AFGE Local 1395 is growing!
Richard Sorokas, Local 1395 Executive Vice President receives award from National Vice President -7th District, Dorothy James.
The day after the union representing workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs St. Petersburg Regional Office used its website to announce plans for a protest against management, the VA’s internet system blocked access to the site.
Union officials wonder if they are being targeted and their efforts to organize hampered. But regional office officials say they have no control over website access and that the VA’s national internet system routinely scours websites looking for certain keywords that can place a website on a “non-trusted” status. National VA officials say they are aware of the problem and as of late Thursday afternoon appeared to have fixed it.
Lawmakers from both parties addressing unionized federal employees at a conference Monday pledged more support and respect for the civil service, but the union itself promised to “whoop [the] ass” of Congress if it stood in the group’s way.
At its annual legislative gathering, the American Federation of Government Employees vowed to combat any congressional efforts to shrink the federal workforce, cut pay and benefits or weaken unions. While Congress has succeeded in slashing agency rolls and freezing pay, union leaders said, those actions have better positioned the union to prevent similar efforts in the future.
Every time the “fools” in Congress try to hurt the federal workforce, said AFGE National President J. David Cox in a passionate address to his members, “We get bigger. We get stronger and we fight harder.”
He added: “We are a force to be reckoned with and we are a force that will open up the biggest can of whoop ass on anyone” who votes against the union’s interests.
City of Chicago residents can get voter registration info at http://www.chicagoelections.com/page.php?id=170
Cook County: http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/elections/Pages/default.aspx
DuPage county: http://www.dupageco.org/Election/Voters/37059/
Lake county: http://countyclerk.lakecountyil.gov/ElectionInfo/Voter-Services/Pages/Voter-Registration.aspx
Will county: http://www.thewillcountyclerk.com/connect/site/index.jsp?menuItemId=75
Kane county: http://www.kanecountyelections.org/VoterRegistration/registration.asp
The Social Security Administration has closed 80 field offices in the past few years, and it has big plans for closing even more. Click to download a shocking graph of closures: Graph of Office Closings FY-10-14
In-person service is critical to ensuring complex questions are answered and that customers receive the benefits they earned. That’s why over 43 million Americans visited SSA field offices last year. Do your part to stop office closures – write your members of Congress today!
Letter sent to the House concerning field offices:
Dear Representative:
On December 5th, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that its network of 1250 field offices will no longer provide Social Security Number (SSN) printouts or benefit verification forms to the public. The change, which was scheduled to begin April 1, was delayed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees because of serious concerns about the harsh impact of this plan on low-income and unemployed Americans, as well as those without computers, printers or computer expertise. It is now scheduled to begin on August 1. (more…)
Public employees and their unions are frequent scapegoats when elected officials seek to score political points or contract out government services. But despite what you may have read, there are many examples of productive labor-management relations in the public sector. A new report released by the Jobs With Justice Education Fund, Improving Government Through Labor-Management Collaboration and Employee Ingenuity, profiles how public employees and their unions are working collaboratively with management to improve the way government runs.
AFGE Local 1395 is asking its members especially those located in 600 W Madison to call the HWSSC building @ 312-575-4294. For 1/27/2014 employees will be on a fixed schedule with a 2 hour delayed opening. Employees start time would be 10 am.
If you do brave the weather please dress appropriately as the temperature is predicate -8 below or greater with windchill making the temperature -30 to -45.
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
