Arbitrator Rules In Favor Of ALJ Union

      From Government Executive:

An independent arbitrator last week ruled that the Social Security Administration violated federal labor law when it moved to unilaterally implement a partial union contract on the Association of Administrative Law Judges, despite the fact that several issues remained up for negotiation.

Over the last two years, Social Security and the ALJ union have undergone a long and at times acrimonious process to negotiate a new union contract. Last January, the Federal Service Impasses Panel took jurisdiction over nine contract articles still disputed by the parties, over the objection of the union. ...

Despite the fact that several elements of the new contract still had not been finalized, the Social Security Administration called on the judges union to ratify a partial contract of articles on which they had come to agreement, in apparent violation of the parties’ ground rules for negotiations. When the union declined to hold that vote, the agency unilaterally imposed those contract provisions in August 2020.

In his decision, Arbitrator Salvatore Arrigo said the agency’s violation of its memorandum of understanding with the union when it implemented the partial contract was “clear and patent,” and that it “constituted a repudiation of the essence of the ratification process.” ...

Arrigo ruled that the agency should cease engaging in bad faith bargaining with the administrative law judges union, rescind its demand that the union ratify only part of the new contract, and roll back implementation of those new provisions. The agency may appeal the decision to the FLRA [Federal Labor Relations Authority] for review. ...

 

Authorities Only Releasing Limited Information On Norfolk Shootings

      From "13NewsNow":

Norfolk police have released new details in their investigation of a shooting at the site of the Social Security Administration office, including the identity of the suspected gunman.

Around 4 p.m. Monday, officers were sent to the 5850 block of Lake Herbert Drive after learning that a shooting broke out there. That building houses both the Social Security Administration office as well as a disability services office.

Police arrived to find two men who both had been shot multiple times.

William D. Rankin was one of those men. Investigators have charged him as the suspected gunman. The 44-year-old was taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries.

A 52-year-old man who Rankin allegedly shot suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police say he was working as a security guard at the building when the shooting started. 

Authorities charged Rankin with:

• Malicious Wounding
• Shooting in an occupied building
• Use of a Firearm
• Firearm by Felon ...

No other details have been released at this time, including the motive behind the shooting. ...

SSA On A Real Losing Streak In Conn Cases

      From WTVQ:

Hundreds of Social Security disability recipients in Appalachia who were victimized by now-disbarred attorney Eric C. Conn’s fraud scheme notched another major legal victory.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday the Social Security Administration violated due process rights of Conn’s former clients by refusing to allow them to rebut allegations that their medical evidence was tainted by fraud. ...

The agency ended up terminating benefits for nearly half those individuals, including Gary Kirk and Larry Kermit Taylor, the plaintiffs in Thursday’s decision.

Kirk and Taylor successfully argued the SSA violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution when it revoked their disability.

Besides the Fourth Circuit, the Sixth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit have considered substantially similar cases and each concluded that the SSA’s redetermination procedures were unlawful. ...

Two People Shot At Social Security Office In Norfolk

     Two people have been shot at a Social Security office in Norfolk, VA. It's not clear whether they were shot inside or outside the building or whether the shooting had anything to do with the Social Security office itself. However, federal authorities are participating in the investigation.

Could SSI Changes Be Coming?

      I had earlier posted the names of the members of the House Social Security Subcommittee. However, it's unlikely that that Subcommittee will advance any significant legislation in this Congress or, at least, that it could be passed. It would take 60 votes in the Senate to overcome filibuster and pass such legislation. It's hard to imagine any significant Social Security bill garnering 10 Republican votes in the Senate. Specifically, the Byrd Rule prevents budget reconciliation bills (which don't require 60 votes in the Senate) from containing provisions that affect Title II of the Social Security Act. 

     Legislation affecting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a different story. My understanding is that SSI legislation could be passed as part of a Budget Reconciliation bill. However, the budget reconciliation rules do forbid anything that extends beyond 10 years so anything affecting SSI would have to include a 10 year sunset provision. That's not a complete bar. Much tax legislation including 10 year sunsets has been passed as part of budget reconciliation bills. It's basically a challenge to future Congresses to re-up the provisions. Would that happen with SSI legislation? I don't know. The Biden campaign released an ambitious SSI plan but I've heard nothing about SSI since the election. 

     I do know that the Social Security Subcommittee lacks jurisdiction over SSI. That's under the jurisdiction of the Worker and Family Support Subcommittee. It could be the more important subcommittee in this Congress. Here are the Democratic and Republican members of that Subcommittee:

Worker and Family Support Subcommittee

Chair: Rep. Danny K. Davis

• Democrats 

• Rep. Judy Chu

• Rep. Gwen Moore
• Rep. Dwight Evans
• Rep. Stephanie Murphy
• Rep. Jimmy Gomez
• Rep. Dan Kildee
• Rep. Jimmy Panetta

Republicans

Republican Leader Tom Reed (R-NY)

Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC)

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX)

Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS)

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK)

“Kick Them Laterally To The Associate Commissioner Of Recycling”

      From Government Executive:

Officials at the nation’s largest federal employee union said that they have seen little progress from agencies in the days since President Biden signed an executive order rescinding Trump administration edicts on labor-management relations last week. ...

Ralph de Juliis, president of AFGE’s Social Security Administration Council, said he has seen a similar reluctance to move forward with the implementation of Biden’s order rescinding the previous president’s workforce policies.

“At SSA, we already sent the executive order to the agency and said that we wanted to return to the table, and Jim Julian, the associate commissioner for labor-management and employee relations, responded by saying, ‘Good point, we’ll talk about this on our February call,’” de Juliis said. “And earlier today, I sent the recent order from [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] on COVID and social distancing, and I sent it to various SSA people who had given me floor plans on how they plan to squeeze us into cubicles [when we return to the office], and I asked, ‘How are you going to redo the floor plan?’ And the answer we got back was, ‘We’re not doing anything yet, we need to wait until we’re told what we can do.” ...

de Juliis said that, at least at the Social Security Administration, that relationship with the current labor-management officials can never be mended. AFGE’s council of unions at the agency, along with other labor groups and advocates, have called on the Biden administration to force Commissioner Andrew Saul and Deputy Commissioner David Black to resign before their terms expire in 2025.

“[The officials] in the labor-management office have to go,” de Juliis said. “They’ve overseen the discipline of too many union officials during the pandemic, of too many employees. The trust cannot be restored . . . Employees are held accountable and held responsible, while leaders are being given a pass, and they cannot be given a pass. There’s no working with these people, so get rid of them, kick them laterally to the associate commissioner of recycling or something, but just get them out of dealing with labor relations.”

PII Failure In Charlotte

     From WCNC:

A failure by Social Security Administration employees in Charlotte resulted in the wrong people receiving original copies of others' Social Security cards, passports, birth certificates and other private documents.

"I'm just shocked and really disappointed in the Social Security Administration," said Brandi Soles, whose records were among those compromised. "This isn't an incident that you have when you go and place an order at Wendy's and they forget your fries or they give you somebody else's order. These are personal life documents, originals, that you would expect the Social Security office to handle with care and to make sure that they send them back to the right persons, and that did not happen."

Conversations with several people in Charlotte revealed at least four people were impacted by the mistake. An SSA spokesperson wouldn't reveal how many others were affected.

"Social Security takes its responsibility to protect the information it maintains seriously," SSA Regional Communications Director Patti Patterson said. "Due to employee error some information was mailed to incorrect individuals. We are working to contact these people and secure the information." ...

 

GOP Announces Its Members Of Social Security Subcommittee

      House Republicans have announced their members on the Social Security Subcommittee:

• Republican Leader Tom Reed (R-NY)
• Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC)
• Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX)
• Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS)
• Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK)