Author Archive
Workforce
EPA becomes the second federal agency to cancel its union contracts
In an email Friday, an official claimed the continued recognition of unions at EPA would constitute “irreparable harm to national security” at the agency responsible for fighting pollution.
Workforce
OPM orders deletion of federal workers’ vaccination records
The announcement came hours after a formal dissolution of a lawsuit challenging the Biden-era requirement that federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, which hasn’t been enforced since 2023.
Workforce
In partisan letter, Bisignano shifts blame on 1-800 call times, cites dated stats
Current and former Social Security officials said the commissioner at various points blamed his predecessor for problems that did not exist and took credit for Biden-era improvements.
Workforce
VA terminates most of its union contracts, appearing to disregard OPM guidance
The move runs against the Trump administration’s claims to federal jurists that agencies would wait until the conclusion of litigation challenging the president’s executive order seeking to outlaw collective bargaining at most federal agencies on national security grounds.
Workforce
A second appeals court has allowed Trump’s anti-union EO to go into effect
A three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court rejected claims that President Trump’s barring collective bargaining for two-thirds of the federal workforce was retaliatory in nature, finding that the administration would have done so regardless of labor groups’ various legal challenges.
Pay & Benefits
TSP funds post mixed returns in July
While domestic investments in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program posted gains last month, its international fund faltered.
Workforce
Senate panel advances bills to protect whistleblowers, fix CBP workers’ retirement benefits
More than 1,300 CBP officers spent more than a decade contributing toward their retirement annuities for which they were not eligible, due to a mistake the agency made in 2008.
Workforce
New lawsuit scrutinizes Hegseth’s implementation of Trump’s anti-union EO
While previous lawsuits argued simply that President Trump’s citation of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act’s so-called “national security exemption” en masse violated federal regulatory law, a new suit from IFPTE drills down on the Defense secretary’s implementation of the controversial edict.
Pay & Benefits
Bipartisan Senate bill would boost pay, alleviate grueling schedule for federal firefighters
New legislation would shorten federal firefighters’ work week from 72 hours to 60 and would ensure their overtime work is properly compensated via the Federal Employees Retirement System.
Management
Trump’s controversial OSC nominee pulled from confirmation hearing
The hearing for the White House’s pick to replace Federal Labor Relations Authority Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann, who is still challenging her ouster, was similarly postponed.
Workforce
Another judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s effort to pre-clear anti-union EO
Both of the White House’s efforts to secure declaratory judgments in advance of formally stripping more than 1 million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights have now failed.
Workforce
Lawmakers pursue parallel paths toward blocking Trump’s anti-union order
While House Democrats and unions are working over the August recess to secure signatures on a discharge petition to force the chamber to consider a bill overturning the president’s edict stripping two-thirds of federal employees of their collective bargaining rights, the House NDAA includes language blocking its implementation at the Pentagon.
Management
Unions, good government groups urge rejection of Trump’s OSC nominee
Paul Ingrassia, 28, has cavorted with neo-Nazis and publicly described the federal workers he would be tasked with protecting as “parasites” and “bugmen.”
Updated
Workforce
OPM urges ‘generous approach’ to approving religion-based telework
A memo encouraging the approval of telework arrangements for people with religious reasonable accommodation requests comes as some agencies look to crack down on disability-based telework usage.
Workforce
Trump’s anti-union EO can remain in effect during challenge, appellate court says
The judge who dissented from an appellate court’s initial decision allowing the edict to be implemented issued a warning about the high standards that should accompany a judicial stay.
Management
Trump administration narrows effort to nix project labor agreements for federal construction contracts
The move to narrow the rollback of a Biden-era order mandating contractors negotiate with unions before major construction projects came after a federal judge blocked the White House’s first attempt.
Workforce
Sens. Warren and Wyden demand info on SSA reassignments
SSA workers say the recent decision to involuntarily reassign 1,000 field office employees to man the 1-800 number flies in the face of leadership’s rosy pronouncements and further degrades service.
Workforce
Union calls for reinstatement of EPA workers suspended over letter
More than 130 EPA workers were put on administrative leave over their signature of a letter that criticized Administrator Lee Zeldin’s direction for the agency.
Pay & Benefits
Trump’s hiring freeze has jeopardized postal workers’ health care, IG says
OPM told its agency watchdog that it has taken steps to ensure the Postal Service Health Benefits Program remains adequately staffed and funded but failed to provide any evidence that it had actually done so.
Workforce
SSA touts service improvements, but reassignments tell a different story
Though Commissioner Frank Bisignano has heralded the addition of AI assistants to the Social Security Administration’s customer service streams, the agency is quietly reassigning field office staff to man its 1-800 number.
