Management
FLRA will test out paperless document delivery
The agency that oversees labor-management relations in the federal government says sending documents by mail sometimes hamstrings parties’ ability to respond to filings.
Workforce
Social Security’s staffing crisis is getting dire, union says
Agency management is doing “the bare minimum” to improve workplace conditions amid a daunting workload and morale that is among the worst in the federal government, union officials argue.
Management
A union is still pushing to permanently end the threat of delayed paychecks due to a debt default
The Biden administration will soon have to articulate its views on the constitutionality of the debt ceiling.
Workforce
Federal Employee Unions Endorse Biden for Reelection
Labor leaders described President Biden as “the most labor-friendly president in history.”
Pay & Benefits
Conservatives: End Annual Across-the-Board Pay Raises for Feds and Cut Benefits
The Republican Study Committee’s fiscal 2024 budget proposal would favor targeted “merit-based” pay increases and drastically reduce federal employees’ retirement and health care benefits.
Workforce
No Telework Cuts for Weather Service Employees, Under Union Settlement
Commerce Department employees represented by the National Weather Service Employees Organization are exempt from recent cuts to telework, though labor leaders bemoan deteriorating relationship with management.
Workforce
FLRA Could Be Back to Full Strength With Latest Nomination
After six months of operating with an even partisan split, President Biden announced he would nominate a top Defense Department official for the final post at the FLRA.
Workforce
Labor Authority's General Counsel Post Could Finally Be Filled with a New Nominee
The position, which is required for unfair labor practice complaints to advance to the Federal Labor Relations Authority for adjudication, has lacked a Senate-confirmed appointee since 2017.
Workforce
NIH Fellows Hope Union Bid Will Bolster Pay and Protections
Organizers hope that forming a union at the National Institutes of Health will help increase pay, benefits and worker protections across academia.
Workforce
An Effort to Make It Easier for Feds to Bust Their Own Union is Blocked by the FLRA
The American Federation of Government Employees applauded the decision, but with a FLRA-mandated union election scheduled for next month, the fight is far from over.
Workforce
Federal Labor Law Applies to Civilian Technicians in State National Guards, Supreme Court Affirms
The state of Ohio had argued it did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, despite the fact that “dual status technicians” are federal employees.
Workforce
Union and Alaska Army Posts Resolve Differences Over Official Time and Illegal Contract, But Other Fights Remain
Despite agreeing to drop the illegal contract the agency unilaterally imposed on AFGE employees in 2019, union officials say management continues to resist the Biden administration’s pro-labor policies.
Oversight
Republicans Remind the White House They Still Want to Know More About Biden’s Labor Policies for Contractors
President Biden issued an executive order last year requiring project labor agreements for federal construction work.
Workforce
Conservative Think Tanks Are Preparing a List of 20K Potential Political Appointees in Hopes of Reviving Schedule F
A coalition led by the Heritage Foundation has launched a massive recruitment effort that would grow the ranks of federal political appointees from 4,000 to 20,000 in the next Republican presidential administration.
Management
Agencies Would Suffer 'Egregious Harm' Under GOP Debt Ceiling Proposal, Federal Employee Union Says
House Republicans’ plan to raise the debt ceiling in conjunction with a 20% cut in discretionary spending would hurt public services, AFGE says.
Workforce
The Biden Administration Tells Agencies to Scale Back Telework
Federal employee unions and career agency HR leaders reportedly were left out of the development of a new Office of Management and Budget memo that instructs agencies to “substantially increase meaningful in-person work at federal offices.”
Workforce
Merit Board: Agencies Must Tell Employees to Pick One Place to File Personnel Action Appeals, and Stick With It
An Air Force civilian worker was never informed that she could not both file a union grievance and have the Merit Systems Protection Board hear her case.
Workforce
Union Warns Social Security Service Will Spiral Without Major Changes
More than half of surveyed Social Security Administration employees reported that they are considering leaving the agency and have begun looking for new jobs due to burnout.
Workforce
AFGE and VA Reach a Tentative Deal on a New Contract
The agreement comes just weeks after an arbitrator found that the Veterans Affairs Department engaged in bad faith bargaining with the federal employee union.
Workforce