At least one of the unions representing employees at the Social Security Administration said it’s still in the dark about the agency’s plans to reopen its offices to the public and the workforce.
The American Federation of Government Employees filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the Federal Labor Relations Authority on Monday, which charges SSA with failing to bargain over the agency’s reopening plans and for withholding information from the union. ...
Though the agency’s field and local offices are still closed, members of the public can call and schedule an appointment to handle “dire need” situations.
And as Federal News Network previously reported, SSA managers had called small numbers of employees back to the field and local offices to help with those “dire need” situations. ...
But the union doesn’t know how many of its members are returning to SSA offices — either on a regular basis or occasionally throughout the week — nor does it know what the conditions are like when employees arrive back to their local facilities.
“We don’t know if the areas have been cleaned and sanitized,” de Juliis said. “We have no idea if the people who are working there are allowed to work credit hours or overtime.”
AFGE later submitted a demand to bargain over SSA’s reopening plans on July 10. It also requested information on the number of employees who have returned to their field offices, the offices where employees are working and details on the work they’re performing. The union also sought details on the number of SSA employees who have returned to their offices and since contracted coronavirus. ...
“Your request fails to meet particularized need,” Jim Julian, SSA’s associate administrator for labor management and employee relations, wrote in an Aug. 7 response to AFGE. “The union did not articulate with any specificity how the information is necessary or how it will help you in fulfilling your representational responsibilities under the [labor-management relations] statute. According to the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the union must come forward with an explanation offering more than mere conclusions. The union cannot use an information request as a general audit approach.”
SSA did not respond to multiple requests for further comment. ...
To the union’s knowledge, the vast majority of SSA employees are continuing to telework. The agency has not called employees back to their offices en masse, nor has it provided a date for when all or some of the workforce might return.
But the gradual reentry of SSA employees has concerned AFGE. The union worries the slow recall of employees is by design, even though the relative silence on reopening means their members can continue teleworking.
You can say that it's unlikely that Social Security would recall many of its employees to the office prior to a Covid-19 vaccine so the union shouldn't be so worried but why wouldn't Social Security management just tell union officials that it doesn't plan to force agency employees back to the office until there's a vaccine? Is it unreasonable for Social Security employees to expect to be told what the plan is?
16 comments:
Yes the union should be told, the way this is being handled is keeping AFGE and SSA employees on edge. I know several in private industry who have been told by their company that they will not have to return to the office in 2020.
SSA commissioner Saul and the Postmaster General DeJoy (fitting name) have a lot in common. Both spent their entire lives in private industry before being placed in charge of huge government agencies. Both are conservative and anti-union. And both instituted sweeping changes as soon as they took office, changes which turned out to be disasters.
Could it be that SSA doesn't have any cogent plans for how to return employees safely to the office and therefore denied the request to prevent that from becoming clear?
As a former manager I never found most plans to be cogent. As managers we took the perspective of Emperor's new clothes. No matter how bad the plans were we said great ideas.
To my fellow AFGE and NTEU coworkers: The plan is they have no plan. Even a shell of a plan. If they did, someone would have leaked it by now.
After what happened to us last fall (sudden and complete termination of SSA Operations telework, with total disregard of employee home-work life balance and employee morale), I don't trust SSA this time around either.
It wouldn't surprise me if Saul and Grace Kim pull a repeat act.
1:46 Don't forget - the union allowed that to happen by not getting a telework plan in the last contract. They knew the Commissioner was against telework.
There should not be any union negotiations regarding a return to work. The Agency should decide when they are reopening, and employees should decide whether they want a job or not. Ridiculous.
Seems you don’t work here or else you wouldn’t have such a care free attitude. Some of us care about our jobs, the public we serve and our own health.
Of course there should be union negotiations, on this vital issue which employees care so deeply about. It affects our jobs, our health and the health of those close to us.
One thing which should be negotiated is which employees qualify as "high risk" and thus eligible for continued telework even in the event of a callback. The current CDC guidelines put employees age 65+ into the "high risk" category. Why was this age raised from 60 to 65? It should be lowered to age 55 to be safe. Older people are at higher risk for bad results from COVID19 and the increased risk starts around age 55, not 65.
Also by allowing employees 55+ to continue to telework SSA can avoid a mass retirement wave when and if there is a callback.. The agency can't afford to suddenly lose thousands of experienced workers.
Oh look, any anti-union troll. 4chan is thataway. Bye Felicia!
SSA isnt alone in this. Most states Dept on Aging have yet to come up with a good way to do open season for Part D plans this fall and it is coming quick. The last guidance from Illinois Dept on Aging was "Do what you feel comfortable with" when asked how to conduct Part D plan reviews.
Lack of leadership at a federal level is showing the impact downstream now.
BTW those folks doing the Part D plan reviews are often volunteers or SHIP workers that get very small grants, our grant is $2500 a year, or donation based payment, so we are supposed to do these plan comparisons for next to nothing at the risk of death to us, our family and our clients and their families.
Having feedback from employees is where some of the best ideas come from. No one is suggesting that the union and employees run the agency. I speak this as a manager. On the other hand some employees, union and somem management feel their way is the only way. I can think of a few managers in the NW who thought their solutions were the only ones. I did SHIP interviews and it's interesting what good suggestions the public has.
all-manager call today in OHO. There is no plan. The path forward is set forth in OPM reopening guidance and will be determined state-by-state. Stop looking for the boogeyman. When it's safe, we'll reopen. Until then, enjoy working from home.
Also...maybe get used to working from home. You've shown you can do it and technology is going to allow hearings by video soon. Hearing offices with staff will be a thing of the past. Get ready for even more centralized management, co-housing with FOs and other stuff. Worrying about when/if you return to the "office" is the least of your concerns.
I have no problem working from home. As matter of fact I am loving it. It's suck that when the new Commissioner came, he took that away from us, along with many other great benefits. This pandemic shows the Commissioner that SSA is not well prepared, and so far behind with their telework program comparing with other government/private agencies. I hope he would learn from this and continuing expanding the telework program, but on the other hand this is Saul after all. The next five years are going to be hard for the employees, hang in their everyone. May the force be with you all.
Call them all back and, like the rest of the world, check for symptoms before entering the office. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. Daycare/care for family members should be addressed the same way private individuals are expected to handle.
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