Workforce
With a Senate Confirmation Vote, A Federal Labor Relations Board is Back in Democratic Control
The Senate voted 50-49 to confirm former MSPB Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann as a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
Workforce
Senators, Labor Are Eyeing Adding More ALJs to the Social Security Administration Union
Democrats and advocates feel emboldened after the Biden administration encouraged agencies to search their ranks for misclassified workers.
Pay & Benefits
It's Now Easier for Federal Firefighters to File for Workers Comp
For an array of chronic illnesses that have been linked with firefighting as a profession, federal firefighters will no longer have to prove precisely what incident caused their ailment.
Pay & Benefits
A Bill Could Let Feds Save for Retirement Longer, and More
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Workforce
OPM Issues More Guidance to Encourage Collective Bargaining at Agencies
Building on President Biden’s executive order encouraging more collaborative labor-management relations, OPM strongly encouraged federal agencies to improve unions’ ability to communicate with workers and collect dues.
Workforce
Less Than a Week after Social Security Offices Reopen, Unions Report a Mixed Bag
Although some components reported a more collaborative labor-management relationship, that did not extend to field office employees, who now report feeling physically threatened at work.
Management
The Senate Confirms a Supreme Court Nominee With Experience on Federal Employee Issues
Ketanji Brown Jackson overturned a trio of Trump executive orders that had made it easier to fire federal employees and limited union bargaining rights.
Management
Some Labor Authority and TSP Nominations Are Delayed After a Deadlocked Committee Vote
Although most of the nominees sailed through by voice vote, three of Biden’s key picks to govern federal labor relations and the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program were deadlocked in party-line votes.
Pay & Benefits
Biden’s 2023 Budget Would Pay for TSA Raises and the Move to General Schedule
The Transportation Security Administration has begun the process of granting its employees full federal civil service rights, although it needs more than $1 billion in additional funding to end the pay disparity with General Schedule workers.
Workforce
EPA Will Return to a ‘Hybrid’ Office in May
The agency and its union reached an agreement this month to begin bringing union workers back to facilities in May, albeit with expanded telework and remote work options.
Workforce
Some House Republicans Want to Reinstall Trump Workforce Policies
A group of 12 lawmakers introduced a bill that would revive the former president’s anti-union executive orders and an order that could politicize the civil service.
Workforce
A Major Federal Employee Union Is Ready to Fight for Better Pay, Benefits and Workplace Protections
NTEU began its annual legislative conference Tuesday.
Workforce
Lawmakers Eye Rolling Back Controversial VA Workforce Law, As the Department and Union Begin Negotiations
A bipartisan bill would effectively take two portions of the 2017 VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act that were nullified by federal courts off the books.
Workforce
Soon Feds Will Be Able to Sign Up Online to Join a COVID Hazard Pay Lawsuit
Unlike traditional class-action suits, federal workers will need to sign up to become plaintiffs in advance, union says.
Workforce
Unions are Urging the VA to Better Educate Employees About Their Rights Under COVID Law
Although Congress has approved a number of measures to help federal workers stay safe during the pandemic, labor groups say the Veterans Affairs Department has not adequately trained employees on those benefits.
Workforce
White House Task Force: Agencies Need to Do More to Support Unionization in the Federal Workforce
A task force chaired by Vice President Kamala Harris and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said that as a “model employer,” the federal government should be at the forefront of removing barriers for employees to organize or join a union.
Management
A New Bill Would Move Immigration Judges to the Judiciary, Protecting Them from Political Interference
Democrats who introduced the measure said it will make immigration proceedings akin to those of the U.S. tax court.
Workforce
An Appeals Court Has Overturned Another Decision That Made Life Harder for Federal Employee Unions
For the second time in a week, a three-judge panel struck down a controversial FLRA policy statement, citing “conclusory and counterintuitive assertions” underlying a decision weakening unions’ ability to negotiate over changes to working conditions.
Workforce
A Senate Panel Will Consider Nominees for Two Boards That Govern Federal Employee Issues - Again
A lack of Republican cooperation meant candidates for key administration posts at FLRA and MSPB had to be renominated by President Biden this month.
Workforce