Website Going Live!
Welcome to the new AFGE 1658 Website
Brothers & Sisters,
We have finally done it! Welcome to the 21st century. Please bookmark our new website AFGE1658.org. Take a look around and send us your thoughts and input.
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Your Life Without the Union: A Tale of Terror
By Jessica Fields, AFGE 1658
Imagine your life without the union. Imagine a world where no union ever existed. No eight hour workday, no forty hour workweek, no weekends. No work-man’s compensation, no healthcare plans, no retirement benefits. Since there are no child labor laws, there’s no such thing as childhood. Unsafe working conditions are the norm. Disparate treatment is rampant for women or mi-norities or LGBT workers. The worksite is inaccessible for those with disabilities. History bears out what workers can suf-fer when employers operate without checks and balances. Consider the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the radium watch dial girls and the Memphis sanitation worker. Such fates are unimaginable to us, because we live in a world that is transformed by collective bargaining.
The foundation of any union is an assertion of basic human dignity and a belief that we are stronger together than apart. Unions are found across the social spectrum: pipe fitters and actors; autoworkers and athletes; nurses and police officers. Solidarity binds us together, and our varied perspectives coalesce into a unified voice. Despite our differences, we become a sort of family – sisters and brothers – and pool our resources for the collective good. Through collective bargaining we change the quality of life in our workplace. One individual is transformed into a force for societal change. Holy smokes! The very idea of a union is a revolutionary act.
Your union is so much more than the full-time employees and elected officials. The un-ion is you. You are the union. The union is most effective when its members invest and participate. Our union encompasses an in-credible assortment of talent and experience and education.
The question becomes what can’t we accom-plish if we were to flex our collective strength! What if we increased our lobbying of political representatives? What if we spoke positively and proudly of our union? What if we peer reviewed our resumes and increased scholarships and promoted union values into leader-ship positions? There is so much the union can still accomplish. We stand on the solid foundations that past unions were able to construct. We can add our own chapter to this great labor history. Speak your mind, lend your skills, teach a class, bring a new mem-ber, come to meetings, sign a petition, get involved politically, support other Federal unions – but do something.
Any other future is, well, terrifying.
Negotiation: A Dinner Drama
By Gregory Polcyn; Area Vice President, AFGE 1658
As our Local heads into negotiations on the Negotiated Labor Management Agreement (NLMA), aka the union contract, I decided to write an article on everyday negotiations. If the feedback is positive, I’ll write more articles on this subject. If not, I’ll write about how we defend employees who steal toilet paper from Government bathrooms.
There are four possible out-comes regarding negotiations: win-lose, lose-win, lose-lose and the coveted win-win. Most negotiations result in a win-lose situation, which inevitably involves compromise. I’ll provide a little vignette that I’m sure everyone can relate to:
It’s Friday night and you and your spouse/significant other want to go to dinner. Well, here’s the problem. You want Chinese and they want Italian. What to do, what to do? You can stomach Italian, but you’ve been craving beef and broccoli all week! You know that it’s going to take a lot of begging and cajoling to convince her (sorry, I mean “them”) that Chinese is the way to go. Also, did I mention that you’re already in the car and both restaurants are about the same distance? How do you negotiate in this scenario? I’m sure we all have our methods, but I bet it might go some-thing like this:
“Ok, we’ll do Italian tonight if we can do Chinese next week”. In this scenario, one party gets what they want (Italian) and the other party doesn’t. This is the common “win-lose” scenario, and this is a great as long as you are the winner. However, what if you don’t want Chinese next Friday? What if you get sick and can’t go out? What if you have to work late! Well you should have thought about that before you compromised. This is one of the problems with “win-lose” scenarios in negotiation.
I’m sure we can all see the flip side of the coin where you win and get your beef and broccoli; but what would be a “lose-lose” in this dinner scenario? Well, it turns out that you and your spouse are both “blah” on Mexican food. The funny thing is, you both think the other person really likes Mexican food. You don’t want to hurt their feelings by saying you don’t, so you continue to go Mexican restaurants – hating every minute of it – all the while thinking you’re doing the other person a favor. Sound familiar? I hope not.
Here’s the real question on most people’s minds: What would be a win-win? That’s a little more difficult to define, but there is a Chinese-Italian fusion restaurant where you can have beef and broccoli, and your significant other can have whatever they want. However, it is 15 miles further out, it will cost 50% more and since you’re in the car already and didn’t make reservations, you’ll be waiting 45 minutes to be seated. Hey, I didn’t say it was easy, I just said it existed.
What is the take-away here? If you want the coveted win-win, you’ve got to prepare for it.
Looking back at 2015, Looking Forward to 2016
The President’s Voice: Looking back at 2015, Looking Forward to 2016
As we enter 2016 it might be good to pause and reflect on the year which has just ended, 2015. Here are at least some of the notable events in 2015 which involved our union, AFGE Local 1658 and how those events may impact our union in the New Year of 2016:
1) Dues Increase Approved
Our union approved its first dues increase in many years in 2015, for both our ac-tive (non-retiree) and retiree members. This dues increase was approved in response to a per capita increase that the National AFGE Convention approved in August 2015 for the local unions, including our AFGE Local 1658. Both our local dues increase and the per capita increase which we will be paying to the national AFGE will be implemented in January 2016. Dues increases are always painful but the timely manner in which we were able to evaluate the impact of the per capita increase on our finances, come up with proposed dues increases for both our non-retiree and retiree members, and discuss and vote on these proposed dues increases in a democratic manner was an impressive accomplishment. Moreover, that timely response demonstrated the unity and strength of our union on a difficult and complicated issue. With the dues increases of $2.50 more per pay period for our non-retiree members and $15 more per year for our retire members our union’s finances are stronger and more stable than ever. We will also be able to effectively continue to serve our members and provide them the services they want as we enter 2016.
2) Delta Dental Contract
A new 2 year Delta Dental contract was negotiated and signed by our AFGE Local 1658 in 2015. This contract was negotiated based on the results of a survey of our members and included a variety of new or better benefits for our members in 2016 and 2017 including an increase in the maximum benefits cap for individuals of 25% and the elimination of the family benefits cap entirely.
3) Preparation for Contract Negotiations
Our union’s Pre-Negotiation Committee has been working hard through much of 2015 in surveying our bar-gaining unit membership regarding a wide variety of workplace issues, evaluating the input obtained from that survey and otherwise preparing for upcoming contract negotiations in 2016 to make desired and positive changes in our Negotiated Labor Management Agreement (NLMA). You can expect these contract negotiations to be a major event in 2016.
In summary, 2015 was a year of ups and downs and of major challenges. We were able to avoid a government shutdown which would have created financial hardships for our members but we are still struggling to overcome the legacy of pay freezes, furloughs and increased costs of our benefits which occurred in the last 3-4 years. The good news is that our AFGE Local 1658 remains financially strong and united as we enter into 2016 and the challenges that year will present to us.
Paul Veselenak
President, AFGE Local 1658
Running Out of Time…
By: Jessica Fields; Steward, AFGE 1658
New Year’s is a perfect time to talk about your leave, particularly Leave Without Pay (LWOP). Too often, employees are subjected to adverse or disciplinary action because they are out of leave. This article will help clarify the contractual provisions regarding LWOP, as well as the Command’s position on LWOP and what you can do to protect yourself and your career.
The contractual provisions for LWOP are extremely limited. Article 20, Section D of the Negotiated Labor-Management Agreement (NLMA) covers LWOP and outlines the three situations in which LWOP will be approved: Disabled veterans undergoing medical treatment for a service-related disability; Reserve or National Guard members called for military duty; and Bargaining Unit (BU) employees requesting LWOP under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
The Command takes a hard line regarding LWOP. Historically, if an employee has exhausted all paid leave, as well as their legally-protected 12-week FMLA entitlement, supervisors are encouraged to charge their employees Absent With-out Leave (AWOL) and discipline them accordingly, up to and including removal from Federal service. Obviously, not all management is created equal, and the Union has worked with several fair and reasonable supervisors who respectfully and compassionately assist their employees through difficult times and low leave balances. However, you should be aware that those individuals are the exception and not the rule.
If a medical condition (including that of a family member) is draining your paid leave, please ask the Union about FMLA, Reasonable Accommodation, the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP), etc. These programs exist to protect your employment. You must remember that the Command – EEO, HR, the Disability Program Manager (DPM), your management team – is not your advocate. You are your best advocate. At the beginning of this New Year, please take a few moments to assess your paid leave balances. If they are low, please take proactive steps to increase your leave balances or invoke your entitlements. If your paid leave balances are high, please consider supporting your Brothers and Sisters through the VLTP.
Workforce Morale in the Cellar as Congress Continues to Target Feds
From AFGE National Website—8 October 2015
AFGE called on congress to cease mean-spirited cuts to federal workers’ pay and benefits today following the release of abysmally-low employee morale scores as part of the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
“Public servants continue to suffer under a Congress that seems determined to make it harder for them to serve the American People,” said AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr.
“The constant thread of another pay cut, retirement give-back , or government shutdown is like a weight on the shoulders of every federal employee in this country, and morale will continue to suffer until that weight is lifted.”
With the threat of another shutdown looming near the holiday season, Cox said that federal employees were putting big purchases and major life decisions on hold until Congress could guarantee that the government would continue to operate past the December 11 expiration of the current continuing resolution.
“It[‘s] barely been more than a week since we were on the brink of another government shutdown,” Cox said.
“Congress has made all of us—from federal employees to the people we serve—live in a era of constant uncertainty.”
Cox said he was proud that 90 percent of survey participants resolutely reported that they were committed to going the extra mile despite slashed budgets, limited resources, and a meager 1% pay increase after three years of pay freezes, but enough is enough.
“Federal employees have important work to do like protecting our borders, inspecting our food and providing services to our veterans. Congress needs to give them the tools to carry out the promises we’ve made to the American people,” he added.
Cox also encouraged agencies to meet AFGE members at the bargaining table if they wanted to see a real spike in federal employee engagement.
“The survey results show that agencies consistently rank higher when employees have a real voice at the workplace,” Cox said. “Yet several agencies continue to stonewall our efforts to update contracts to improve working conditions for their employees. When it comes to boosting employee engagement, there is no substitute for a good collective bargaining agreement.”
