Workforce

Bureau of Land Management Headquarters Employees Have Voted to Unionize

Spurred by a ping-ponging relocation, nearly 200 workers at the federal agency’s headquarters are unionizing under the National Treasury Employees Union.

Pay & Benefits

Firefighters Union Calls for Higher Pay Amid Staffing Shortage

A Senate committee also advanced legislation this week that would make it easier for federal firefighters to qualify for workers compensation benefits in connection with chronic conditions associated with firefighting.

Workforce

NTEU Calls on FLRA and the Supreme Court to Clarify Policies that Hurt Unions Under Trump

The union said misapplications of standards by the agency that oversees federal labor management relations and federal courts during the Trump administration hurt their ability to represent federal workers.

Workforce

TSA Screeners Could Be in Line for 30% Pay Raises on Average

A bipartisan measure passed by the House would move the Transportation Security Administration’s workforce under Title 5, which also promises full collective bargaining rights and other civil service protections enjoyed by most federal employees.

Workforce

With a Senate Confirmation Vote, A Federal Labor Relations Board is Back in Democratic Control

The Senate voted 50-49 to confirm former MSPB Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann as a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

Workforce

Senators, Labor Are Eyeing Adding More ALJs to the Social Security Administration Union

Democrats and advocates feel emboldened after the Biden administration encouraged agencies to search their ranks for misclassified workers.

Pay & Benefits

It's Now Easier for Federal Firefighters to File for Workers Comp

For an array of chronic illnesses that have been linked with firefighting as a profession, federal firefighters will no longer have to prove precisely what incident caused their ailment.

Workforce

OPM Issues More Guidance to Encourage Collective Bargaining at Agencies

Building on President Biden’s executive order encouraging more collaborative labor-management relations, OPM strongly encouraged federal agencies to improve unions’ ability to communicate with workers and collect dues.

Workforce

Less Than a Week after Social Security Offices Reopen, Unions Report a Mixed Bag

Although some components reported a more collaborative labor-management relationship, that did not extend to field office employees, who now report feeling physically threatened at work.

Management

The Senate Confirms a Supreme Court Nominee With Experience on Federal Employee Issues

Ketanji Brown Jackson overturned a trio of Trump executive orders that had made it easier to fire federal employees and limited union bargaining rights. 

Management

Some Labor Authority and TSP Nominations Are Delayed After a Deadlocked Committee Vote

Although most of the nominees sailed through by voice vote, three of Biden’s key picks to govern federal labor relations and the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program were deadlocked in party-line votes.

Pay & Benefits

Biden’s 2023 Budget Would Pay for TSA Raises and the Move to General Schedule

The Transportation Security Administration has begun the process of granting its employees full federal civil service rights, although it needs more than $1 billion in additional funding to end the pay disparity with General Schedule workers.

Workforce

EPA Will Return to a ‘Hybrid’ Office in May

The agency and its union reached an agreement this month to begin bringing union workers back to facilities in May, albeit with expanded telework and remote work options.

Workforce

Some House Republicans Want to Reinstall Trump Workforce Policies

A group of 12 lawmakers introduced a bill that would revive the former president’s anti-union executive orders and an order that could politicize the civil service.

Workforce

Lawmakers Eye Rolling Back Controversial VA Workforce Law, As the Department and Union Begin Negotiations

A bipartisan bill would effectively take two portions of the 2017 VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act that were nullified by federal courts off the books.

Workforce

Soon Feds Will Be Able to Sign Up Online to Join a COVID Hazard Pay Lawsuit

Unlike traditional class-action suits, federal workers will need to sign up to become plaintiffs in advance, union says.

Workforce

Unions are Urging the VA to Better Educate Employees About Their Rights Under COVID Law

Although Congress has approved a number of measures to help federal workers stay safe during the pandemic, labor groups say the Veterans Affairs Department has not adequately trained employees on those benefits.

Workforce

White House Task Force: Agencies Need to Do More to Support Unionization in the Federal Workforce

A task force chaired by Vice President Kamala Harris and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said that as a “model employer,” the federal government should be at the forefront of removing barriers for employees to organize or join a union.