Vol II • No. 12 • June 1999

Rally for fairness June 16 at DOL
Hostile, anti-labor, and union-busting management at the U. S. Department of Labor is why the AFGE 12 membership voted on May 27 to authorize its officers to call upon DOL employees and the broader labor movement to rally Wednesday, June 16th at 12 noon in front of the Labor Dept in the 200 block of Constitution Avenue, NW Washington DC.

The Labor Department has been refusing to cooperate in the scheduling of third party arbitrations of employee grievances for more than a year. This means that employees and the Union are being denied their day in court and that DOL continues to violate the law and abuse employees. There are 82 grievances waiting to be heard by arbitrators as of this printing. If the Labor Dept succeeds in obstructing a third party ruling on these grievances, it can continue its lawless behavior with impunity.

In February 1999, the Union filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against DOL for obstructing the arbitration of grievances. To date, the Federal Labor Relations Authority has not even initiated an investigation of DOL’s actions. AFGE 12 has long viewed the FLRA as a management puppet. When there is no institutional fairness in government, federal sector labor unions must be ready to take their issues to the streets and to the taxpaying, voting public.

A welfare to work office has been created in violation of the Union contract. DOL is blocking the arbitration of this case because it is now in the process of illegally reorganizing the entire Employment and Training Administration. An arbitrator would stop these illegal reorganizations in the DOL workplace.
It appears that DOL is engaged in a conspiracy to undermine the AFGE 12 Presidency.

As part of engaging in illegal reorganizations, DOL is actively working to divide and bust AFGE 12. It is now refusing to acknowledge that AFGE 12’s recognition is at the Departmental and not the sub-cabinet agency level. It appears that DOL is engaged in a conspiracy to undermine the AFGE 12 Presidency. This is part of the legacy of the Clinton-Gore Administration which has used federal sector unions in downsizing government and duping them with the partnership game. Federal unions sought a seat at the management table and have unwisely implicated themselves in the Clinton-Gore attack on the federal government and its employees.

Some AFGE 12 members see DOL’s obstruction of the arbitration of employee grievances as an attempt to interfere with the Union’s upcoming election in February 2000. These members believe that management hopes that if it can keep a large enough number of employees from having their grievances arbitrated, the Union members will blame the incumbent leaders and vote them out of office. It is abundantly clear that DOL management does not want to deal with a strong, effective union. It wants weak union leaders to deal with, those who want personal gain and will play the partnership game with them. DOL’s approach is consistent with the Clinton-Gore labor agenda. They don’t respect unions. They use them.

Labor Dept firing employees with disabilities
DOL has recently fired three employees with disabilities. These cases evidence DOL’s callous disregard for the legal protections afforded employees with disabilities and its intolerance for those who have the misfortune of having a mental or physical impairment.

These firings are taking place while the Presidential Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities is housed in the Labor Dept. Firing the disabled at DOL is taking place in spite of the fact that the President named Secy Alexis Herman to chair the Task Force. The firings are taking place after the Task Force asked the President, in its November 15, 1998 Report, to make the federal workplace a model employer for adults with disabilities and to increase the number of adults with disabilities working for the federal government. Vice President Gore said of the Report, “I applaud the Task Force for its powerful recommendations to provide critically needed employment opportunities for people with disabilities.” He added, “When we find new ways to ensure that people with disabilities are able to keep and obtain a job doesn’t just benefit them—it enriches our whole society.” Increasingly, DOL employees are publicly questioning Secy Herman’s attention and commitment to the employment of persons with disabilities.

One of the disabled employees being fired has a legal guardian who has indicated the hardship that will result if this employee is placed in the street by DOL. The employee has 32 years of federal service, the past 13 years with DOL. It is reported that one of the key managers behind this firing is the beneficiary of a series of promotions based on nepotism. But at DOL, it’s the disabled getting the short end of the stick, instead of a helping hand.

From dependency to work
The White House and DOL have gotten plenty of political mileage out of the plight of those persons who left the dependent rolls to go on the employment rolls. It has not been an easy transition for them. Many were in worse shape financially after they moved onto the employment rolls. Those employed by DOL in the DC metro area want to move from the 3-year temporary appointments they now have to permanent positions. Most feel trapped and stigmatized in their current situations. AFGE 12 wrote Secy Herman about this situation on April 29, 1999.

The pertinent portion of that letter said, “Another subject that needs more attention is the Worker Trainee Assistance Program (WTAP). Recently, the rules were changed so that the WTAP employees can be promoted to the GS-4 level. That’s a positive development, but we, at DOL, should commit to do more to prepare the program participants to succeed and to move from temporary jobs to permanent positions. Maximizing the transit subsidy will be tremendously beneficial to the WTAP employees. Many of them feel that they are not allowed to advance more quickly to higher grade jobs and to permanent positions because of the welfare stigma. We can do more to aid the WTAP employees in a transition that has financial, social, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and physical ramifications for them daily as they work to become better off than they were before entering the WTAP. They thought that becoming a federal employee meant leaving the welfare stigma in their past. Too often, this has not been their experience at DOL. Can we work together to make more of a difference for the WTAP employees? We will be delighted to hear from you on these matters.” The Secy has not yet responded to the Union’s letter.

Yet, Secy Herman’s agents are saying that DOL cannot promote the employees to GS-4 because of the Union. These same agents are involved daily in violating union rights and the governing laws and regulations. They ignore the union every day and do whatever they please. But, when it comes to management denying promotions to those most in need, the Secy’s agents want to finger the union. The Secy needs to fire these agents instead of firing employees with disabilities.

Flexiplace briefings held
Joint labor and management teams provided informational sessions on the AFGE 12/DOL negotiated flexiplace program. A total of 20 sessions were held in FPB, PSB, and BT#3. Attendance was open to bargaining unit employees, supervisors, and management officials. The reports are that attendance was good and that the presentations were excellent and well received. Kudos to the teams for their outstanding preparations and presentations. The Union team members were Larry Drake, Arleen Winfield, Neilda Lee, Elizabeth Hamann-Bolstein, and David Hershfield. The DOL team members were Jerry Lelchook, Douglas Goodell, Gail Guest, Joel Lovelace, and Ed Chmielowski.

The flexiplace agreement provides for a Departmental Flexiplace Committee to oversee implementation and evaluate the functioning of the flexiplace program. The AFGE 12 members who have been named to the committee are Arleen Winfield, David Hershfield, Elizabeth Hamann-Bolstein, and John Baker. The names of the management members are not known at this time.

MEMBERSHIP
MEETING
12:00 Noon, Thursday
June 24, 1999
Room N4437A-C
Frances Perkins
Building