Posted on September 15, 2011 by AdminUN

GRIEVANCE DRAFTING TIPS 4, 5, & 6

Before we turn to three other parts of a grievance where you can boost its winning potential and impact, remember this.  If you were unable to draft the grievance broadly enough during the grievance stage, often arbitrators will allow the parties to deviate from the exact wording of the grievance and the management responses when crafting the formal issues statement for him.  If you have that opportunity, here is an example of how a promotion-related grievance might be written for the arbitrator, “Did the agency violate Article X, Section Y of the parties agreement or any law, rule or regulation when it denied the following individuals promotion.” Continue reading →

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Posted on September 14, 2011 by AdminUN

HOW FLRA BLEEDS AGENCY BUDGETS

Almost no one talks about it, but every day FLRA takes to resolve back pay cases costs federal agencies dearly. That is not opinion; it is cold, hard fact. Here is a great example. Continue reading →

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Posted on September 9, 2011 by AdminUN

WHAT UNION REPS CAN DO THAT EMPLOYEES CAN’T

All employees do not have equal legal rights.  Union representatives have far more rights than most.  In fact, they have far more rights than the average manager. So, if you hear anyone asking the question, “What Can the Union Do for Me?” here is just a short list of the powers a union rep can put to work for employees the minute a union is certified in an election. Continue reading →

Posted in Membership Building, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Posted on September 8, 2011 by AdminUN

FREE RESEARCH SITES FOR UNIONS

Management representatives often have access to the best electronic legal research tools to help them deal with the union. However, it is unusual that a union can afford services such as Cyberfeds, Lexis or Westlaw, or even has the training to get the most out of them. But union leaders can make up for that disadvantage by making good use of several free web sites that provide very useful information. Continue reading →

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Posted on September 8, 2011 by AdminUN

THE CONTRACTING OUT SCANDEL

Don’t miss reading this week’s NY Times article that exposes how contracting out work costs the government more than having its own employees do the work.   One federal agency just disclosed that it paid outside private contractors about $80 for every hour of guard service it received.  Given that security guard normally earn between $15 and $25 an hour, with few benefits, and low equipment/uniform costs, obviously some private sector vendor one is pocketing a good profit at the cost of the efficient use of tax money.  And you if you want to see the video explaining the original research, click here.

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Posted on September 7, 2011 by AdminUN

WHAT IS A CBCA APPEAL?

Maybe the better questions are what is a CBCA and why should union leaders care? Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining, Grievance/Arbitration, Regulations | Leave a comment

Posted on September 6, 2011 by AdminUN

EDITORIAL–  BRAVO, FLRA, BUT NO ENCORE CALL YET

We all owe the trio of Members Pope, Beck and Dubester a long and loud round of applause for what they accomplished the last two years.  It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that they pulled federal sector labor-management relations out of the dark ages and into an age of enlightenment.  OK, maybe that is a little more than a slight exaggeration.  So, let’s look at the hard facts—starting with the alleged dark ages, which are also known as the Cabaniss years. Continue reading →

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Posted on September 6, 2011 by AdminUN

FEDSMILL BEGINS

Hello.  We’re FEDSMILL, we’re glad to join you, and we hope we can help.  FEDSMILL is designed for union representatives and the employees they represent. It will present tips on how to enforce and expand their rights, highlight new developments in law and practice, and challenge some of the accepted wisdom, legal and otherwise, about how unions, federal employees, and management should interact. Most critiques will be aimed at areas of the law that the courts and FLRA have made too complicated for the thousands of union-management practitioners to administer.  (If managers and HR specialists also learn how to engage with employees and their unions more productively that will be gravy.) Continue reading →

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Posted on September 4, 2011 by AdminUN

AFGE GETS EMPLOYEE $16,000 BACK PAY

Here is another example to give those employees who refuse to join the union by asking, “What can the union do for me?” Continue reading →

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration, Schedules/Hours | Leave a comment

Posted on September 4, 2011 by AdminUN

BEST LOCAL WEB SITES  

While lots of things happen at NTEU conventions, one of the best is the identification of the top performing locals in several categories.  This year’s winner of the Best Web Site award went to the local of Securities and Exchange Commission employees.  You can hardly blame NTEU, but others unions show excellence too.  Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Union Administration | Leave a comment