Ralph de Juliis, the head of the Union local that represents most Social Social employees, has penned an op ed for the Baltimore Sun on his favorite subject, the need to get rid of Andrew Saul as Commissioner of Social Security. He’s not the only one who feels that way.
The cry will be louder now that the CDC says we can go back to life as normal. This means Field Offices will open the way they were before the pandemic. Telephone people can get back to their cubes and be efficient at answering the calls. The payment center can go back to being supervised appropriatly to make sure atty fees are being paid timely. There will be lots of crying over the next month as the telework ends... about time!
ReplyDeleteCry me a river, cause Saul/Black and their minions know how to keep the window dressing on their otherwise anti-union and anti-SSA views.
ReplyDeleteBiden will continue to publicly ignore SSA so long as Saul and Black refrain from presenting a problem that the Administration can't ignore publicly.
ReplyDelete12:06, Face it, telework is here to stay. SSA will never go back to employees working 5 days per week in the office. The offices will likely reopen soon but SSA employees will continue telework two days per wee, which I think is a fair compromise. .
As for attorney fees being paid timely, what is needed to accomplish that is more SSA staffing and the return of SSA overtime,
The Sun article made sense for the most part but Ralph was way out of line in saying Saul should have spoken out about the Capitol Riot. It sounds like DeJulius is reciting DNC talking points, in an overtly political manner. Ralph never should have even brought that disturbance up in his article about Saul.
Also I don't want the SSA commissioner making speeches about political issues or events which have nothing to do with SSA. Saul was right, to remain silent about the riot.
When everyone reports back people will have less time to spend in the office paying attorneys. Which mean your wait times will increase! And also all those folks who didnt retire due to telework, when they retire you will wait even longer. Be careful what you wish for.
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ReplyDeleteIf SSA reopens this summer, , then there is a sudden surge in a deadly virus variant which is vaccine resistant in the fall, who do you think will be at high risk?
SSA Claims Reps in the field offices doing face to face interviews with unmasked disability claimants, will be at high risk1 People coming into the FO can't be told to wear a mask, or show proof of vaccination , all due to this CDC ruling.
Long face to face disability interviews with someone we don't know, who may be coughing, feverish, and not wearing a mask: not a pleasant prospect.
This CDC unmasking ruling may be putting SSA employees at risk, and I hope it is reversed. The ruling is rash and it is premature. We should wait a couple of months to see if the variants are dangerous before thinking about SSA offices reopening. Better yet wait until 2022.
The CDC announcement was entirely premature. It's not going to result in more folks getting vaccinated either. The people who thought COVID is not real still won't get the vaccine, still won't wear masks, and will just claim to have gotten the vaccine when they did not. Should have waited until, at least, the fully vaccinated percentage of people was 70 percent.
ReplyDeleteI for one don't give a damn how the work gets done but get it done. Initial claims are setting for months. Set up special task forces to deal with specific problems and get things moving again. Delay for the disabled population means homelessness, greater illness and more death.
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ReplyDeleteThe work can't be done timelty due to decreases in staffing and cuts in overtime. It's impossible to get it done with so many less work hours.
I thought Biden would be good for SSA but these drastic cuts took place after he took office.
I like it. Everyone now knows better than the CDC. Before they said take off the mask, everyone supported the CDC because they could use it to say we get to stay home. Get the shot and get back to serving the public. Nothing in life is risk free. You want to work full time from home, pursue the career change, see if it pays as much!
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ReplyDeleteKroger, CVS, Walgreens, and major Unions have blasted the CDC for their rash decision. 2/3 of Americans have not been vaccinated. Who knows for sure what variants there are? A vaccine is not a perfect shield.
SSA workers can do their job well from home. The answer to the increasing backlogs is not to force SSA workers back to the office. That will not help and may actually result in more leave usage.
The backlogs can only be reduced the way they have been reduced for the last 40 years, by giving essential Operations employees overtime. Whichever person in the Biden Administration decided to make drastic cuts in SSA overtime, that person should be fired.
If ALJs keep doing hearings from home, hearing rooms could be used to interview in-person applicants by video from the SSA field offices. This may only benefit the DOs that are near ODAR offices, but it is a start. So DO employees could be in the office or at home, but claimants would have a place to go to actually submit an app in person. For that matter, DO interview areas could be outfitted with video equipment, and the interviewers could sit at their desks in the back and meet with the claimant. No exposure, other than to other SSA employees. There are ways to do this, but compromise will be required.
ReplyDelete1:05 AM do you not know when the budget was set? (Hint - not since Biden took office).
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