From a press release sent out by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the labor union which represents most Social Security employees:
"While we applaud the noble endeavor of the Partnership for Public Service to recognize excellency in federal government agencies, we can't ignore the unfiltered facts that come to us from our members at SSA -- that the policies put in place by SSA Commissioner Astrue continue to press unnecessary hardships on employees and degrade one of the nation's most responsive and best-run public agencies into a troubled organization that no longer serves the best interests of retired and disabled Americans and their families." ...
"Since its inception, Social Security employees have delivered quality service to America's retired and disabled. It is tragic that their ability to perform this service has been hindered by faulty leadership," concluded [John] Gage [the head of the union].
8 comments:
Ask the Union how many people at SSA have been layed off or downsized?
Some days I hate this job, but I have a check coming in every two weeks, so I put up with it. Beats standing on the corner with a will work for food sign.
The union always seems like the biggest bunch of crybabys. bullying people with flyers stating solidarity, SSA has been a great place to work for my many years. I am not in baltimore so it may be diffrent there but I have more problems like when someone complained to the union that our contract states 30 mins for lunch when we were given 45 and they cut the lunch back. Its petty crybabies that ruin my workplace not SSA management.
Hmmm....I find SSA to be an excellent place to work.
Kevin
T2 CR
Of course SSA is a great place to work--if all you care about is the salary, job security and benefits. And I have seen more than my share--people who couldn't come close to making as much money in the private sector as they do at SSA, and couldn't care less about the quality of the work they do, or how the claimants are treated.
For those of us busting our humps in understaffed field offices TRYING TO HELP THE CLAIMANTS, it can be miserable and frustrating, since there clearly is no solidarity with SSA's mission. I will still take pride in my work, and feel badly for those I leave behind when I retire in a short while.
Gee, Kevin, that's swell. So, how many claimants did you have to tell this week that you have no idea when they will get a check so they can buy food and pay rent?
Gee, yourself. That's a really snarky comment! Would you feel better if everyone at SSA hated their job? We do the best we can with limited resources. And in terms of job satisfaction, I have to agree with Kevin. Overall, SSA is a great employer.
I find SSA to be a great place to work for a myriad of reasons: I enjoy my job duties, I enjoy getting to help Americans, I have a management staff that is top notch and cares for employees, there are opportunities to advance in my job knowledge there are opportunities to take on extra roles that challenge my abilities, the work is challenging, I have co-workers who care for others and who are competent at doing their job, I'm compensated well, and the mission carried out by SSA is vital to the lives of many Americans. That doesn't mean there aren't challenges or frustrations--that's in every job, though, right? I guess I don't let backlogs and the flood of retirees dictate whether I enjoy my job and my employer.
Kevin
T2 CR
SSA has become a legacy for family and friends of upper managrment. SSA management has hired, under their supervision, sons, daughters, other relatives, friends, church members, and neighbors. These people are probly the ones who state "SSA is a great place to work" - they have inside connections. I've spent 27 years employed with the agency and believe me, it was not pleasant. While enjoyed the work, the opportunity to serve, and the people...the management at the Woodlawn complex were inexperiences, bullies, and extremely biased. The younger people currently working there, have no knowledge of their rights, believe everything their managers tell them, and alienate the more experienced employees - at the direction of their managers. Because of technology, the newer employees can not techicially perform the duties of their job...whereas, the older employees could. This is a major flaw in developing their IT programs. What if...there comes a time when the employee would have to perform their assignments manually? Would they have the technical ability to do so? Letting a computer do it is easy.
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