Union Calls For Astrue Ouster

From a press release issued by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents most Social Security employees:

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation's largest federal employee union, today called on the Obama Administration to remove Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue. The union says recent events involving H1N1 employee policy and a third party class action lawsuit indicate that Astrue has lost touch with employee rights and the impact his policies have on effective public service. The Social Security Administration’s chief negotiator for mid-term bargaining on abating H1N1 told AFGE members that H1N1 is not a serious communicable disease, contradicting the Centers for Disease Control and SSA’s own chief medical officer. In a direct challenge to SSA protocols, SSA managers – and its negotiator – have threatened disciplinary action if SSA employees refuse to take an interview with a member of the public that exhibits swine flu symptoms but wants a face-to-face interview. ...

AFGE also recently applauded the order of a federal judge in the Northern District of California to allow blind individuals an accommodation in the form of communications from the Social Security Administration, something which the SSA leadership has repeatedly fought against and claimed that it would be too burdensome to accommodate.

For more on this dispute, see the Washington Post article. By the way, although the President could make life difficult for Astrue, the President cannot fire him.