Management
Trump Administration Publishes Memo That Could End Defense Unions
More than three weeks after President Trump signed a memo authorizing Defense Secretary Mark Esper to effectively outlaw collective bargaining at the Defense Department, the White House has posted the document to the Federal Register.
Management
Union Sues to Block a Plan That Would Make It Easier for Feds to Quit Paying Dues
Labor authority last week signaled that it will move ahead on the plan, although critics say the agency's legal justification doesn’t add up.
Management
Labor Authority Moves Forward With Plan to Make It Easier for Feds to Cancel Union Dues
Lone Democrat on the labor-management relations board accuses his colleagues of using recent Supreme Court precedent as a pretext to enable union busting.
Management
Civil Rights Groups Join Fight Against EEOC Official Time Proposal
A pair of nonprofit groups said plan to make the right to official time for union representatives subject to collective bargaining agreements lacks "adequate justification" and will harm federal workers.
Management
White House Memo Could End Unionization at the Pentagon
In a January memo, President Trump authorized Defense Secretary Mark Esper to exempt the Defense Department from the law governing collective bargaining in the federal government.
Management
More Than 100 Lawmakers Urge HHS to Resume Bargaining with Union
The department has not responded in nearly five months to calls to continue talks with its labor union, despite an arbitrator's finding that it had engaged in bad faith bargaining.
Management
Administrative Law Judges Union Asks Court to Intervene in Impasses Case
Union says two labor-management panels ignored calls to address constitutional complaints related to how the president appoints members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel.
Management
House Panel Advances Bill Granting Full Rights to TSA Workers
Currently, employees at the Transportation Security Administration do not get annual raises along with workers on the General Schedule, and have significantly curtailed rights to collective bargaining and appealing adverse personnel actions.
Management
Administrative Law Judges: Proposed Social Security Rule Would Violate Law, Supreme Court Decision
A union representing the judges submitted comments opposing a proposed rule that would allow Social Security appeals officers to hear lower-level disability cases.
Pay & Benefits
Social Security Announces More Telework Cuts
The move comes after Congress directed the agency to reinstate telework in other offices within SSA.
Management
Union Asks Judge to Suspend Guidance Limiting Discussion of Impeachment in Federal Offices
AFGE argues the 2018 Office of Special Counsel Hatch Act guidance infringes on federal workers' First Amendment rights.
Pay & Benefits
On the Anniversary of Government Reopening, Contractors Renew Push for Back Pay
Although Congress enacted back pay for furloughed federal employees at the end of last year’s 35-day partial government shutdown, Senate Republicans have repeatedly thwarted efforts to similarly compensate low-wage federal contractors.
Oversight
House Committees Demand Documents on EEOC Official Time Proposal
Federal employee unions and Democratic lawmakers have criticized a proposed rule that would strip union employees from the right to official time when aiding a colleague to prepare a discrimination complaint.
Management
Labor Authority Seeks Comments on What Happens With Existing Union Contracts During Negotiations for New Ones
The Agriculture Department asked FLRA to clarify whether collective bargaining agreements that are renewed on a short-term basis while unions and management negotiate a new contract are subject to legal review by agency heads.
Management
Labor Authority Beats Back Agency Efforts to Narrow Bargaining Obligations
Since November, the agency that governs labor-management relations in the federal government declined half a dozen different requests for “policy statements” that would give management an advantage in talks with unions.
Management
OPM Implements One of the Few Uncontested Pieces of Trump's Workforce Orders: A Database of Union Contracts
Nearly 800 collective bargaining agreements are now available.
Management
Administrative Law Judges Decry Social Security Rule that Would Take Cases Out of Their Hands
SSA argues allowing appeals judges to hear lower-level disability cases will decrease the agency’s backlog, but administrative law judges say the initiative is an effort to undermine their independence.
Management
Trump Administration Makes Its Case to Break Up Immigration Judges' Union
Justice Department "simply does not want to deal with a vocal union that asserts its rights," labor group argues at hearing.
Management
Arbitrator: HHS Violated Labor Laws Implementing Union Contract
In May, the Health and Human Services Department implemented a Federal Service Impasses Panel decision, despite the fact that it was legally required to first negotiate six union contract provisions with the National Treasury Employees Union.
Management