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Super committee failure helps feds in short
term
By Kellie Lunney www.govexec.com November 21, 2011
Federal pay and benefits are being spared in the short term as a
result of the super committee's failure to produce a deficit reduction
plan. The 12 lawmakers on the joint select congressional panel failed to
broker a deal to cut federal spending.
Click here for more
Groups urge Obama not to target federal pay and
benefits
By Kellie Lunneyklunney@govexec.comSeptember
16, 2011
President Obama is set to unveil his deficit reduction plan Monday,
and federal employee groups are urging him not to target government
workers' pay and benefits in his proposal.
Click here for more
Federal employees report being in the dark on debt ceiling
Friday, July 15, 2011
By Kellie Lunney,
Government Executive.com,
Federal employees would be in uncharted territory if Washington fails
to raise the debt ceiling and the government goes into default,
observers said.
There is no clear roadmap for agencies or federal employees to follow if
Uncle Sam cannot pay his bills, making the situation much less
predictable than a government shutdown.
click here for more
Union Official Time Comes Under Fire at
Congressional Hearing
Thursday, June 2, 2011
(National Federation of Federal Employees)
At a the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service,
and Labor Policy
hearing Wednesday, chairman Dennis Ross (R-FL) and fellow Republican
Phil Gingrey (R-GA) advocated for H.R. 122, a bill that would severely
diminish Union official time.
The inappropriately titled “Federal Employee Accountability Act” is a
misguided bill that would eliminate federal employees’ statutory rights
to official time for collective bargaining and to Federal Labor
Relations Authority (FLRA) determination of the official time to be
allowed for work in FLRA proceedings. This would unnecessarily lead to
enormous waste of time and resources. NFFE strongly opposes H.R. 122.
Despite the huge costs that would be associated with a breakdown in
federal labor management relations, Rep. Gingrey and his colleagues seem
determined to strike a blow at federal Unions nonetheless.
“What began as a noble goal to ensure healthy labor-management relations
has been twisted into a one-sided scheme to perform Union
representational functions in lieu of performing one’s official duties
as a federal employee,” said Gingrey in his testimony. “Official time is
not fair to the government or the taxpayer and works solely to the
benefit of labor Unions and employees who serve as its representative or
steward.”
Though Rep. Gingrey and his anti-Union colleagues would like to believe
official time is time and money poorly spent, the fact is that he could
not be more wrong. Official time for representational duties allows
employee representatives to handle sensitive workplace issues faster
than the normal bureaucratic process would allow, resolving issues more
efficiently. Official time is used to represent employees in
discrimination and merit principle proceedings, conflict resolution, and
implementation of workplace policies. Unions also use official time to
participate in national and agency-level partnership councils which work
to improve the delivery of government services to the American people.
All of these benefits promote efficiency, responsiveness, and strong
morale at federal agencies, allowing them to provide better service to
the American people. Strong employee-employer communication is a
necessary precondition for good government. Official time is what allows
us to do just that.
“Here is the bottom line: lawmakers that support this bill want to
eliminate federal employees’ voice in the workplace,”said Randy Erwin,
NFFE Legislative Director. “This is a thinly veiled attempt to bust
federal employee unions who fight for federal employees every day.
Because the union fights for hard-working federal workers, they want to
destroy us. We are not going to let that happen.”
Click Here for NFFE Position Paper on Official Time
NFFE Local 1 President Patricia La Sala Fights Back Against Lawmakers’
Attacks on Federal Employees
Friday, May 13, 2011
Washington Post article
Thursday, NFFE National Vice President Patricia La Sala was featured
in a Washington Post story on her efforts to fight the negative attacks
on federal workers emanating from Capitol Hill. Along with hundreds of
other NFFE-IAM members from across the country, La Sala took her
members’ message to Capitol Hill during the IAM’s annual Legislative
Conference.
La Sala, who is also president of NFFE Local 1, represents hundreds of
health professionals at the San Francisco VA Medical Center in San
Francisco, California, including doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants
and social workers among others.
President Dougan Writes Letter to Senate Opposing Inclusion of
Anti-Federal Worker Cuts in Budget Resolution
Friday, May 13, 2011
(National Federation of Federal Employees)
Monday, NFFE National President William R. Dougan wrote a letter to members of the United States Senate asking them to exclude a number of misguided proposals that would have a serious impact on the size, compensation, and ultimately, the mission of the federal workforce.
House Majority Passes Budget Bill Targeting Federal Pay, Retirement;
Democrats Unanimously Oppose
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
(National Federation of Federal Employees)
Friday, House Republicans passed a budget plan for fiscal year 2012
with all but four Republicans and without the support of a single
Democrat. The budget includes provisions that would freeze federal
employees’ pay through 2015, require federal employees to contribute
much more to their retirement plans, and reduce the federal workforce 10
percent by 2014 through “a gradual…attrition policy” which would limit
agencies' ability to hire by replacing every three retirees with only
one new hire. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman
Darrell Issa (R-CA) claims the changes would save $375 billion over ten
years and bring federal employee compensation into line with the private
sector.
Despite agencies warning that significant understaffing is already
hampering their ability to carry out their missions, the measure
advanced by House Republicans Friday will make the problem much worse.
Though broad-based workforce reductions may sound fiscally responsible
in theory, in practice they have a much more sobering reality. This
proposal means hiring one doctor or nurse caring for our veterans for
every three lost; one border patrol agent fighting drug and human
trafficking for every three lost; one wildland firefighter saving homes
and business out West for every three lost; and one passport worker who
prevents international criminals and terrorists from entering our
country for every three lost. These workers provide essential services
to our nation, and this budget’s arbitrary attrition proposal would
severely hamstring the federal government from providing carrying out
its most critical missions.
Furthermore, the claim that freezing federal pay, eliminating automatic
step increases and requiring federal employees to contribute more to
their retirement plans would bring federal compensation into line with
the private sector is intentionally misleading. Individuals who
subscribe to this belief are comparing apples to oranges. In fact,
employees of the federal government earn less compensation than
comparable employees in the private sector.
The reality is this: House Republicans' justification for this budget
does not match the facts. This budget has nothing to do with sensibly
cutting the budget, and instead makes federal employees easy scapegoats
to score cheap political points. Reductions in federal employee
compensation would only bring federal employees further behind their
private sector counterparts than they already are, while workforce
reductions would simply deprive Americans of essential services that do
not need to be cut. There is a sensible approach to reducing the
deficit, and there is a nonsensical approach to reducing the deficit.
House Republicans voted on Friday for the nonsensical approach, and not
a single House Democrat joined them.
Statement of NFFE National President William R. Dougan on USA Today
Article “More Federal Workers’ Pay Tops $150,000”
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Washington,
DC - The USA Today ran a highly flawed and intentionally misleading
analysis of federal workers’ pay in yesterday’s edition. The article,
written by Dennis Cauchon, is called, “More federal workers’ pay tops
$150,000.” The article characterizes federal workers’ pay as
“fast-growing,” when in fact federal pay adjustments have been derived
from the Employments Cost Index (ECI), a gauge of the changing cost of
labor in the private sector. Federal pay has not been fast-growing by
any reasonable measure. The article says that the number of federal
workers earning $150,000 has soared tenfold in the past five years and
doubled since President Obama took office. While true, $150,000 is an
arbitrary benchmark. Each year the maximum pay level for federal
employees increases slightly, again based on the ECI. More federal
workers making $150,000 is simply a function of the upper pay limit for
federal employees inching past the $150,000 mark in recent years. The
upper limit was $149,000 in 2008. Of the federal workers earning at
least $150,000, more than half are doctors, lawyers, scientists,
executives leading agencies or major programs, or people with highly
specialized skills. A significant portion of the workers earning over
$150,000 are doctors who care for wounded servicemen at the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA). The federal workers in this pay bracket make
tens of thousands less than those doing the same work in the private
sector. To call these public servants overpaid is an insult to their
service. There have been several politically driven “studies” issued
lately that claim federal employees are overpaid, and in every case, an
apples-to-oranges comparison has been made to misconstrue the data.
When federal jobs are compared with the same jobs in the private sector,
federal employees make 24% less than those at private firms. This is
according to independent Department of Labor pay data. The Bush
Administration used the same data each of his years in office and
certified federal employees were significantly underpaid each year.
National President Dougan Talks Post-Election Political Landscape
with Federal News Radio
Monday, November 8, 2010 (National Federation of Federal Employees)
NFFE National President William R. Dougan joined Tom Temin and Amy
Morris on Federal News Radio’s Federal Drive, to discuss the aftermath
of the recent Congressional elections. Covering key issues such as
telework and temporary hiring authority, Dougan discussed the challenges
and opportunities presented by the newly elected Congress, and how NFFE
intends to make the most of them.
Click here to listen to the full interview.
FLRA and FMCS to Provide Regional Trainings on Partnership Order
Thursday, April 8, 2010 (National Federation of
Federal Employees)
In a press release issued yesterday, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) announced that it was partnering with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to offer training on the implementation of Executive Order 13522, Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services. According to the release, the training program is “designed to enhance participants’ knowledge of bargaining rights and obligations under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.” Participants must attend the program with a management counterpart so that both parties leave with a working understanding of how to implement the Executive Order. “I encourage NFFE’s Local and Council leaders to take full advantage of the opportunity to work with management to build a better workplace,” said NFFE National President William R. Dougan. The two-day training begins with a review of bargaining rights and obligations under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, particularly section 7106(b)(1), as well as pre-decisional involvement. Day two will focus on the basics of building and maintaining a partnership that meets the goals of the Executive Order. The trainings will be held in cities housing the FLRA’s seven regional offices throughout May and June of this year. Participants are strongly encouraged to attend this training, though a second offering of the program may occur between July and September.
President Obama Appoints NFFE President Dougan to National Council
on Federal Labor-Management Relations Friday,
February 26, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cory Bythrow, Communications Director Phone: (202) 255-9950
Washington,
D.C. – Yesterday, William R. Dougan, National President of the
National Federation of Federal Employees, a national union representing
110,000 workers government-wide, was appointed as a Member of the
National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations by President
Obama. Established by a December 2009 Executive Order, the Council is
tasked with advising the President on ways to improve labor-management
relations in the federal workforce. Composed of representatives from
labor, management, and the Administration, the Council will be
co-chaired by Office of Personnel Management Director, John Berry and
the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and
Budget, Jeffrey Zeints. Appointed alongside a number of other employee
representatives, National President Dougan will ensure that federal
workers have a strong voice at the table. “I am honored to be given
this opportunity to serve the federal workforce,” said Dougan. “I look
forward to working alongside my fellow labor and management
representatives in developing common sense solutions that will benefit
both the federal workplace and the nation.” In the coming years, the
Council will make recommendations to the Administration on how to build
non-adversarial forums for employees, their unions, and managers to
discuss government operations and improve the productivity and
effectiveness of the Federal Government. After an era of deteriorating
labor-management relations under the previous administration, NFFE is
ready to do its part to build a better workplace for federal employees.
“We are pleased to see that President Obama is serious about
listening to the ideas and concerns of the federal employees that serve
their nation every day,” Dougan said. “Now it’s time for us to roll up
our sleeves and get to work.”
Public-private pay gap rises in 2009
By Alyssa Rosenberg GovExec.com October 19, 2009
Obama appoints new members to labor-management panel
By Alyssa Rosenberg GovExec.com September 22, 2009
Pentagon suspends NSPS conversions
Government Exec March 16, 2009
NFFE supports bill to attract former federal employees
NFFE news release Feb. 4, 2009
Federal unions praise Obama labor directives
Government Executive January 30, 2009
Obama halts all regulations pending review
Associated Press January 20, 2009
More Love for John Berry
By Alyssa Rosenberg Government Executive January 13, 2009
GSA cracks down on smoking in and around federal buildings
By Elizabeth Newell Government Executive December 23, 2008
Bush issues order implementing 3.9 percent pay raise
By Alyssa Rosenberg Government Executive December 19, 2008
Rep. Hilda Solis Obama's pick for labor secretary
The Huffington Post, Dec. 18, 2008
Lawmakers urge Pentagon to weigh alternatives to furloughs
By Brittany R. Ballenstedt Government Executive December 13, 2007
Bush gives federal employees extra day off
By Brittany R. Ballenstedt Government Executive Dec. 12, 2008
Lawmakers press Bush to rescind order curbing collective bargaining
By Alyssa Rosenberg Government Executive Dec. 9, 2008
Furlough threat hangs above Defense employees
By Megan Scully CongressDaily Dec. 5, 2007
Lawmakers weigh in on executive order
By Alyssa Rosenberg Government Executive Dec. 3, 2008
Executive order curtailing bargaining rights draws fire
By Alyssa Rosenberg Government Executive Dec. 2, 2008
Second Quarter 2011
First Quarter
2011