Posted on August 28, 2023 by AdminUN

OVER AT AFGE, WOW!

I was talking with two long-time AFGE national staff leaders last week about the state of federal labor relations when I remembered how that union had the classiest training program for local leaders when I broke into the field.  So, I decided to check in with what they are doing today because for a decade or so their training efforts had declined—in my opinion. Boy, have they come back strong.  For example, since we were talking about collective bargaining, I focused on that and here is just some of what I found.  Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on August 28, 2023 by AdminUN

A CASE OF OLD-FASHION EEO REPRISAL

I like to think that knuckle-dragging managers are fewer and fewer these days, but then a case like this comes along.  A Navy employee, Cory, was upset about being passed over for promotion and went on his social media page to claim that he thought it was due to discrimination. That ignited the worst instincts of his Branch Chief who promptly proceeded to: Continue reading →

Posted in Retaliation | Tagged | 2 Comments

Posted on August 22, 2023 by AdminUN

CBP MANAGEMENT AGAIN SHOOTS WILDLY FROM THE HIP 

While bargaining unit Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers must meet a very high standard for firearm accuracy, my more than 40 years of experience with CBP demonstrated that CBP managers often shoot from the hip—and possibly blindfolded. It happened again where an applicant for a CBP Officer position who had myasthenia gravis was rejected.  Management sprayed claims all around without ever zeroing in on  the actual target or legal issue in the case. Here is the story behind how the applicant just got the job, four years of back pay, and extra money to cover compensatory damages and the income tax hit of receiving such a large check in one year. Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Disabilities | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on August 22, 2023 by AdminUN

WHAT TO DO WHEN MANAGEMENT MOVES TOO SLOWLY?

What would you do if an employee came to you as her union rep to complain that it took three weeks for the agency to act on her complainant about a manager bullying and physically threatening her?  Yes, you could go shout and scream at the HR and EEO shops or even ask to see the local chief executive or write Congress.  But what if you also know that the agency had taken “same day” action against managers when two male employees recently filed similar bullying and physical threat complainants? Yup!  You would…   Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Discrimination | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on August 16, 2023 by AdminUN

AND THIS IS WHY YOU NEED UNIONS

At some point after the new White House Lord of the Manor arrived in 2017 word came down to the VA that some unnamed folks in the chain-of-command wanted to look tough on the residents of the Administrative State, the Dark State and the Shadow State.  (Most of us call those folks the America’s professional Civil Service)  So, it was decided to fire dozens and dozens of VA employees without negotiating with the unions over the new procedures management was using.  Nothing puffs-up an authoritarian boss’s ego like instantly taking away a family’s livelihood.  Those employees and their kin were helpless except for one tiny thing the overseers overlooked.  The employees’ union. Here is how it kicked that illegal leadership decision to the curb. Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Law, FLRA | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on August 16, 2023 by AdminUN

THE “DESIRED POSITION” YIELDS 13 YEARS OF BACK PAY

Amanda was reassigned to a position that she was not able to do as a result of her disability. When she asked for a reasonable accommodation, the agency merely pointed to her own doctor’s explanation that she could not do the job with or without an accommodation. So, out the door the agency tossed her. Her response was that the agency was obligated to consider her not just the position she held at the time, but positions she was willing to take.  EEOC agreed with her noting that the agency was obligated to consider a qualified disabled person for openings in her present job as well as “desired” jobs or jobs she is otherwise capable of performing with or without an accommodation. The Commission went on to write: Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Disabilities, EEO/Discrimination | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on August 4, 2023 by AdminUN

LOOK WHO WANTS TO SLIT YOUR THROAT

After you have read the news story we have linked to here, remember that federal employees have regularly rescued his state from multiple hurricanes, bring over a billion dollars of revenue annually into his state with their jobs, spend millions vacationing in his state, protect his borders from drug smugglers, send billions of social security and medicare money to his residents, monitor his nuclear plants for safety, clean up his polluted waterways, etc.  Unions need to bargain contract protections now for even the tiny possibility he gets the knife in his hands.

Posted in Bargaining | Tagged | Leave a comment

Posted on August 4, 2023 by AdminUN

HOW TO ADD CLOUT TO YOUR GRIEVANCE

Wouldn’t you love to make a grievance twice as worrisome for management and give the grievant the chance to get a much bigger payoff than a simple allegation of a contract violation? Well, the way to do that is to allege illegal discrimination whenever you can. You can allege it anytime you want, but there are two good rules of thumb for when to absolutely do it.  Below is a very brief explanation of why a discrimination allegation supercharges a grievance. Continue reading →

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | 2 Comments

Posted on July 28, 2023 by AdminUN

WHAT THE “H” “E” DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS IS THIS FLRA?

The Authority just dismissed a union’s claim that management had unilaterally implemented a change and, in the process, jumbled 40 years of labor law precedent. I am talking about the case law rich concept that when bargaining breaks down, the agency (1) must serve notice on the union that it believes there is an impasse and (2) that it intends to implement on a specified date.  That gives the union the opportunity to invoke impasse services, which delays any change until there is agreement. Continue reading →

Posted in FLRA | Tagged | 7 Comments

Posted on July 28, 2023 by AdminUN

CONGRATS TO NFFE FOR ORGANIZING YELLOWSTONE

Everyone is out there trying to convince unorganized workers to join their union.  In the federal sector, some unions have directors of organizing with budgets, organizing staff, and IT support–and still do not succeed.  Yet, we just heard that NFFE, which has limited organizing resources, pulled off a major success in the National Parks Service. Continue reading →

Posted in Organizing | Tagged | Leave a comment