Posted on April 4, 2016 by AdminUN

WOW! AFGE DOES IT AGAIN

In theory, it should be hard for unions to even maintain prior membership levels, much less grow, with the size of government decreasing in every agency. But apparently theory is no match for talented union leadership. In January we congratulated IFPTE, IAFF and the NLRBU for increasing membership despite severe government-wide staffing cuts. NATCA has also now reported a net membership increase last year.  But the big news is that the 800 pound gorilla among federal sector unions, AFGE, has removed all doubt about the success of those four being a fluke.  AFGE just filed its LM-2 for 2015 showing that it increased its net membership by almost 13,000 (From 281,731 last year to 294,257 this year.) That means it has increased membership every year since 2000, which none of its so-called rivals has come close to doing. AFGE certainly has our congrats and admiration, but that cannot possibly compare to the satisfaction it must already be feeling. Nothing is as certain a measure of employee satisfaction with a union as setting membership records year-after-year. Hopefully, other unions will learn from what AFGE has done to reverse their own membership declines. Here is what we can tell you about how it did it. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 21, 2016 by AdminUN

BROAD PROBE OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES GETS SPECIFIC WITH NAMES

Joe Davidson of the Washington Post just wrote a piece every federal sector union rep should read with the same title as this post. It outlines how a certain Congressman from Utah is getting ready to drag unions through the grinder.  Once the Congressman has names of specific full-time union reps very little can stop him from calling them to testify before his Committee. We hope that no one out there thinks that this is going to be a friendly examination of possible reform efforts. We also hope that unions are going to do something more than keep their heads down and hope that when this trailer truck of a probe rolls over them the tires do not leave tread marks a good comb over can’t hide. The Congressman is getting ready to do a very one-sided, allegedly “fair and balanced” review of the federal ER/LR program. Unions need to find some academic allies who can generate an actual fair and balanced approach as well as a little evidence of their own on how wasteful probes like this are. Somebody start thinking creatively.

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Posted on March 20, 2016 by AdminUN

ARBITRATION’S MUTANT TURTLE

One of the prices we pay for the otherwise exquisite benefits of evolution is that every so often it runs amok and gives us things like body piercings, kale shakes, and the Honey Boo Boo show.  So, we wanted to alert you to a budding mutation of the arbitration process that threatens to slow work-place justice to the pace of a three-legged turtle huffing Benadryl. It is called the “implementation meeting.” (IM) Normally, we never agree with FLRA Member Pizzella nor find what he writes in any way useful. But he recently lifted his nose from Barlett’s Quotations long enough to string together a sentence that while condescending is neither legally moronic nor pathetically pretentious. Writing about the impact of an arbitrator’s use of IMs on the dispute resolution process, the FLRA’s own resident Koch-ite noted, “The dispute began in 2002.  Since then (if you are counting, that is fourteen (14) years), the case has been returned to Arbitrator Andrée McKissick at least thirteen (13) times and now returns to the Authority for the sixth time.” (See HUD and AFGE, Council 222, 69 FLRA 312 (February, 2016)  Rather than completely resolve arbitration disputes or at least push them back at the parties to solve themselves consistent with clear instructions, the IM mutation settles into a labor-management host party and starts replicating its activity.  Here is how it works. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 17, 2016 by AdminUN

SANDERS AND CLINTON VISIT WITH AFGE TSA  COUNCIL 100

Just a few short years after choosing AFGE, TSA union leaders are commanding the kind of respect that some entire national unions never get. Check out their web site for pictures of Bernie AND Hillary meeting with the dozen or so employee union leaders of this single AFGE council. It was a great opportunity to the two national political leaders away with a good idea of the specific problems of TSA employees. Congrats, Council 100 for your long-term planning, broadly involved national decision-making, and commitment to not letting the TSA story get lost.

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Posted on March 17, 2016 by AdminUN

NTEU GRIEVANCE DECISION HIGHLIGHTS DRAFTING ERROR

See if you can spot the error in this case. Six employees were improperly denied annual leave requests. The union filed individual grievances for each of them and at arbitration consolidated them under the following issue, “Did the Agency violate Article 37 of the [parties’ agreement] when it denied ad hoc leave to . . . one or more of the grievants?  If so, what shall the remedy be?”  The arbitrator agreed that a local past practice had been violated and directed the Agency to grant ad hoc leave requests “for leave slots appearing on the annual leave schedule” and to cease denying ad hoc leave requests based on “[o]vertime costs.”  The Arbitrator further stated that the award was “intended to apply to the grievants . . . as well as other [officers] similarly situated.” What is wrong with this case based just on those facts? Continue reading →

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Posted on March 12, 2016 by AdminUN

NTEU STUNG BY IRS FLIM-FLAM?

We ran across an article in NTEU’s Chapter 60 “Watchdog” newsletter that shines a bright light on the games too many agencies play with their performance award money. Given that the story is written by one of the most thoughtful voices in NTEU and long-time anchor of their national bargaining teams, we are confident he has the facts correct. We have written repeatedly (See “Topics” column) about how unions can get force greater fairness out of agency award systems. We understand the pain NTEU feels in light of the fact that the union lost its contract right to a guaranteed awards budget in the 2015 round of negotiations. But, frankly, we also understand IRS’s need to hang on to its best managers after four years of totally dishonest political bludgeoning by a wing of Congress eager to defund government and reduce audits of wealthy donors. Looks like NTEU’s IRS unit might be following its second largest unit of Customs and Border Protection folks to the ranks of the chronically dissatisfied fed employees.  Here is the story we recommend you read. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 9, 2016 by AdminUN

HAS CBP SURRENDERED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BACK PAY CASE?

Close to 20,000 current, former, and possibly dead Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPO) got what should be great news in January. (DHS, CBP v. FLRA, D.C.Cir., No. 15-1471, January 29, 2016) After fighting the union since 2001 over how overtime should be assigned, the agency seems to have raised the white flag and surrendered by withdrawing from court an appeal of an FLRA decision.  The Authority upheld 10 back pay formulae an arbitrator imposed on the agency to compensate for its refusal to follow the law, namely, 5 USC 6101 and 5 CFR 610. The agency has to apply those formulas pay period by pay period all the way back to 2004 for every CBPO who has worked for the agency between then and at least 2011 when the parties signed a new agreement and OT assignment procedure. Imagine the task of solving a jumbled Rubik’s Cube with the added requirement that there is a number on each square that must be placed in the proper order. That is the task that awaits CBP.  But maybe something else is happening. Things are not always what they seem. Continue reading →

Posted in Overtime | Tagged | 1 Comment

Posted on March 9, 2016 by AdminUN

UNION WINS ARBITRATION FOR NON-UNIT EMPLOYEE

That’s right; you are not seeing things. The union filed a grievance on behalf of a non-unit temporarily assigned to unit work.  When the agency did not pay the employee what it was required under the contract to compensate a unit employee, the union grieved.  We can’t blame them.  After all, if the agency can slot non-unit people into to unit jobs to get them done more cheaply, that is something unions are in business to take care of. Congrats to the United Power Trades Organization for reminding everyone of this rule.  He agency filed exceptions to the arbitrator’s decision alleging that… Continue reading →

Posted in Grievance/Arbitration | Tagged | 2 Comments

Posted on March 9, 2016 by AdminUN

NEW EEOC PUBLICATION OUTLINES ADA RIGHTS OF HIV-POSITIVE EMPLOYEES

The title says it all. If you area involved with an HIV-positive employee, as a union rep or manager, this is something you need to look through.

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Posted on March 9, 2016 by AdminUN

ATHEIST ENTITLED TO “RELIGIOUS” ACCOMMODATION

How far can unbelievers insist their employers go to respect their beliefs about religion?  Here is an interesting story about a new court case that suggests atheists have as much of a right to demand an accommodation as others. (Mathis v. Christian Heating and Air, No. 13-3740, ED PA, 2016))

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