From Joe Davidson's Federal Diary column at the Washington Post (registration required):
Like married couples who are lovey-dovey in public but have a tense relationship at home, the fondness that federal union leaders express for President Obama may not always reflect what's going on between local union leaders and managers in the workplace.
The problem is the emotional baggage left over from their previous relationship. ...
Mark Roth, AFGE general counsel, said "the relationship is now venomous on both sides." Referring to a potential presidential directive calling for labor-management partnerships in federal agencies, Roth said "you just can't layer an executive order over" the bad blood that lingers from the Bush days.
"I know that our Social Security activists are not in a mood to partner with" top Social Security Administration officials, he said. "They want them gone."
Speaking of unions and the Social Security Administration, the Association of Administrative Law Judges is celebrating a victory over the agency that allows the union to represent judges who hear cases involving disability benefits.
An arbitrator, Michael A. Murphy, ordered SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue to "cease and desist from refusing to recognize the union" and "from displaying anti-union animus."
For once, I favor the Union's side. And, I usually question many tactics Locals use at the FO level. But, this sounds like a reversion to Clinton's (Title V USC 7106B(1)et seq. partner ExO. The one that said we would partner with AFGE and bargain on otherwise exclusive managment rights. Oh, boy, oh boy. Not good news for what's his name. Goody gumdrops!
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