Conceptual Agreement For New National Contract Between SSA And AFGE

     From a union press release:

After 27 months of negotiations, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the Social Security Administration have reached a conceptual agreement for the terms of the new national contract. ... 

Negotiations between AFGE and SSA have been ongoing, two weeks every month, since December 2009. AFGE referred the bargaining to the Federal Service Impasses Panel in September 2011, in reaction to the lack of progress in national contract negotiations. The language for the new contract is conceptual and will be finalized by both AFGE and SSA management, then sent out for ratification by AFGE locals. Once the contract is ratified by AFGE and SSA, it will be valid for four years.

“We made improvements in eye care and travel benefits, strengthened employee rights in the workplace and allowed for the union to have broader ability to represent employees in meetings with SSA management,” explained AFGE Lead Negotiator Witold Skwierczynski. ...