Posted on August 22, 2012 by AdminUN

HOW TO BARGAIN AROUND PAY FREEZES

Thanks to warring politicians, it looks like we are headed for another year without an annual pay adjustment in January.  Consequently, unions need to focus more on how to increase employee compensation through contract negotiations.  One way to do that is to negotiate for guaranteed performance awards for employees.  Very few federal sector contracts have them, but they are worth millions for those that do.  Here is an example such agreements from one of the contracts in our Compare Contracts menu bar above. Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Tactics, Compensation | Tagged | 2 Comments

Posted on August 22, 2012 by AdminUN

INTERESTING CONTRACT CLAUSES- NFFE & FOREST SERVICE  

All union negotiators should be aware of what is in other contracts, but that can be hard to do as many exceed 200 pages. So, from time-to-time our small army of FEDSMILL researchers will go through contracts to highlight the more interesting clauses. Today we are taking a look at the NFFE and Forest Service contract, which you can find in the Compare Contracts portion of the FEDSMILL menu bar. Continue reading →

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Posted on August 21, 2012 by AdminUN

CONGRATS TO AFGE’S NEW PRESIDENT. IS THERE TROUBLE AHEAD?

Congratulations to J. David Cox who just moved up from AFGE Secretary-Treasurer to National President this week after a four-person election at their Vegas convention. If you have any doubts about how active of a leader he is going to be, take a look at the AFGE web site. Cox changed it overnight. The new site is attractive and highly useful. The home page is not cluttered, the menu bar provides automatic drop down pages without the reader having to click, and it even offers outsiders helpful information.  Our favorite feature might be the very easy-to-access news that is organized by major agency under the Agency menu.  Within seconds, a reader from these departments can see items of the greatest interest to their agency. Continue reading →

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Posted on August 20, 2012 by AdminUN

GET PAID TO USE YOUR SMARTPHONE

It looks like the Feds are ready to pay employees to use their own smart phones rather than government equipment. Take a look at the article entitled, “Use Your Own Smartphone — And Get Paid To Do It” by Nicole Blake Johnson in today’s Federal Times. Apparently, NTEU is already in discussions with the NRC to implement the idea, and there are a number of negotiable issues for unions to address.

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Posted on August 17, 2012 by AdminUN

MITIGATING FALSIFICATION CHARGES

MSPB pleasantly surprised us recently with a decision in Reid v. Dept. of Navy, 2012 MSPB 94(2012) that lays out how to get harsh penalties for falsification mitigated down to a reprimand. Continue reading →

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Posted on August 17, 2012 by AdminUN

MAX STIER OWES YOU AN APOLOGY

Max Stier is the President of the Partnership for Public Service (PPS), an alleged think-tank that claims to be interested in improving government.  Max and his Partnership posse just issued a widely-touted report entitled, “Bracing for Change,” in which they recommended dumping the GS salary system for some unspecified new system. While they are entitled to their opinion, their policy-analysis report is a reckless, unprofessional, whine that could hurt over a million federal employees.  It should be withdrawn with a public apology. Continue reading →

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Posted on August 15, 2012 by AdminUN

VULTURES ARE CIRCLING YOUR SALARY SYSTEM

With a new Presidential term about to begin, the scavengers are circling Washington, D.C. hoping to feast grandly at the expense of the federal treasury and federal employees. In a synchronized attack worthy of Seal Team 6, allegedly neutral non-profits, profit-driven beltway consultants, and many soon-to-retire federal executives are slamming the GS salary system. Their goal is not only to have it declared a public nuisance, but more importantly replaced with a product and process that will earn them millions.  Little or no concern will be shown for the harm their plan will cause government or how much it will cost employees. Continue reading →

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Posted on August 15, 2012 by AdminUN

SSA SUPERVISORS CLUELESS AGAIN

LR specialists have so concentrated power in their hands that employees and union reps rarely can have a substantive discussion with their managers about fixing problems promptly. There may be some agency benefits from this approach, but the EEOC just pointed out a significant disadvantage of keeping front-line decision-makers LR/ER clueless. Continue reading →

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Posted on August 15, 2012 by AdminUN

WATCH THIS NLRB CASE

The NLRB just issued a decision that should have a significant impact on how federal agencies investigate their own employees. The Board confronted a situation where an employer was investigating an employee misconduct matter and instructed each employee it interviewed to not tell anyone else about the investigation. Federal agency managers and investigators have been known to do the same thing on more than one occasion. Continue reading →

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Posted on August 15, 2012 by AdminUN

SCIENCE BACKS FIRST CONSIDERATION OF UNIT EMPLOYEES

Unions have always wanted their bargaining unit members considered for open jobs before management looks at those outside the unit.  Now we have some scientific proof from the highly prestigious Ivy League Wharton School of Business that this makes very good business sense. Continue reading →

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