Oversight

Victims Sue AFGE Over Former President’s Misconduct

A group of former employees, contractors and union members assert that for years, the upper management of the largest federal employee union turned a blind eye to former President J. David Cox’s sexual harassment and abuse.

Management

House Defense Policy Bill Fixes Parental Leave Loopholes, Preserves Pentagon Collective Bargaining

The House version of the 2021 Defense authorization measure ensures all federal workers have access to the new benefit providing 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and it also standardizes locality pay between the General Schedule and Federal Wage System pay scales.

Management

White House Advisor Sought Legal Opinion to Allow Trump to Fire Anyone In Government

A recently published internal White House document from early in the Trump administration proved to be a road map for the White House’s efforts to weaken unions and cut federal employee pay and benefits.

Management

Union, Trump Administration Trade Barbs in Impasse Panel Lawsuit Hearing

Attorneys for the Trump administration argued that the D.C. District Court lacks jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges against how members of the panel are appointed, but a judge in a separate case ruled against the government on that issue Monday.

Management

Union Files Grievance Over VA's Refusal to Bargain

The Veterans Affairs Department claims it doesn't need to negotiate with labor leaders until the pandemic is over.

Management

Labor Authority Overturns Another Precedent Days After Court Rebuke

The agency that governs federal sector labor-management relations seeks to limit arbitrators' authority to provide prospective remedies in grievance proceedings.

Management

Appeals Court Strikes Down Labor Authority Decision That Limited Scope of Federal Union Bargaining

A three-judge panel on Tuesday found that the Federal Labor Relations Authority relied on a misreading of Supreme Court precedent.

Management

VA Union Calls Management Proposals Illegal as Impasses Panel Legal Challenge Advances

AFGE officials accuse VA of submitting "illegal" proposals to a panel the union is separately trying to block from issuing decisions.

Pay & Benefits

Social Security Unions File Formal Complaints Over Lack of Emergency Sick Leave

More than two months after the deadline for all employers to offer workers pandemic-related emergency paid sick leave, three unions say the agency is violating the law.

Management

Social Security Expands Flexible Hours for Some Workers

After months of urging, officials at the agency will allow some employees the option of working outside normal business hours to better juggle family demands during the pandemic.

Management

Social Security Continues to Drag Its Feet on Paid Sick Leave, Telework Advancements

Labor leaders say agency officials have proposed setting preconditions on employees’ use of recently enacted partial paid sick leave, potentially in violation of the law.

Management

Labor Authority Reverses Previous Decision, Stays Implementation of SSA Contract With Administrative Law Judges Union

The Social Security Administration had already stated that it would not impose the new collective bargaining agreement while a federal lawsuit from the judges’ union was pending.

Management

VA Union Seeks Injunction Against Impasses Panel

Among other things, the American Federation of Government Employees argues that the panel, currently composed of anti-labor activists, violates statutory requirements that it be impartial.

Management

Arbitrator Finds Social Security Violated Federal Labor Law in Negotiations with Administrative Law Judges

An independent arbitrator rules that SSA management engaged in bad faith bargaining by repeatedly withholding information from a union representing the judges as the parties were preparing to negotiate a new contract.

Management

Federal Employee Union Proposes Preconditions to Returning to Government Work Sites

The American Federation of Government Employees last week called the Trump administration’s recently unveiled plans for “reopening” the federal government “premature and imprudent.”

Pay & Benefits

Democratic Lawmakers Want Hazard Pay, Union Protections in Next COVID-19 Relief Bill

Letter to House leadership supports extra compensation, weather and safety leave, and other rights and benefits for frontline federal workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Management

Administrative Law Judges' Association Joins Other Unions in Legal Fight Against Impasses Panel

Yet another lawsuit challenging the legality of how members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel are appointed comes just days after the panel imposed a largely pro-management contract on SSA administrative law judges.

Management

Impasses Panel Imposes Steep Cuts to Official Time, Other Rights for Administrative Law Judges

Union that represents administrative law judges at the Social Security Administration vowed to take “all necessary legal action” to protect members, as multiple lawsuits proceed.