Posts tagged American Federation of Government Employees
Unions applaud ‘most pro-union president in history’ following Biden’s decision to end campaign
July 24, 2024 // As president, Biden instituted reforms aimed at rebuilding the federal workforce, both increasing recruitment at federal agencies and restoring rights taken away during Trump’s first term in office. Shortly after taking office, he rescinded Schedule F, an abortive—though not abandoned—effort to reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees in policy-related jobs into the government’s excepted service, effectively making them at-will employees.
Op-Ed: Many federal public union employees remain AWOL
May 28, 2024 // "I'll get these people back to work if I have to send in troops to get them." – Joe Biden In response to Biden's plans to end "federal work at home offices" last week, the White House Office of Management issued a time sensitive guidance for agencies to “substantially increase productive in-person work at Federal offices, particularly at headquarters and their equivalents.” Biden's mandate went over like a lead balloon with federal unionized employees who were told that Biden's harsh decree to return to work possibly violated their union contract.
Businesses blast new Biden rule allowing union reps to inspect job sites
May 23, 2024 // The National Federation of Independent Businesses, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, are helping lead the charge against the new “walkaround” rule, which takes effect May 31 of this year. “Small businesses want to create a safe work environment for their employees, and they understand the necessity of reasonable mandates and inspections to this end,” Beth Milito, executive director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center, said in a statement. “But the final rule issued by OSHA goes beyond ‘reasonable’. This rule will allow unlimited third-party individuals to initiate and then join an inspection of a private workplace under the guise of representing the employees. Not only does this violate a small business owner’s private property rights, it will not advance worker safety. It only makes small businesses susceptible to harassment from competitors, union representatives, and other parties intending to cause harm.”
How local labor unions are helping members buy homes
January 30, 2024 // Through Thompson’s membership in the American Federation of Government Employees, she and Prescod got paired with a real estate agent and a lender, who gave them “incredible” service and got them down payment assistance and an exclusive loan with no private mortgage insurance. Purchase rebates, discounted homeowners insurance, and discounts on moving vans and supplies are among the assistance local unions are offering.
Nation’s largest federal employee union endorses O’Malley to lead Social Security
August 22, 2023 // O’Malley’s nomination comes at a time when the agency he was chosen to lead is at a crossroads. House Republicans and the White House differ on how much to fund SSA in fiscal 2024 to the tune of nearly $2 billion, which administration officials are is needed to avert calamity within the agency. The union, for its part, estimates that more than $17 billion—$2 billion more than Biden request—is needed to shore up the agency’s workforce and operating procedures. And following years of conflict and deadlock at the bargaining table, AFGE and Social Security management reached an agreement last month to update a portion of their union contract, which includes commitments to set up regular union-management cooperation council meetings both at the national level and within the agency’s subcomponents, as well as plans to improve training for new employees and to boost some benefits like child-care subsidies.
Biden Names Veteran Union Official as Labor Policy Adviser
August 22, 2023 // Danaher until last Friday served as labor policy adviser at the Transportation Department, consulting with Secretary Pete Buttigieg on recent labor negotiations critical to supply chains involving freight railroads, West Coast ports and talks between United Parcel Service Inc. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He also served on the administration’s supply-chain task force. “Brendan has been a trusted adviser to me and our entire Department during our ongoing work to help transportation workers secure the wages, benefits, and safe conditions they deserve,” Buttigieg said in a statement. Before joining the Biden administration, Danaher worked for two decades at a number of labor organizations including the AFL-CIO, Transport Workers Union and the American Federation of Government Employees.
This group says it keeps federal unions accountable to their members
August 14, 2023 //
Unions push back on Biden plan to bring federal workers back
August 9, 2023 // Biden has directed Cabinet officials to “aggressively execute” plans to reinstate in-person work for federal workers this fall, more than three years after the administration maximized telework policies amid the COVID pandemic. Axios first reported the stepped-up callback Friday, citing a memo from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. Biden pledged in his State of the Union address that “the vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person,” and the adminisration has followed followed by slowly transitioning to more in-person work. In April, instructions for agencies to end maximum telework and create plans to bring people back to the office were sent out by the Office of Management and Budget. A report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that out of the 24 federal agencies, 17 of them estimated that they used 25 percent or less of their headquarters buildings capacity.
VA, AFGE reach ‘historic’ settlement to reinstate, compensate thousands of wrongfully fired feds
August 4, 2023 // The department said it expects the total cost of the settlement agreement with AFGE to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The exact amount, though, could take years to determine, depending on how many former employees ultimately choose to return to their VA jobs. The settlement comes years after AFGE, which represents more than 291,000 VA employees, filed a grievance against the department in 2018. The union said the agency’s implementation of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which aimed to speed up the firing process for poor-performing VA employees, violated their collective bargaining agreement.
AFGE Urges Congress to Pass Bill Reinstating Federal Tax Deduction for Union Dues
August 1, 2023 // The Tax Fairness for Workers Act, H.R. 4963, would restore the tax deductibility of union dues for workers and would create an “above the line” deduction for unions so workers can use it even if they don’t itemize. The bill, which currently has 158 co-sponsors, would also help workers by restoring the deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses including job search expenses, travel, out of pocket cost of uniforms and tools, and other costs related to being an employee. AFGE thanks Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Donald Norcross, D-N.J., for introducing his important bill. AFGE also thanks Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., for leading the Senate bill, S. 738, which has 39 co-sponsors.