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We are excited to announce Our Transit Subsidy Victory! We have increased the amount by $120 monthly! Thanks to the Bargaining Unit Team for making it happen!

"All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms is treason. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other." Abraham Lincoln

Text Box: A letter to Secretary Solis from Local 12 President Alex Bastani American Federation of Government Employees Local 12, AFL-CIO American Federation of Government Employees Local 12, AFL-CIO June 4, 2009 Dear Secretary Solis: The Union is very pleased to know that under your leadership the Department sponsored a two-day FOIA training program regarding the new governmental transparency under the Obama Administration. We believe that this new openness is not only good for the taxpayers, but that it also benefits the dedicated civil servants, the DOL employees, who daily try to do their best to protect America’s working families. In view of this new openness, we are baffled by the Department’s failure to answer our information request of April 24, 2009, concerning possible violations of 5 U.S.C. §3110, which forbids nepotism in the Federal Government. In our information request, we asked for a response by May 11, 2009. We have yet to receive a response or an explanation as to why our information request has not been timely answered. We tried to give the Department the benefit of doubt, but by May 21, 2009, with our statute of limitations running close to exhaustion, we were compelled to file a grievance over the failure of the Department to provide an answer. Now, two weeks have elapsed, and we still have received neither a response to our inquiry nor an acknowledgement of the action filed. The information request that we filed stemmed from knowledge obtained during an arbitration concerning the non-competitive and clandestine hiring of the daughter of a senior official in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Although we prevailed in the arbitration, the arbitrator declined to address the aspects of nepotism in this case. Thus, we have been forced to address this issue through an institutional grievance. In addition, during the hearing of the above-noted case, Ken Barron, the son of the former Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, testified for the Agency and refused to answer any questions as to whether he knew of other BLS employees who had relatives on the payroll. When he was confronted with the fact that he was the son of the former Deputy Commissioner, this individual who is almost six feet tall, in his late twenties or early thirties, became extremely aggressive towards Local 12’s attorney. Mr. Barron lifted himself out of his seat, leaned across the table, and yelled at our attorney, Chuck Taylor, who is in his mid sixties, and who is almost a foot shorter than Mr. Barron. If our grievant, a six foot, three inch tall black male had engaged in the same behavior, he would have been escorted out of the hearing by building security. The thrust of this is clear -- BLS management tried to physically intimidate Union representatives with respect to our delving into the issue of nepotism at the Department of Labor. It is a hot-button issue. It is time for the Department to practice what the President of the United States preaches – create and foster openness in government. It is time to release the records of those members of the Department’s senior managerial staff who have given their relatives positions at DOL, and this includes managers who cohabit with persons for whom they have lobbied to obtain promotions. The American people and the government employees who serve this country have a right to know which members of the senior managerial staff at DOL are improperly using their tax dollars. Local 12 needs an answer to its information request regarding nepotism at the Department of Labor. Please let us know when we can expect full and transparent disclosure of the particulars noted in our request. Sincerely, Alex Bastani President AFGE Local 12 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, N-1503, Washington, DC 20210, 202/693-6430, 202/693-6431(fax) AFGE Local 12 is the union that represents over 3100 employees at the U.S. Department of Labor in the Washington, DC area. They have been in existence since 1932.

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Text Box: American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12 AFL-CIO Frances Perkins Building 200 Constitution Ave, NW Room N-1503 Washington, D.C. 20210

Text Box: Check back periodically for updates from our president, Alex Bastani.

President’s Blog 11/27-12/31

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"The Changing Face of Labor, 1983-2008"

John Schmitt and Kris Warner

Center for Economic and Policy Research

www.cepr.net

Tuesday January 26 at 12 Noon

Room N-4437 A and B

Frances Perkins Building

Lunch Will Be Provided

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01/13