The Unions React, Kind Of

The first union to send out a general press release about the budget summary is the American Federation of Government Employees. And while they're not thrilled about the pay raise President Obama proposed, it doesn't look like they're going to the mattresses about it yet either:

“However, AFGE is not happy with less than a full comparability pay raise but understand it given the severity of our nation’s economic situation, including the crisis for public workers at the state and local level,” said AFGE National President John Gage. “We understand that only modest steps can be taken this year to close the remaining pay gap between the federal and non-federal salaries. We also are optimistic in seeing an emphasis on controlling health care costs in the years to come.”

The politics of the pay raise are going to be fascinating to watch. Last year, President Bush proposed that members of the military receive a 3.4 percent pay increase, and members of the civil service receive a 2.9 percent increase, for a 0.5 percent disparity between the groups. The result? Lots of protest by unions, a movement for pay parity on the Hill, and a 3.9 percent pay hike for both groups sent to the President by Congress.

As a matter of politics pay raises were one fight unions seemed to be able to win fairly reliably during the Bush years. The membership of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Federal Service Impasses Panel was set by the president. The ability of Transportation Security Administration workers to bargain collectively was controlled by a presidential appointee. The fight over the National Security Personnel System kept union members out of it, but failed to kill the system entirely. The Federal Career Intern Program expanded. The president issued an executive order stripping Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives employees of their bargaining rights. Unions couldn't do a ton of things about those issues, but they could fight over pay raises, and they could win those fights.

Now, in the young Obama administration, federal employee unions have the potential to rack up a whole bunch of wins. Their ally is, at least for now, leading the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is contemplating expanding bargaining rights at TSA. A-76 competitions have been suspended.

When you're going to lose a lot of battles, it can be easier to decide where to focus your political capital, because you don't have a lot of choices. When you're going to win, the hard work starts. What priorities do you set? What do you choose to complain about? How much loyalty do you expect from the people you supported? The federal employee unions will have to answer those questions repeatedly over the next four years.