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AFGE opposes OPM nominee

May 16th, 2019 | Posted by admin in Did you know? | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

It is important to know how Office of Personnel Management (OPM) effects you as a federal employee. 

This is the description OPM has on their website to describe their role in the employment process. 

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) serves as the chief human resources agency and personnel policy manager for the Federal Government. OPM provides human resources leadership and support to Federal agencies and helps the Federal workforce achieve their aspirations as they serve the American people. OPM directs human resources and employee management services, administers retirement benefits, manages healthcare and insurance programs, oversees merit-based and inclusive hiring into the civil service, and provides a secure employment process.

Key Functions

OPM’s divisions, offices, and their employees implement the programs and deliver the services that enable the agency to meet its strategic goals. OPM works in several broad categories to lead and serve the Federal Government in enterprise human resource management by delivering policies and services to achieve a trusted effective civilian workforce.

 

Union opposes OPM nominee

The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO—the nation’s largest federal employee union—has officially opposed the nominee for the Office and Personnel Management.

  Read FedSoup Article Here

 

Read AFGE Notice to Senate Committee members:

AFGE opposses OPM Nominee

 

May Day

April 19th, 2019 | Posted by admin in Did you know? | Labor History - (0 Comments)

Most people living in the United States know little about the International Workers’ Day of May Day. For many others there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americansdon’t realize that May Day has its origins here in this country and is as “American” as baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.

Over one hundred years have passed since that first May Day. In the earlier part of the 20th century, the US government tried to curb the celebration and further wipe it from the public’s memory by establishing “Law and Order Day” on May 1.

The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, which become the American Federation of Labor, during a Chicago convention in 1884 proclaimed that a legal work day would be eight hours starting on May 1, 1886.

On that day, 40,000 workers in Chicago and more than 300,000 laborers from 13,000 businesses across the U.S. staged walkouts, with the proclamation backed by the country’s biggest labor organization at the time, the Knights of Labor.

 

May Day   Link to More information on May Day 

 Newsweek Article

FREE PICNIC if you Purchase a Six Flags Ticket

April 11th, 2019 | Posted by admin in Did you know? | Great America Trip - (0 Comments)

Families First…

April 5th, 2019 | Posted by admin in Did you know? | National Updates | News - (0 Comments)

Did you know the United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t offer its citizens paid family leave? While a few states require companies to offer some level of paid family leave to their workers, most employees in the public and private sectors get no paid time off to bond with a new child or to address medical and family emergencies.

Would 12 weeks of paid family leave benefit you and your family? Tell us how.

Some members of Congress want to change this. They have introduced legislation that would provide all federal employees with 12 weeks of paid leave for reasons covered by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These include:

  • The birth, adoption, or fostering of a new child;
  • Caring for seriously ill or injured family members;
  • Tending to an employee’s own serious health condition; and
  • Addressing health, wellness, financial, and other issues that arise when a loved one is serving overseas in the military or is a recently discharged veteran.

Providing paid family leave to federal employees will help build support for extending this benefit to all American workers and their families. That’s why AFGE strongly supports the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act of 2019 (HR 1534).

Here’s how you can help: Tell us how 12 weeks of additional paid leave would help you and your family.

No federal worker should have to decide between caring for a child or loved one and their paycheck. Implementing this paid leave bill would help foster better morale and improve employee retention by making employees feel like their personal needs and families matter.

Congress needs to hear from federal employees like you. Your stories are very important. They help put a human face to this important issue. Your stories could help convince members of Congress to support this bill by showing how it will help real people across the country.

Click here to complete a short form and submit your story. We may even feature your family’s story online!

In solidarity,

AFGE

 

You’ve Got Mail!

January 20th, 2019 | Posted by admin in DATA UPDATE MONTH - January | Did you know? | New Address | Your address updates - (0 Comments)

OR NOT!

YOU'VE GOT MAIL
There’s nothing worse than trying to reach out to one of your family members or friends, but realizing you don’t have their current email, phone, or mailing address. When it comes to our union family, having accurate contact information is just as important.
 
That’s why AFGE members voted at the 2015 National Convention to make January “Data Update Month.” 
 
To kickoff 2019, we’re asking every member of the AFGE family to take a couple minutes to update their contact information so we can mobilize members and spring into action when the time comes.  
 
 
 Don’t delay, visit MY PROFILE on the AFGE website.
 

What should I Wear?

January 1st, 2019 | Posted by admin in Did you know? | Events | Wear Red Day - (0 Comments)

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES UNDER ATTACK

December 27th, 2018 | Posted by admin in Budget | Did you know? | Political | Shutdown - (0 Comments)

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. 

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Message from Dorothy James, District 7 NVP

October 9th, 2018 | Posted by admin in Did you know? | Events | Rally | Wear Red Day - (0 Comments)

 

 

We may have won our executive order lawsuit, 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.

We’re all in on fighting for workers’ rights. We need you and your coworkers to show management and the administration that our union isn’t going anywhere. Make sure to wear red EVERY Wednesday.

When management and the administration see worksites full of government workers wearing red, it will be a powerful display of our strength, solidarity, and willingness to fight the administration’s outrageous attempts to bust our union and break our democracy.

It is up to us to keep working for what is right – and to do that, our union has to be all in. That’s why we’re wearing Red for Feds every Wednesday, and sharing pictures of our red on social media with the hashtag #RedForFeds.

Please make sure that you are not on government time or government property when you take or share your photos. If your employment requires a specific uniform or dress policy, be mindful of compliance. The wearing of red is not for, or against, any candidate or party, and is not a violation of the Hatch Act.

By joining together and raising our voices as a union family, we know we can do great things. Thank you for all that you do.

If you have any questions or would like to talk about more ways you or your local can get involved, don’t hesitate to e-mail us at district7@afge.org.

In Solidarity,

Dorothy James

National Vice-President

American Federation of Government Employees

District 7

 

When is the Next Union Meeting?

October 8th, 2018 | Posted by admin in Did you know? | JOIN AFGE | Local 1395 | Membership Meetings | News - (0 Comments)

union meetings

 

Monthly Membership Meetings

 2nd Wednesday of each Month.

Time:  6:00 p.m.

Location:  600 W. Madison, Chicago IL 60661

Room:  HWSSC Conference Room #1- 1st FL.

 

NEXT MEMBERSHIP MEETING 

Wednesday October 10th, 2018

 

 

Attacks on Government Employees – Round II

September 25th, 2018 | Posted by admin in Court Ruling | Did you know? | Executive Orders - (0 Comments)

Trump Administration Appeals Court Ruling On Workforce EOs

  • By Erich Wagner  (Government Executive) 
  • 5:55 PM ET- September 25, 2018

The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a notice that it would appeal a recent court decision that struck down three controversial workforce executive orders President Trump signed earlier this year to make it easier to fire federal workers and reduce the influence of federal employee unions. 

The case will go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

In a notice filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Assistant Attorney General Joseph Hunt said  the administration will seek to overturn the August decision by U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, which found that the key provisions of the executive orders were unlawful.

 

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