Workforce
VA, AFGE celebrate ‘best union contract’ in federal government
After six years of often acrimonious negotiations, the Veterans Affairs Department and the nation’s largest federal employee union on Tuesday signed a new collective bargaining agreement.
Workforce
White House calls on agencies to 'aggressively' reduce telework this fall
Chief of Staff Jeff Zients instructed agencies to focus on executing plans to increase in-person work in September and October.
Workforce
Biden administration to spend $100M-plus to restore jobs or offer payments to employees improperly fired
The settlement agreement resolves an issue that arose during the Trump administration.
Workforce
TSA employees are finally earning similar wages to most other federal workers
Officials on Thursday celebrated the arrival of an up-to-30% pay raise for Transportation Security Administration employees this week, but warned that House spending plans could derail recent progress.
Management
Biden taps former Maryland governor for Social Security commissioner
Martin O’Malley served two terms as governor before a failed presidential campaign in 2016.
Workforce
IRS announces the end of most surprise taxpayer visits
The change, effective immediately, comes due to concern for the safety of IRS employees and to make it easier for taxpayers to identify potential scammers.
Workforce
New union contract offers hope for better labor relations at the Social Security Administration
The American Federation of Government Employees and Social Security management will meet on a bimonthly basis to collaborate on issues like improving training, designing a child care subsidy and more.
Workforce
Want successful integration of AI at federal agencies? Engage employees through the unions
COMMENTARY | AI will bring dramatic, disruptive, productive changes that can improve how the work of government is carried out over the next 10 years. To prepare for it, organizations will need to learn together and plan together.
Oversight
‘Wrongdoing’ likely in USDA maintenance of the nation’s largest agricultural research facility, OSC says
Union leaders said a recent winter flood of a building at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center is just a symptom of systematic mismanagement of the facility.
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