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Dec 29, 2008 The Labor Agenda There is no doubt that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a labor secretary who could be a transformative force in a long-neglected arena. The question is whether he will let her. Hilda Solis, a United States representative from Southern California, is the daughter of immigrant... NY Times more
Dec 23, 2008 A Race to the Bottom Toward the end of an important speech in Washington last month, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said to her audience: â€œThink of a teacher who is staying up past midnight to prepare her lesson plan... Think of a teacher who is paying for... NY Times more
Dec 18, 2008 Read how the comic strip "Candorville" takes on union busting. Candorville more
Dec 16, 2008 2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide SweatFree Communities and International Labor Rights Forum are excited to bring you the 2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide filled with excellent products made in good working conditions. We believe that one of the most important criteria for meaningful and dignified work is that... AFSCME Council 26 more
Dec 11, 2008 Making Contracting Work for the United States The federal government is failing to live up to its legal and moral obligations as a model employer. Through numerous laws and executive orders, Congress and the executive branch have expressed a clear and long-standing objective to set and enforce high standards for the treatment of contracted... Center for American Progress Action more
Dec 11, 2008 Contractors could face increased oversight on the Hill The Democratic Congress is unlikely to take on many investigations or oversight hearings scrutinizing the incoming Obama administration in its next session, which could lead lawmakers to steer their oversight focus toward contractors, procurement experts said on Wednesday. "I... Government Executive more
Dec 8, 2008 Bush slashes union rights for more feds President George W. Bush last week took away collective bargaining rights for about 1,500 employees, almost all of them at the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). An executive order that Bush signed Dec. 1 also... Federal Times more
Dec 2, 2008 New President Faces Powerful Federal Contractors President-elect Obama has said he wants public employees to take back some of the work that the Bush administration has given to contractors — and he wants to crack down on contractors' abuses. But the president-elect could face huge obstacles. Bush administration officials have hired... NPR more
Dec 1, 2008 Obama To Tackle Explosion In Federal Contracts The economic crisis. Two wars. A flood of wounded veterans. Those are just a few of the huge problems that President-elect Barack Obama will face in office. But the president-elect has said he also plans to grapple with a dilemma that's much less visible: the explosion in government contracts... NPR more
Nov 25, 2008 Spend That Half-Hour Evaluating Your Health Plan One of the good things about being a federal employee is the benefits package. The choice of health insurance plans, for example, is enough to make a private-sector worker jealous. If there's a downside to that variety, it's that the choices are so great that Frank and Flo Fed... The Washington Post more
Nov 19, 2008 Obama Has a Chance to Reverse Long Erosion of the Federal Service As The Washington Post reported this week, President-elect Barack Obama wrote American Federation of Government Employees in October promising that he would do everything in his power to rebuild the federal service. He also promised to protect collective bargaining rights and... Washington Post more
Nov 7, 2008 Widespread Complaints About a Rudderless Government When President Obama takes over in January as manager-in-chief of nearly 2 million federal employees, he will need a plan to reinvigorate a frustrated and demoralized workforce, career employees warn. AFSCME Council 26 more...
Oct 7, 2008 It’s the little things that make a big difference “Your help with food and my rent really saved the day for me,” said one grateful Community Services Agency (CSA) client. “I would have been on the street without your assistance.” Your contribution to the CSA through Combined... Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO more...
Oct 7, 2008 2009 Health Insurance Rates: How Much Will Your Rate Change? Readers of the FedSmith site have been asking questions about the health benefits premiums they will be paying in 2009. According to OPM, federal employees in the FEHBP will pay, on average about 8% more for their health coverage next year. The reality is that the... Fedsmith more
Oct 1, 2008 Lee C. Ashcraft Memorial Union Scholarship The law firm of Ashcraft & Gerel, LLP offers a scholarship to area union members and their families to help with the high cost of education. Ahshcraft and Gerel, LLP more...
Sep 30, 2008 3.9% Average Pay Raise for Feds in 2009 in Temporary Spending Bill There is plenty of negative financial news filling the airwaves. As of this writing, the I fund is down almost 30% for the year; the C fund is down more than 23% and the S fund is down almost 19%. You can check the daily performance of your TSP in this portion of the TSP corner .... Fedsmith more
Sep 24, 2008 Major Progressive and Labor Leaders Demand Conditions For Drastic Financial Bailout Major progressive, labor and consumer rights leaders joined forces today to demand important corrections to the Bush administration's financial rescue proposal despite warnings from the administration's top economists who got us into this mess. The groups, representing more than 20... The Wall Street Journal more
Aug 29, 2008 The Hatch Act What Is It? The Hatch Act is the 1939 law that regulates the political activities of federal employees and some state and local government workers. The legislation originally prohibited nearly all partisan activity by federal employees, banning them from endorsing candidates,... Government Executive more
Aug 22, 2008 ZIMBABWE LABOR LEADER SPEAKS OUT IN DC Wellington Chibebe does not look like a dangerous man. A quiet man of average height, he doesn't stand out in a crowd. But a crowd is exactly where you're most likely to find Chibebe - Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions - and his outspokenness on behalf of Zimbabwe's... DC Labor more...
Aug 11, 2008 Telework becomes more attractive as quality-of-life concerns spike Gas prices are up $1.13 per gallon since the summer of 2007. Agencies are struggling to inculcate cultures of performance. Hackers and employee carelessness have made information technology security a major concern. A new generation of federal recruits wants workplace flexibility. Labor... Government Executive more
Aug 1, 2008 Time Is Not On Your Side! Looking forward to a pay raise? Would you like to be reimbursed for what is now use-it-or-lose-it sick leave? If the answer is yes to either or both, the news is good. Congress is on a roll. Up to a point! First, the good news: 1. Congress is moving right along... Federal News Radio more
Jul 24, 2008 Performance Pay: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? I once worked for an outfit that decided it needed a pay-for-performance plan. Prior to the change, we all got the same percentage pay raise each year. Obviously that meant that higher paid people got bigger pay raises, but hey, that's life! We all got the same percentage which, we... Federal News Radio more
Jul 22, 2008 AFSCME Goes Green The nation’s largest public service union to dramatically reduce paper use, forego bottled water, and serve local, organically grown food during Convention beginning July 28. Washington, D.C. — The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the... AFSCME more
Jul 21, 2008 Investor Education for Working Families Did you know that AFSCME offers a free Investor Education Program? The Investor Education for Working Families workshops provide bias-free personal investment learning opportunities through self-paced online classes and resource materials specially designed for union members and their... AFSCME Council 26 more...
Jun 25, 2008 Can't-Do Government We've seen the federal government at its worst over the past six months. Consider the controversies over contaminated tomatoes and meat, tainted toys, toxic trailers, counterfeit Heparin, aircraft groundings, veterans' care, missing warheads and unrelenting contract fraud. For every NASA success... Washington Post more
Jun 19, 2008 House passes paid parental leave bill The House on Thursday passed legislation that would institute a paid parental leave policy for all federal employees. The House voted 278-146 to pass H.R. 5781, which would provide four weeks of paid maternal or paternal leave for the birth or adoption of a child. It would, for the first time,... Government Executive more
May 30, 2008 Congress pursues dual paths on contracting oversight Although their goals remain relatively similar, House and Senate lawmakers appear to be following noticeably different paths toward implementing a series of much debated contracting reform bills. Last week, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and... Government Executive more
May 15, 2008 Sick-Leave Abuse Prompts Calls to Compensate for Unused Time At the Internal Revenue Service , one employee over a two-year period took sick leave on 13 of the 14 Tuesdays after a Monday holiday. That's an extreme case of sick-leave abuse, but the IRS employee had plenty of co-workers who also liked to take Tuesdays off, a report... The Washington Post more...
Apr 23, 2008 House passes three contracting bills The House passed three pieces of contracting legislation on Wednesday aimed at increasing transparency in contracting and avoiding waste, fraud and abuse. The 2007 Government Contractor Accountability Act ( H.R.3928 ) would require companies to disclose the names and... Government Executive more
Apr 22, 2008 Government can lead on telework The federal government has an opportunity to take the lead in promoting telework, but hurdles remain, Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) said today. "With plenty of encouragement and congressional oversight, the federal government can set the example for teleworking,"... Federal Computer Week more...
Apr 16, 2008 Family-Leave Plan Is Halved A proposal to provide eight weeks of paid parental leave to federal employees was cut to four weeks by a key House Democrat yesterday as Republicans expressed concerns about the benefit's cost. Still, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) , chairman of the House Oversight and... Washington Post more
Apr 15, 2008 House Passes Bill to Open its Gym to all Federal Employees ...a resolution to grant all federal employees, including members of the military, access to the House exercise facility also passed the House unanimously. The gym, open for a little more than two years, is in the southwest corner of the Rayburn building. Only... The Hill more...
Apr 15, 2008 House passes bill to prevent tax cheats from winning contracts Today millions of procrastinating Americans will rush to their local post office to make sure they file their tax returns on time. For contractors interested in doing business with the federal government, missing this year's deadline may be particularly costly. On Tuesday, the... Government Executive more
Apr 10, 2008 Child of AFSCME Council 26 Leader Wins Scholarship Katherine Porzel, the daughter of Walt Porzel, Council 26 Secretary and Local 3925 President (U.S. Department of Agriculture), won an AFSCME Family Scholarship for $2000 per year for four years of college. Ms. Porzel was one of thirteen winners out of approximately 600 applicants. She is... AFSCME Council 26 more...
Apr 4, 2008 AFSCME and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It's been 40 years since April 4, 1968 , when Dr. King . , was assassinated in Memphis , Tenn. Workers have particular reasons to remember and honor Dr. King ...He was in Memphis leading a workers cause: A union... AFSCME more
Apr 2, 2008 Supermarket Workers OK Contract Area supermarket workers overwhelmingly approved a new 4-year contract Tuesday. Nearly 10,000 Safeway and Giant workers -- members of UFCW Local 400 -- turned out for the vote at the DC Armory on a contract proposal that maintained pension benefits and no co-pay on healthcare benefits, as well... DC Labor more...
Apr 1, 2008 Unions beneficial to blacks, report finds When Norman Daniels started out with AT&T in 1974, he faced unequal treatment and prejudice because he was black. The phone company was under pressure to hire more minorities, but some supervisors were holding black technicians to a higher standard, looking for reasons... Miami Herald more
Mar 28, 2008 Visit the AFSCME Store Martin Luther King Jr. shirts, posters and more are available from the AFSCME Store. AFSCME Council 26 more
Mar 26, 2008 Top Jobs in Government Increasingly Filled From Outside For decades, the government has hired at lower grade levels and encouraged employees to work their way to the top. But a study released yesterday suggested that agencies are increasingly turning to job seekers from outside the government to fill upper-level jobs. Many of the upper-level... AFSCME Council 26 more
Mar 21, 2008 House GOP eager to strip debarment provision from contracting bill House Republicans are hoping to strip a controversial provision from a Democratic procurement oversight bill that could allow large federal contractors to be targeted for suspension or debarment based on the actions of a select few employees, according to a congressional aide who specializes in... Government Executive more...
Mar 19, 2008 Supermarket Worker Support Campaign Off to Good Start Well over 100 activists have already signed up to support local supermarket workers in their fight for a fair contract. Many are downloading pocket-sized worker support cards to give to their neighborhood checkout clerks, while others will be delivering solidarity cards to local store managers... Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO more...
Mar 14, 2008 Government Reform panel passes contractor database bill A bill to set up a public database on federal contractor performance and misconduct won approval Thursday from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee despite Republican concerns the measure could allow unfair attacks on contractors as well as end up barring large companies from... AFSCME Council 26 more
Mar 7, 2008 A Plea for Paid Parental Leave Last summer, Amy S. Costantino suddenly went into labor and gave birth to twin sons -- 3 1/2 months premature. Each weighed less than two pounds, and they spent 90 days in a neonatal intensive-care unit. She soon was confronted with a stark choice: use the sick... AFSCME Council 26 more
Mar 4, 2008 Federal Pay Caught Up in Fiscal 2009 Budget Debates It's the start of budget season on Capitol Hill . Congressional budget committees begin writing their fiscal 2009 spending plans this week, no doubt tossing out and reshaping many of President Bush 's priorities. Democrats and Republicans -- especially because it's an... AFSCME Council 26 more
Mar 4, 2008 Moran set to propose FERS sick leave reimbursement Rep. James Moran , D-Va., plans to introduce a bill March 10 that would compensate more retiring federal employees for a portion of their unused sick leave. Moranâ€™s bill would provide employees retiring under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) up to $10,000 in... AFSCME Council 26 more
Feb 25, 2008 Come Together: In Solidarity John Lennon may have been just a dreamer about world peace, but he was willing to walk the line when it came to issues of workers' justice. On the day of his death, Lennon was making preparations to fly to San Francisco to attend a rally with striking... AFSCME Council 26 more...
Feb 21, 2008 DHS Workers Beat Unionbusting Workers at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) won a five-and-a-half-year battle against unionbusting last Friday when DHS officials dropped demands to implement a new personnel system that would have curbed union rights, reported Stephen Barr in Wednesday's Washington Post . The... AFSCME Council 26 more
Feb 15, 2008 Readers Favor Retaining Time-in-Grade Restrictions for Promotions In a recent article, we highlighted the proposal from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to change the time in grade requirements for federal promotions. Since this change could have an impact on most of our readers who are still active federal employees, we asked readers for their... AFSCME Council 26 more
Feb 14, 2008 MD Home Care Providers Vote for AFSCME PROVIDERS TOGETHER â€“ Maryland home care providers voted overwhelmingly in February to organize a union with AFSCME. More than 4,000 home care providers throughout the state voted overwhelmingly this month to make AFSCME their union. The... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jan 31, 2008 Stay the Equal Course on Raises, They Tell Bush The push-and-pull over the 2009 federal pay raise is underway. Ten Washington area House members, led by Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) , urged President Bush yesterday to provide equal raises to the civil service and the military next year, a practice they said... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jan 22, 2008 Library Workers Win A yearlong battle to protect workers rights and stop unionbusting at the Library of Congress (LOC) ended with a major victory for workers Wednesday, reports the LOC Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910 website . "This dispute had broad ramifications for the protection of employees rights... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jan 17, 2008 Union Movement Donation and Dedication Ceremony for Memphis â€“Area Students On Thursday, Jan. 17 , AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Gerald W. McEntee will join children at Hollywood Head Start to announce a number of donations to Memphis-area children. The donations include a computer lab... AFSCME Council 26 more...
Jan 17, 2008 Martin Luther King, Presente! If you canâ€™t make it to Memphis this weekend, Martin Luther King is just a click â€“ or short subway ride â€“ away: Four brief video clips featuring the civil rights leader are now available online from the AFL-CIO. Included are a 10-minute version of â€œ I Am A Man â€ which tells... more...
Jan 10, 2008 Court Battle Continues Over Defense Union's Bargaining Rights Just as it appeared the Ping-Pong battle between the Defense Department and its largest union was ending, the union has stepped up to the table for one last serve. The American Federation of Government Employees this week filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to stop a... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jan 8, 2008 General Schedule Increase and Locality Salary Scale Salary Table 2008 Incorporating the 2.50% General Schedule Increase and a Locality Payment of 20.89% For the Locality Pay Area of Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Total Increase: 4.49% Effective January 2008 Annual... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jan 5, 2008 Area Federal Workers Get 4.49% Raise President Bush signed an executive order yesterday that provides pay raises this year for federal employees, military personnel, Cabinet officers and members of Congress. The order covers about 336,000 federal employees in the Washington-Baltimore region. Workers will receive a 4.49 percent... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jan 2, 2008 Promises Tracked The Democratic candidates for president are taking aim at federal contracting, which they describe as shoddy and corrupt. The Republican candidates also have ideas about how to fix the bureaucracy and restore trust in Washington . The presidential campaigns are in high gear... AFSCME Council 26 more
Dec 10, 2007 Compromise On Pentagon Pay System, Union Rights It's a compromise aimed at ending four years of controversy. House-Senate negotiators unveiled legislation Friday that would restore collective bargaining rights to unions at the Defense Department , permit the Pentagon to go forward with new pay rules and perhaps ease the... AFSCME Council 26 more
Dec 3, 2007 Pay System Causing Turbulence at the FAA Employees at the Federal Aviation Administration have been operating under a performance-based pay system for the last decade. Some still don't like it. Tim O'Hara , a 24-year FAA employee, sent a letter last month to Robert A. Sturgell , the... AFSCME Council 26 more
Nov 28, 2007 President issues plan to limit pay raise to 3 percent next year President Bush moved Wednesday to limit the locality-based increase for white-collar federal civilian employees to 0.5 percent next year, bringing the total overall increase to an average of 3 percent. Under federal law, the president has until the end of November to propose an... AFSCME Council 26 more
Nov 16, 2007 Senate Committee Joins House in Approving Expanded Telecommuting A Senate committee this week approved a bill that would make it possible for more federal employees to become telecommuters, acting a week after supporters of at-home work introduced similar legislation in the House. The bills would encourage agencies to allow eligible... AFSCME Council 26 more
Nov 6, 2007 Clearing the Roadblocks to Telecommuting Concerned that too few federal employees are getting plugged into telecommuting, House Democrats are drafting legislation that would encourage agencies to allow eligible employees to telework four days a month, on average. Reps. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) , chairman of the House... AFSCME Council 26 more
Oct 30, 2007 In Voting Section, Charges of Discrimination Persist When John Tanner , the chief of the Justice Department's voting rights section, goes before Congress tomorrow, he'll have a lot to answer for. One of the most uncomfortable topics, to be sure, will be continuing charges of discrimination in the section that is supposed... AFSCME Council 26 more
Oct 30, 2007 In Voting Section, Charges of Discrimination Persist When John Tanner , the chief of the Justice Department's voting rights section, goes before Congress tomorrow, he'll have a lot to answer for. One of the most uncomfortable topics, to be sure, will be continuing charges of discrimination in the section that is... AFSCME Council 26 more
Oct 22, 2007 Benefits Guide Helps Decode Alphabet Soup The annual open-enrollment season for federal employees is on its way, loaded with insurance industry argot and acronym-laden programs. For the first time, the open season is no longer just about health insurance, but also about how to mix and match dental and vision... AFSCME Council 26 more
Oct 17, 2007 Save My Home Hotline Set Up for Union Members Many homeowners have adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs)â€”but nearly half who have them admit they do not know how their ARMs adjust or reset, and nearly three-quarters do not know how much their monthly mortgage payments will increase when they do, a new national survey reveals. The... AFSCME Council 26 more
Oct 15, 2007 Contracting Out Update Federal Unions and our allies on Capitol Hill have been working hard to level the playing field in public-private competitions. This is the status of these efforts to date: HR 2829 The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act as passed in... AFSCME Council 26 more...
Oct 12, 2007 A Little Lower A few weeks ago, I wrote about how to decide whether to retire from federal service to work in the private sector or continue in your federal career. Several readers commented about the salary rates I used in the examples, saying they'd like to see how scenarios would work out for employees... AFSCME Council 26 more
Sep 21, 2007 Workers Joining AFL-CIO Unions at Highest Rate in Two Generations The highest priority of the union movement is to help more workers join unions and, in doing so, to open the doors for millions of Americans to enjoy the benefits of union membership. Despite the incessant anti-union efforts of the Bush administration and employers, the union movement is... AFSCME Council 26 more
Sep 17, 2007 Defense Begins Transition to Merit-Based Pay The Pentagon is taking its first big step to break away from the government's primary pay system, sending a strong signal to Defense Department civilian workers that their salaries will increasingly hinge on job performance. The department's change in pay strategy applies to... AFSCME Council 26 more
Sep 7, 2007 Congress approves student loan forgiveness for public servants Legislation that would provide student loan forgiveness for federal employees after 10 years of service will now move to President Bush 's desk. The bill ( H.R. 2669 ), sponsored by Rep. George Miller , D-Calif., was agreed upon by a conference committee Wednesday and... AFSCME Council 26 more
Sep 3, 2007 Labor in Fighting Trim The American labor movement is divided on which candidate to support for president. Its membership is at one of its low ebbs in our history. And yet the nation's unions are more politically influential today than they were in the movement's heyday in the 1950s. Organized labor's clout is... AFSCME Council 26 more
Sep 3, 2007 Congress Looks Ready To Approve 3.5% Raise Here's a little something for federal employees to celebrate while flipping the burgers and dogs on the grill this Labor Day: a pay raise drawing bipartisan support on Capitol Hill . The House has approved a 3.5 percent raise for the civil service in January as part of the... AFSCME Council 26 more
Aug 29, 2007 AFL-CIO likely to sit out primary endorsement A day after two unions announced their presidential endorsements, AFL-CIO leaders said Wednesday their union is still unlikely to throw its support behind a candidate during the primary season. Under current rules, a candidate would need the support of two-thirds of the unionâ€™s... AFSCME Council 26 more
Aug 28, 2007 Hurdles ahead for federal pay boost, tax cut Time and the financial bottom line are working against a package of attractive bills that would increase most federal workers' take-home pay and trim the federal tax bite on most federal retirees. The two plans, one to cut federal-postal worker premiums and the other to cut taxes for federal... AFSCME Council 26 more
Aug 28, 2007 Contracting offices face increased oversight After spending much of 2005 on the defensive in the wake of countless contracting scandals spurred by Hurricane Katrina, acquisition offices at civilian federal agencies had hoped for a more low-key, back-to-basics year. It didn't go quite as planned. Within weeks of... AFSCME Council 26 more
Aug 13, 2007 Appeals court deals blow to unions in Defense personnel case An appeals court has rejected a request from federal employee unions for a full court review of a panel's decision upholding rules that would scale back collective bargaining rights for civilian Defense Department employees. The coalition of unions that had asked the full U.S. Court of... AFSCME Council 26 more
Aug 9, 2007 AFL-CIO Decides Not to Endorse for Now... The A.F.L.-C.I.O. â€™s executive council voted on Wednesday against endorsing any presidential candidate, reflecting divisions over which Democrat to support and setting the stage for its 55 member unions to make individual endorsements. Labor leaders said several large unions were leaning... New York Times more...
Aug 4, 2007 Administration - Competive Sourcing, R.I.P? One of President Bush's most ambitious efforts to reform government, one that struggled for years to overcome high-level neglect, bureaucratic resistance, and congressional Republican opposition, now faces its Waterloo in the Democratic Congress. ... In the spring of 2006, OMB officials... John Maggs, National Journal more...
Aug 2, 2007 Child of AFSCME Local 1509 Member Wins Union Scholarship! Danna Thomas , daughter of Duane Thomas , a member of Local 1509 at the Federal Aviation Administration, has received a $1000 AFSCME Advantage Scholarship, which is funded by the Union Privilege Scholarship Program. Danna is one of 103 applicants from 45 AFL-CIO unions who received... AFSCME 26 more...
Aug 1, 2007 Outsourcing in the Dark You don't trifle with Robin Smith when it comes to keeping America safe. Smith is a former airman first class who won a Sharpshooter badge and was one of 125 women selected by the Air Force for a test combat training program. She comes from a family that was almost a stranger to civilian... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jul 31, 2007 Democratsâ€™ Field Creates Pleasant Predicament for Unions Union leaders say they are so happy with the Democratic presidential aspirants, though unsure of whom to support, that they are unlikely to endorse any of them before the primaries next year. If the unions do delay throwing their weight behind any candidate early in the campaign,... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jul 17, 2007 House members weigh alternate paths to TSA bargaining rights House lawmakers selected to negotiate with the Senate on major homeland security legislation said Tuesday that they are unsure whether they'll be able to address an effort to grant collective bargaining rights to federal airport screeners. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jul 3, 2007 Unions seek full court review of Defense personnel ruling A coalition of labor unions on Monday filed a petition for a full appeals court review of a ruling that upheld the Defense Department's new personnel and labor relations rules. The unions are seeking a rehearing of a decision issued in May by a panel of judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals... AFSCME Council 26 more
Jun 18, 2007 You Have the Right to Protestâ€¦Quietly Your free speech rights to protest in DC may be in jeopardy. The proposed Noise Law bill -- introduced by Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Mary Cheh (Ward 3) and Kwame Brown (At-large) â€“ currently being considered in the DC City Council â€œwould ban the use... more...
Jun 14, 2007 Union might not endorse before 2008 primaries WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Given a strong and crowded 2008 Democratic presidential field, a prominent labor leader said on Thursday his union will have a tough time reaching a consensus to make an endorsement before the primaries. Gerald McEntee, president of the public employees union AFSCME... more...
May 29, 2007 Rebusting the Air Traffic Controllers Union Itâ€™s not easy for air traffic controllers with a Republican in the White House. First, it was Ronald W. Reagan firing 11,000 of them in 1981 for striking to try to better their onerous working conditions. Now, itâ€™s George W. Bush making the conditions even worse. The controllers arenâ€™t... TomPaine.com more
May 25, 2007 Senate panel moves to scale back Pentagon personnel system A Senate panel on Thursday approved language that would significantly limit the implementation of a controversial personnel system at the Defense Department and authorize a 3.5 percent 2008 pay raise for members of the military. In a markup of the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill that... GovExec more
May 22, 2007 Labor Night with the Nats Over 3,000 tickets have already been sold for the Community Services Agencyâ€™s â€œLabor Night with the Natsâ€ on Friday, 7/20. Tickets are still available! Buy 50 or more tickets and your localâ€™s name will appear on the scoreboard. For more info, email Kathleen McKirchy, kmckirch@dclabor.org . more...
May 22, 2007 DoD Unions to Appeal Court Ruling Labor Coalition to Appeal Ruling at Defense Steven Barr, Washington Post, May 22, 2007 A coalition of 40 unions representing Defense Department employees will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review a decision by three of its judges upholding a 2004... AFSCME Council 26 more
May 22, 2007 Labor Coalition to Appeal Ruling at Defense Labor Coalition to Appeal Ruling at Defense Steve Barr, Washington Post, May 22, 2007 A coalition of 40 unions representing Defense Department employees will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review a decision by three of its judges upholding a 2004... AFSCME Council 26 more...
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