SAVE THE DATE – LABOR DAY
August 1st, 2019 | Posted by in Did you know? | Labor History | Solidarity - (0 Comments)27th Annual Food Drive
May 10th, 2019 | Posted by in Food Drive - Stamp Out Hunger | Solidarity - (0 Comments)The 27th annual National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is set for this Saturday, May 11. To make a donation, simply leave a bag of nonperishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday and your letter carrier will do the rest. All donations stay local.
Saturday’s union-made food drive is the largest one-day food drive in America. National partners with the NALC include the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the AFL-CIO.
Set out your nonperishable donation well before your letter carrier’s normal pickup time. Letter carriers will be delivering and collecting mail as usual, on top of collecting food donations, so pickup time may slightly vary.
Show your union and community solidarity by making a food donation during this year’s Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
Be sure to leave a bag of nonperishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday, May 11, and thank a union member for doing the rest!
WEAR RED –April 4, 2019
April 3rd, 2019 | Posted by in National Updates | Solidarity | Uncategorized | Wear Red Day - (0 Comments)
In May of 2018, the Administration announced three executive orders that chip away at due process and collective bargaining rights for federal employees and impede employee representation at the job site. Within three business days of issuance of the orders, AFGE filed a lawsuit int he U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. We won that suit, but the fight isn’t over. The administration is appealing the judge’s decision and is actively working to put the union-busting, democracy-busting executive orders back in place.
On April 4, 2019 we’re headed back to court to fight the appeal. We need you and your coworkers to show management and the administration that our union isn’t going anywhere.
Wear RED Thursday, April 4th.
#AFGE
Share your pictures and Use the hashtag #RedForFeds
AFGE WINS
September 12th, 2018 | Posted by in Court Ruling | Did you know? | Solidarity | Your Rights - (0 Comments)Democracy Wins as Court Strikes Down Trump’s Anti-Worker Executive Order
AFGE applauds ruling that administration illegally gutted workers’ rights, violated labor contracts
WASHINGTON – In a landmark decision, a federal judge has ruled that President Trump violated the U.S. Constitution and laws providing checks and balances in the federal government by attempting to deny more than 2 million federal workers their legal right to representation.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled late last night that the Trump administration’s May 25executive order on official time violated the 1stAmendment to the U.S. Constitution and the separation of powers as established in law.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which was the first union to challenge President Trump’s executive orders in court, applauded the judge’s ruling.
“President Trump’s illegal action was a direct assault on the legal rights and protections that Congress specifically guaranteed to the public-sector employees across this country who keep our federal government running every single day,” AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. said.
“We are heartened by the judge’s ruling and by the huge outpouring of support shown to federal workers by lawmakers from both parties, fellow union workers, and compassionate citizens across the country,” Cox said. “Our members go to work every single day to serve the American people, and they deserve all the rights and protections afforded to them by our founding fathers.”
AFGE, the largest union representing federal government employees, filed two lawsuits challenging President Trump’s executive orders. The first lawsuit challenged the executive order on official time as a violation of the right to freedom of association guaranteed by the First Amendment, and as exceeding the president’s authority. The second lawsuit charged that the remaining two orders exceed the president’s authority under the U.S. Constitution by violating the separation of powers and exceeding current law.
The impact of these executive orders began being felt months before they were even issued, as the Department of Education in March threw out the contract covering 3,900 federal employees represented by AFGE and implemented its own illegal management edict that strips workers of their union rights, a precursor to what was to come weeks later when President Trump issued the three union-busting, anti-federal worker executive orders. Since the executive orders were signed May 25, other agencies including the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs have issued similar edicts in an attempt to eradicate unions from the federal workplace and deny workers their legal right to representation.
“Now that the judge has issued her decision, I urge all agencies that have attempted to enforce this illegal executive order to restore all previously negotiated contracts and to bargain in good faith with employee representatives on any future changes as required under the law,” Cox said.
AFGE LOCAL 1395 is located at:
600 W. Madison – 6th Fl
Chicago IL 60661
Agatha Joseph 312-575-5612—President
Cheryl Bellamy-Bonner 312-575-5614 – Exec. Vice President
Main Office 312-575-5619
Huge Win for Our Union! Court Strikes Down Anti-Worker Executive Order
September 3rd, 2018 | Posted by in Labor History | Solidarity | Your Rights - (0 Comments)In a landmark decision, a federal judge has ruled that President Trump violated the U.S. Constitution and laws providing checks and balances in the federal government by attempting to deny more than 2 million federal workers their legal right to representation.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled late Friday that the Trump administration’s May 25 executive order on official time violated the U.S. Constitution and the separation of powers as established in law.
AFGE, which was the first union to challenge President Trump’s executive orders in court, applauded the judge’s ruling.
“President Trump’s illegal action was a direct assault on the legal rights and protections that Congress specifically guaranteed to the public-sector employees across this country who keep our federal government running every single day,” AFGE President J. David Cox Sr. said.
“We are heartened by the judge’s ruling and by the huge outpouring of support shown to federal workers by lawmakers from both parties, fellow union workers, and compassionate citizens across the country,” Cox added. “Our members go to work every single day to serve the American people, and they deserve all the rights and protections afforded to them by our founding fathers.”
The lawsuits
AFGE, the largest union representing federal government employees, filed two lawsuits challenging President Trump’s executive orders.
The first lawsuit challenged the executive order on official time as a violation of the right to freedom of association guaranteed by the First Amendment, and as exceeding the president’s authority. The second lawsuit charged that the remaining two orders exceed the president’s authority under the U.S. Constitution by violating the separation of powers and exceeding current law.
The impact of these executive orders began being felt months before they were even issued, as the Department of Education in March threw out the contract covering 3,900 federal employees represented by AFGE and implemented its own illegal management edict that strips workers of their union rights, a precursor to what was to come weeks later when President Trump issued the three union-busting, anti-federal worker executive orders.
Since the executive orders were signed May 25, other agencies including the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs have issued similar edicts in an attempt to eradicate unions from the federal workplace and deny workers their legal right to representation.
“Now that the judge has issued her decision, I urge all agencies that have attempted to enforce this illegal executive order to restore all previously negotiated contracts and to bargain in good faith with employee representatives on any future changes as required under the law,” Cox said.
AFGE Sues President Trump
June 6th, 2018 | Posted by in Did you know? | Political | Solidarity | Your Rights - (0 Comments)AFGE Sues President Trump Over Executive Order
On May 30, 2018, AFGE sued the Trump administration in response to an executive order Donald Trump issued that aims to deny workers their legal right to representation at the worksite.
On May 25, President Trump signed three executive orders that chip away at due process and collective bargaining rights for federal employees. A third executive order, which impedes employee representation at the job site, is the focus of the lawsuit. The order seeks to rewrite portions of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, which governs labor relations in the federal civilian workplace. In particular, the order seeks to restrict ‘official time’ – the hours federal employees who are union volunteers use for legally mandated representation of their coworkers in the workplace, such as filing a grievance on retaliation or unfair termination.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges the executive order as violating the right to freedom of association guaranteed by the First Amendment, and as exceeding the president’s authority under the Constitution of the United States.
Congress passed these laws to guarantee workers a collective voice in resolving workplace issues and improving the services they deliver to the public every day – whether it’s caring for veterans, ensuring our air and water are safe, preventing illegal weapons and drugs from crossing our borders, or helping communities recover from hurricanes and other disasters.
The United States is not a dictatorship. No president should be able to undo a law he doesn’t like through administrative fiat. AFGE will not stand by and let this administration willfully violate the Constitution to score political points.
How Federal Employees Are Using Official Time
People who know how official time is actually used at various agencies are stunned by the administration’s twist of facts and intentional assault on our government’s workforce and democracy itself. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have long approved the use of official time because it helps improve agency operations and make federal agencies a better place to work. But anti-union forces and powerful special interests are not interested in that.
The truth about official time
Official time is a practice in which federal managers and employees work together to make government more efficient, productive, and just. All federal employees, whether they belong to a union or not, are guaranteed the right to fair representation. Employees who volunteer to serve as union representatives are allowed certain hours in their work days to carry out those representational activities.
Contrary to what the administration wants people to believe, official time is never used to conduct internal union business, such as soliciting members, holding internal union meetings, electing union officers, or engaging in partisan political activities.
Here are 5 examples of how employees are using official time:
- Implement new directives, laws, programs.
Official time is used to go over new laws and regulations that are complex and ever changing. If employees don’t understand these directives and laws, they cannot implement them. This is especially important at a massive agency like the Department of Veterans Affairs that serves 9 million veterans every year and where a single mistake could mean life and death. Read about how a nurse from Minnesota used official time to help her hospital implement a new complex directive on prescription drug here. In Houston, Texas, employees used overtime to work with management on a new program to improve the adjudication of compensation claims filed by veterans seeking benefits at the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Regional Office. As a result, the accuracy rate for claims improved from 74% to 90%, meaning veterans got their correct benefits more quickly.
- Create safe working conditions.
Official time is used to help identify health and safety hazards in the workplace. When the workplace is safe, workers tend to use less sick leave and workers’ compensation benefits. At the Bureau of Prisons, for example, employees used official time to successfully negotiate equipping federal correctional officers with pepper spray to keep officers safe on the job. Keeping government facilities safe also prevents injuries to the American people who visit a government office.
- Uphold democracy and save taxpayers money on legal fights.
Due process is crucial in a democratic society, and official time is used to protect employees from discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation and other factors unrelated to their job performance. It saves taxpayers money by helping resolve workplace problems before they escalate into costly, time-consuming litigation. Employees also use official time to address various workplace incidents, such as the one in which a noose was placed on the chair of an African-American worker at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
- Report waste, fraud, and abuse.
Federal employees take the oath of office toserve the American people and protect the Constitution. These employees use official time to blow the whistle on wrongdoing, such as VA management’s attempt to cover up an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that killed at least six veterans and sickened 16 others in Pittsburgh.
- Negotiate contracts.
Managers and employees use official time to negotiate a labor contract. Having an agreed-upon labor-management contract benefits both the employer and employees because a contract establishes an agreement that sets working conditions and serves as a reference when disagreements arise. It makes the costs associated with employment more predictable and reduces employee turnover and the costs associated with it.
Official time costs very little
Compared to other expenses, official time costs very little. According to the administration’s own numbers, official time cost $174.8 million in fiscal year 2016, compared to $200 billion the Department of Defense spends annually on service contracts despite the fact that contractors cost two to three times more than federal civilian employees doing the same job. $174.8 million is also minuscule compared to the recent massive tax cut given to corporations, which is projected to cost the U.S. Treasury more than $100 billion in lost revenue this year, or $1.3 trillion over 10 years.
What you can do right now
If you believe it’s wrong for the administration to cut the time that employees use to make our government better, speak up by joining AFGE or ask your coworkers to join if you already are a member. By joining, we’re sending a message to the administration that we reject this disgraceful assault on our government and its workforce.
AFGE is also urging our members to write to your lawmakers now and tell them to issue a public statement supporting federal workers and condemning these baseless attacks. You can send a letter to your members of Congress here.
Related:
It’s a BAD BUDGET! Call Today…
May 24th, 2017 | Posted by in Budget | Political | Solidarity - (0 Comments)CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!
May 24th, 2017 | Posted by in Official Time | Solidarity | Vote - (0 Comments)Tell Your Lawmaker: Vote No on H.R. 1461
H.R. 1461 impacts federal workers’ workplace rights’. If passed, the bill will effectively eliminate official time for all federal employees and cut retirement benefits for employee representatives. This bill will be voted on soon.
- D.C. Office: 1-855-976-5397
- District Office: 1-855-974-4792
- Click here to email your lawmaker
When the Representative’s office answers, tell them this:
“Hello, my name is _____, and I’m a member of the American Federation of Government Employees from [Your City, State]. Please tell the Representative to vote NO on H.R. 1461. This bill does nothing to improve government. It is simply an attack my rights at work and my ability to provide quality service for the people I’m proud to serve. Thank you.”
Call on your lunch and use your cell phone.
Don’t call on duty time or with a government telephone.