A Non-Uniform Ruling

The American Federation of Government Employees has won a battle in its ongoing war against an Air Force requirement that civilian air reserve technicians (who must join the military reserves as a condition of employment) wear uniforms on the job. An arbitrator has ruled that Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri violated its contract with AFGE Local 2361 by implementing the policy.

"While uniforms may improve consistent appearance, cohesion and other long-term military goals," the arbitrator ruled, "they also can generate lower short-term morale and predicate consequential military behavior on a civilian workforce.”