Unions

OPM Deputy Touts Agency’s Newly Proactive Stance on Labor Issues

Rob Shriver says recent efforts by officials to mediate labor-management disputes is part of the Office of Personnel Management’s transformation into being the government’s leader on human capital issues.

  • Erich Wagner

Federal Firefighter Groups Find Flaws in a Watchdog's Conclusions on Recruitment, Retention Challenges

GAO didn’t speak to enough frontline firefighters to form a holistic set of recommendations to address the staffing shortage affecting agencies that fight wildfires, groups say.

  • Erich Wagner

OPM to Agencies: Make Sure You Haven’t Incorrectly Told Employees They Can’t Join a Union

The directive is aimed at correcting instances where employees were improperly labeled as management officials.

  • Erich Wagner

How Public Sector Unions Are Adjusting to a Post-Trump World

Erich Wagner joins the podcast to discuss the state of organized labor in federal workplaces.

  • Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler

The White House Will Require Agency Labor Advisors to Oversee Federal Contractors

Following through on a recommendation from a White House task force on empowering workers, administration officials said the 24 largest agencies must designate labor advisors, and strongly encouraged smaller agencies to do the same.

  • Erich Wagner

State of the Unions: A New Normal

After nearly four years of drag-out fights with the Trump administration, President Biden pitched himself as a willing partner to federal employee unions. How have the government and unions navigated the transition to this new approach?

  • Erich Wagner

Supreme Court Justices Seem Skeptical of State Challenge of FLRA’s Jurisdiction Over National Guard Civilians

“Is Ohio just crazy” for repudiating collective bargaining obligations with civilian technicians of the Ohio National Guard, asked one conservative jurist.

  • Erich Wagner

The Federal Labor Relations Authority Is Now Ideologically Deadlocked After Its Chairman’s Term Expired

President Biden designated Susan Tsui Grundmann to be chairwoman of the agency after Ernest DuBester reached the end of his term, although the president could reappoint the longtime FLRA member.

  • Erich Wagner

FLRA Moves to Undo a Controversial Trump-era Union Dues Policy

The Federal Labor Relations Authority, now under Democratic control, said prior leadership ignored the Civil Service Reform Act’s legislative history.

  • Erich Wagner

The House Passes a Bill to Give VA Medical Employees Greater Union Rights

The VA Employee Fairness Act would grant medical professionals the right to bargain over scheduling and official time, and to file grievances over pay disputes.

  • Erich Wagner

FLRA Restores Pre-Trump Doctrine on When It Can Intervene in Ongoing Arbitration

A decision by the then-Republican controlled FLRA in 2018 led to a tripling of some cases on the agency’s docket.

  • Erich Wagner

A Union and the EEOC Have Reached a Settlement Over the Agency’s Failure to Negotiate Office Reentry

The deal requires health and safety inspections of all EEOC work sites, reduces the number of days employees must report to their offices to three per pay period, and opens the door to negotiating a remote work policy for employees.

  • Erich Wagner

Education Dept. and AFGE Reach a Settlement on Dozens of Complaints Stemming From 2018 Management Edict

A draconian collective bargaining agreement imposed without negotiating with the union, ended official time, removed workplace protections and implemented a scheme designed to cut off the union's dues collection.

  • Erich Wagner
Featured eBooks
State of the Unions: A New Normal
Data Lessons From Covid
Quantum-Mania Across Government

The Consumer Protection Bureau's Union Is Pushing for Better Pay, Fewer Pay Gaps

CFPB employee representatives said the agency is dragging its feet on plans to reduce gender and racial pay gaps, as well as to comply with federal law requiring compensation comparable with other financial regulators.

  • Erich Wagner

An Appeals Court Seems Skeptical of Both Sides in Immigration Judges Union Case

A three-judge panel questioned attorneys for the National Association of Immigration Judges on whether their appeal was premature, and grilled FLRA lawyers on whether the union can seek redress through administrative channels.

  • Erich Wagner

A Union Has Filed a Complaint Against a Defense Agency Over Failure to Implement Biden's Voting Leave Policy

Officials with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ inaction is emblematic of the Defense Department’s propensity to “slow walk” workforce policies that benefit employees.

  • Erich Wagner

New Data Suggests the Federal Pay Gap With the Private Sector Is Widening

Union officials called on the Biden administration to provide a more generous raise than the 4.6% average increase slated for next year, while a group representing executives urged officials to explore broader pay reform efforts.

  • Erich Wagner

VA Employees Launch a 'Rate My Professors' for Federal Supervisors

The new site will allow employees to anonymously review their bosses.

  • Eric Katz

Social Security Union Rallies Outside the Agency's Headquarters for Funding, Bargaining and Training

An internal survey conducted by the American Federation of Government Employees found that 4 in 10 field office respondents are considering leaving the agency within the next year.

  • Erich Wagner

Social Security’s Union Is Calling for $16.5 Billion in Funding and Cooperation from Management

Labor leaders say the only way out of the agency’s staffing crisis is more money and the abandonment of cutthroat collective bargaining tactics by the agency’s Office of Labor-Management and Employee Relations.

  • Erich Wagner

The FLRA Says HHS Erred in Implementing a Partial Union Contract During the Trump Administration

The agency that oversees labor-management relations in the federal government also chided a union for trying to get out of an agreement it previously reached because it conflicted with President Biden’s labor executive order.

  • Erich Wagner