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DO NOT OPEN/READ ON AGENCY EQUIPMENT

October 17th, 2024 | Posted by admin in ELECTIONS | News | Political - (0 Comments)

Project 2025 is a blueprint for the hostile takeover of the federal government under an anti-union presidential administration. Everything from our jobs and union rights to the very existence of our agencies and our union are on the line.

 Authored by the ultra-conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, much of what is included in the 922-page document has to do with recommendations for enormous changes to the terms of federal employment, such as eliminating the GS and WG pay systems, making huge changes to the retirement system by cutting federal employee pensions and increasing the Social Security age, reinstating discriminatory hiring practices, making it almost impossible to reverse disciplinary actions and more.

Project 2025 threatens the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of federal employees and the unions that represent them by recommending budget cuts to shrink the government, privatize portions of the government and convert hundreds of thousands of jobs to Schedule F, which demands loyalty to the president, not the Constitution. It also recommends ordering agencies to reopen existing collective bargaining agreements to attain the strongest management rights and to decertify unions at DOD and DHS.

AFGE needs all hands-on deck to stop Project 2025 because if it succeeds, AFGE will no longer exist.

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Paid for by AFGE PAC (www.afge.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

2025 COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT (COLA)

October 15th, 2024 | Posted by admin in Benefits | COLA | News | Political - (0 Comments)

Most Feds to Receive Diet COLA – Again – in 2025

October 15, 2024

The 2025 cost of living adjustment (COLA) was announced last week, and most federal workers will again receive a reduced COLA due to a flawed rule in the current law.

For 2025, Social Security beneficiaries and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirees are expected to receive a 2.5% COLA, while Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirees, those hired in 1984 or later, will only get a 2% increase.

Under the current law, the COLAs for Social Security, CSRS, and FERS are all calculated based on the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If CPI is 2% or less, the FERS COLA is the same as the CSRS and Social Security COLA. But if the CPI is between 2.01% and 3%, the FERS COLA is 2%. If the CPI is greater than 3%, then the COLA for FERS is 1% less than the CSRS COLA.

What does that mean for a FERS retiree? It means they will lose $128 a year just for 2025, assuming the same average pension. But for those who retired four years ago with the same average pension, their pension would have lost more than $1,000 to rising costs because the losses are compounded.

This unfair penalty places FERS retirees further away from keeping pace with the cost of living.

That’s why AFGE supports the Equal COLA Act (S. 3194 introduced by Sen. Alex Padilla and H.R. 866 introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly) which would eliminate this unfair penalty for FERS Retirees. The legislation would also eliminate the arbitrary pension cost of living reduction federal employees face in high inflation years.

“Our nation’s public servants shouldn’t see their hard-earned retirement benefits eroded by a COLA set at the start to be arbitrarily lower the real inflation rate,” said AFGE Legislative Director Julie Tippens.

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal emp



Dear AFGE Activist,

We’re three weeks away from Election Day!Now is the time to make sure you’re ready to cast your vote this November and connect with your friends, family, union siblings and neighbors to ensure they are prepared to participate in the democratic process.

Knowing your status is an important step in making your voice heard in local and national elections. You can find more information about your state’s voting laws and deadlines through Ballot Ready.

And don’t forget, early voting has already started in some states. Click here to find the early voting schedule in your state.

Let’s make sure we’re well prepared this election cycle to cast our votes!

In Solidarity,
AFGE

AFGE Day of Action!

October 8th, 2024 | Posted by admin in ELECTIONS | Local 1395 | Political | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

PASS A BUDGET

October 20th, 2023 | Posted by admin in Budget | Did you know? | Political | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

The Continuing Resolution for the Federal Budget expires November 17, 2023. One week before Thanksgiving puting payroll in jeopardy starting December 8th as you prepare for Holidays.
Call your representative at 855-222-9093 and tell then the federal government needs a budget that funds SSA, Your friends and family can also call.

White House Moves Forward with Workers Comp Cuts During Pandemic

 

The Trump administration is moving forward with its proposed cuts to federal workers’ compensation benefits despite the coronavirus outbreak. 

Under Trump’s proposal, which is part of the administration’s fiscal 2021 budget proposal, workers who are injured on the job would see steep cuts in their workers’ compensation. Here’s what the administration is proposing: 

1. Reduced benefit for claimants with dependents 

All new claims would be paid at 66 2/3% of salary regardless of dependents. Currently, OWCP wage loss compensation is at 66 2/3% of salary for claimants with no dependents and at 75% for claimants with dependents.  

2. There would be a reduced amount when the claimant reaches retirement age 

Currently, claimants can continue to get 66 2/3 or 75% of their salary as long as they continue to show inability to work due to the accepted condition – even into retirement age. The administration proposed a reduced amount when the claimant reaches retirement age:  

  • Employees injured at ages 35-54 will receive a conversion benefit of 58%  
  • Employees injured at ages 55-65 will receive a conversion benefit of 50%  
  • Employees injured at age 66 and over will receive a conversion benefit of 45% 

3. There would be a 3-day waiting period following an injury when the employee would not be paid 

For the first 45 days after a worker files a claim and until it’s accepted, the worker is entitled to continuation of pay (COP), which is paid by the agency at full salary. If the worker needs to be off work more than 45 days, then workers’ compensation kicks in with wage-loss replacement benefits at 2/3 or 3/4 of salary. This was meant to keep injured workers paid while OWCP processes the claim, and 45 days was the average time.  

Currently, injured workers are put on administrative leave the day of injury and the COP period starts the next day if their claim is accepted. 

Under the administration’s proposal, injured workers would take annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay before the 45-day COP period begins. The three-day waiting period means an injured worker would not get workers’ compensation for the first three days. 

Savings on the backs of the injured 

The proposal came as the coronavirus is raging across the country, infecting thousands of federal workers, many of whom still do not have proper personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves against the virus while working on the front lines. 

By taking away these benefits from those injured while serving the American people, the administration hopes to save $212 million in 10 years.  

“This policy proposal is shocking in its plain immorality – even by the standards of this administration,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “Our civil servants have been on the front lines keeping essential services running throughout this pandemic, putting their own health and safety at risk. That risk has been compounded by the widespread inability of this administration to provide adequate safety protocols and personal protective equipment. It shows the absolute disdain this administration has for everyday working people that they would even suggest that these front-line workers’ reward for their service should be a cut in benefits if they get sick or injured while on duty.

420,000 Feds Have to Work Without Pay Under Trump Shutdown

December 17, 2018 (Insider)

 Nearly 420,000 federal employees will have to work without pay if President Trump decides to shut down the government on Dec. 22. 

 

The current funding measure will keep the government running through Dec. 21. President Trump has said he would be “proud” to shut down the government if he doesn’t get $5 billion from Congress to build a border wall. If the shutdown happened, it would be the third in 2018, disrupting work and pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers in the middle of the holiday season.  

 

While hundreds of thousands of employees would be locked out of work, a large number of federal employees will still show up for work to keep our government running. They just have to work without pay. According to new numbers from the office of Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy, we’re talking 420,000 employees. A few examples:  

 

41,000 law enforcement officers   

  • 2,614 ATF agents 
  • 16,742 Bureau of Prisons correctional officers 
  • 13,709 FBI agents 
  • 3,600 deputy U.S. Marshals 
  • 4,399 DEA agents 

 

158,000 Department of Homeland Security employees 

  • 53,000 TSA Employees; 
  • 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and customs offers; 
  • 42,000 Coast Guard employees 
  • As many as 5,000 Forest Service Firefighters 
  • 3,600 Weather Service Forecasters 

 

More than 380,000 employees will be locked out of work without pay 

A few examples: 

  • 86% of the Department of Commerce (about 41,000 employees), 
  • 96% of NASA (about 16,700 employees) 
  • More than 80% of the National Park Service (about 16,000 employees) 
  • At least 80% of the Forest Service (approximately 28,800 employees) 
  • More than 30% of the Department of Transportation (about 18,300 employees) 
  • 95% of the Housing and Urban Development (about 7,100 employees) 
  • About 52,000 IRS employees 

 

In addition, nine out of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies will close. Small businesses, farmers, homeowners, low-income children, and rural communities are among the people who would be affected. See the full list here. 

Our union is urging President Trump to work with Congressional leadership to ensure federal workers don’t ‘get left out in the cold this holiday season. 

(more…)

Where’s the Money?

December 20th, 2018 | Posted by admin in Benefits | Political - (0 Comments)

A  handful of senators late Wednesday scrambled to try to ensure that federal workers would receive a pay raise in 2019 if Congress is able to pass a shutdown-averting, stop-gap funding bill acceptable to President Trump. Roughly one-third of federal agencies are scheduled to lose funding after Friday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a continuing resolution to fund through Feb. 8 the agencies that don’t yet have full year appropriations. While the measure, passed by unanimous consent late Wednesday, would avert a partial government shutdown, it did not include the 1.9 percent pay increase for federal civilian employees the Senate had previously approved. 

 

See full article In Government Executive: 2019 Pay Raise

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: 

  1. 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. 

  1. 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.  

  1. 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. 

  1. 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. 

  1. 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

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