Posts tagged federal employees
From Hollywood to auto work, organized labor is flexing its muscles. Where do unions stand today?
November 9, 2023 // There are also limits for organizers under current labor law. That means that what worked in auto workers' labor campaign, for example, may not look the same or be possible in other industries. Larger, more established unions typically have more bargaining power — and that's reflected in new contract wins seen today. “We have a labor law that was designed in the era in the 30s and 40s, when auto plants of 10,000 workers (were organizing)," he said. Starbucks is “split into these small coffee shops of 15 workers. ... They need to join together to have any kind of bargaining power against a big employer. But our labor law isn’t structured to help them do that,” Colvin said. Service jobs can also be hard to organize due to part-time work and high turnover rates. The same can be said for Amazon warehouses, where there have been pushes for unions.
Labor board drops UAW complaint against Sen. Tim Scott
November 5, 2023 // The complaint centered on comments Scott made at a campaign event where he endorsed firing striking workers, which is against the law. “I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike,” Scott said at an Iowa campaign event. “He said, ‘You strike, you’re fired.’ Simple concept to me, to the extent that we can use that once again.” The union said Scott was “engaging in unfair labor practices.” Scott denounced the complaint when it was filed, saying UAW was attempting to “threaten” him and “shut me up.”
Opinion James Gray: Public sector unions have hijacked our governments in California and beyond
September 13, 2023 // “About ten percent of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention are members of the teachers unions making them the single largest organizational bloc of Democratic activists.” Furthermore, if you oppose those unions they can — and will — spend huge amounts of money either to fund your opponent in the next election or even to sponsor a recall election. Just ask former Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Hewitt, Santa Ana City Councilperson Cecilia Iglesias or state Sen. John Moorlach, who all lost their positions because they stood up to the public employees unions.
National Right to Work Foundation Blasts FLRA Ruling Trapping Blue Ridge Parkway Employees in Union
June 7, 2023 // FLRA merged two work units at union officials’ behest with no worker input, now cites merger to deny worker request for vote to remove union
COMMENTARY: White House Swells Federal Union Ranks – But at What Cost
May 18, 2023 // Using the estimated dues of the largest federal employee union as an example, the new union members for which the Biden administration is taking credit could represent between $37 million and $46 million in annual dues revenue. And as these employees are ushered through the union door, union officials and government agencies appear determined to slam it behind them. For employees who feel this arrangement violates their rights, litigation may be the only way out. In the past year, the Fairness Center, the public interest law firm of which I am president, has filed 36 matters on behalf of federal employees involving 16 unions and eight federal agencies.
After OMB’s updated telework guidance, federal unions emphasize role of collective bargaining
May 12, 2023 // To try to get more feedback from employees on engagement and satisfaction, HUD created a small-scale “stay survey” for employees leaving the agency. It received 65% positive ratings from respondents. The pilot was primarily a way to assess the value of the questions and make changes before rolling out the survey on a larger scale, HUD Deputy Press Secretary De’Marcus Finnell said in an email to Federal News Network. HUD plans to use upcoming focus groups on the survey to make additional changes to the final version. But Viola took issue with the way the survey was conducted, saying that the lack of questions about attrition, and asking why employees were choosing to leave, made the survey a limited resource to understand the root of the problem.
Labor union challenges constitutionality of debt limit law
May 10, 2023 // The union’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, says the debt limit statute allows the president to cancel government spending that’s been approved by Congress, and that violates the separation of powers. The lawsuit states that the union does not seek to challenge the “controversial proposition” that Congress can limit the country’s debt. But it contends that “Congress may not do so without at least setting the order and priority of payments once that limit is reached, instead of leaving it to the President to do so.” “Nothing in the Constitution or any judicial decision interpreting the Constitution allows Congress to leave unchecked discretion to the President to exercise the spending power vested in the legislative branch by canceling, suspending, or refusing to carry out spending already approved by Congress,” the lawsuit states.
Goldwater Tells Federal Agency to Protect Workers’ Rights from Union Power Grab
January 26, 2023 // The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents more than 150,000 federal employees working in dozens of government agencies, is one of many big labor unions that wants to make it difficult for people to leave and stop paying dues, even though the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws protect workers and prohibit the unions’ money grab. That’s why the Goldwater Institute submitted comment to the Federal Labor Relations Authority last week opposing the National Treasury Employees Union’s request for rules and policy changes that would allow it to prevent its members from leaving the union or stop paying union dues unless they formally opt out within a narrow, annual window of time. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court made clear in its landmark Janus decision that the First Amendment protects the freedom to associate—or not to associate—for “expressive purposes.” The Court held that “[n]either an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmember’s wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay.” And such consent must be proven by “clear and compelling evidence,” a high legal hurdle for government employers.
Legislative staffer unions percolate beyond D.C.
January 26, 2023 // Part of its argument is that the legislative union would violate the separation of powers because it would be overseen by Oregon’s Employment Relations Board, a part of the executive branch. “All of its members are appointed by the governor, so it's controlled by the executive branch, and that subjects the legislature to the executive branch in a specific way,” Freedom Foundation attorney Rebekah Millard told POLITICO.
Union arbitrators are protecting truly awful government employees
October 10, 2022 // Federal personnel challenges go beyond the civil service system. Federal unions are also a big part of the problem. The government was not supposed to operate this way. Congress expressly directed agencies not to tolerate misconduct and to fire poor performers. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 even made these directives “Merit System Principles.” But agencies come nowhere close to upholding these principles. Barely a third of federal employees say their agencies remove employees whose performance is persistently poor. Half report poor performers stay on the job and continue to underperform.