From Joe Davidson at the Washington Post:
Enforcing President Trump’s crusade against federal labor organizations, his lieutenants at two large agencies have opened new fronts against government unions.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) wants to evict all union offices from agency facilities, while the Social Security Administration (SSA) plans to “revise” 21 points in its union contract. ...
Referring to executive orders issued by Trump, a June 5 letter from Social Security to AFGE gives “notice of the Agency’s decision to implement all three Orders effective July 9, 2018,” even as it couches the decision as a proposal.
That letter provides a list of 21 contract items Social Security wants to change, including office space, employee rights, child care, elder care, equal opportunity, leave, training, health, safety, performance, discipline, grievance procedures, promotions — almost anything anyone can imagine. ...
But I thought he stood for the working man. LOL.
ReplyDeleteThis is Trump's idea of the validity of a contract. You have to wonder how other countries view his tactics. You don't want to negotiate a treaty with Trump if he is going to try to change it on a whim.
ReplyDeleteSSA is like any big organization, often with union reps getting moved into management to get them out of management's hair, folks in labor relations who really don't like the union, unions folks who hate the Middle March martinets that inhabit offices throughout the country and plenty of just plain folks who appreciate things like leave in 15 minute increments, flexiplace and childcare. That includes many in upper management (maybe not so much middle management). But this, this takes 50 years of official policy regarding unions and essntially tosses it on its ear. So the folks at the extremes will have plenty to fight while the rank and file? They watch the workplace get less and less conducive to good moral.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the meta on his attitude towards contracts should make folks think before having one with his administration.
Mr. President
ReplyDeletesong by Randy Newman
We've taken all you've given
It's gettin' hard to make a livin'
Mr. President, have pity on the working man
We ain't asking you to love us
You may place yourself high above us
Mr. President, have pity on the working man
I know it may sound funny
But people ev'ry where are runnin' out of money
We just can't make it by ourself
It is cold and the wind is blowing
We need something to keep us gong
Mr. President, have pity on the working man
Maybe you're cheatin'
Maybe you're lyin'
Maybe you have lost your mind
Maybe you only think about yourself
Too late to run, too late to cry now
The time has come for us to say good-bye now
Mr. President, have pity on the working man
Mr. President, have pity on the working man
Songwriters: Randy Newman
Mr. President lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
No need for a union with government employees. If they don't like they can work elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThis is pathetic on so many levels, from the president on down to SSA upper management. For years salaries were frozen and budgets were cut while wait times in field offices increased and the hearing backlog increased. Everyone was asked to do more with less. Now that the frontline employees have done their part, and the "numbers" are starting to look better, what is the reward? More pay freezes, cuts to retirement benefits, and union-busting behavior. This is all very demoralizing, but I guess that's exactly what Republicans want. They break the system and then complain that it wasn't working all along.
ReplyDeleteAmericans unions more than anything else built a solid middle class. Wages in the '50s through the '70s shot up for the middle class, due to unions. It wasn't until the '80s, when Reagan began implementing anti-union initiatives, that salaries flattened or went down when adjusted for inflation. And now Trump is paying his dues to the billionaire class: tax cuts for the rich and the eradication of everything that benefits the poor and middle class. Reagan and Trump - both actors reading from the same old script.
933, what took you so long, I was beginning to think you saw the error of your ways. Instead of advocating negative consequences for the dang blasted feds, why don't you work on raising workings conditions for all. You know, a race to a higher level for the greater good, rather than a race to the bottom to benefit the comparatively rich.
ReplyDeleteThe rogue right-wing AALJ faction that wants to replace the current AALJ leaders (the 180-degree slate, they euphemistically call themselves), have yet to explain how these EOs are going to affect their plan to cooperate with management and just charm them into being nicer to the ALJ corps.
ReplyDeleteFunny how the people who attack the union and back trump post as Anonymous
ReplyDelete