful national union, that has chronically low membership, e.g. fewer than 30% of the unit employees belong. It enjoys all the protections and benefits of the national union because other locals, with double and triple their percentage of membership, cover their share of the costs. Federal sectors unions seem unable to effectively deal with the walking dead among their locals.  So, we thought we would share some thoughts. Continue reading →

Posted in Membership Building, Union Administration | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on April 20, 2014 by AdminUN

ETHICS TEST: DID THIS UNION SELL OUT ITS MEMBERS?

When is it okay for union leaders to drop pending arbitration cases that could potentially yield millions in back pay for members and non-members in return for agency agreement to allow one of the union leaders to work full time for the union? No union wants to trade one person’s grievance for another, which is often called “horse-trading.”  Almost every union grievance manual condemns the practice. But it can be legal as well as ethical. Look at these facts and let us know if you think this union acted ethically or sold out employees. Continue reading →

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