Dec 24, 2021
Dec 23, 2021
Employee Union Shocked That Anyone Would Think They're Dragging Their Feet On Reopening
From Government Executive:
The Social Security Administration is again embroiled in a spat with one of its labor unions, this time over the agency’s plans to bring employees back to physical work sites. ...
Rich Couture, president of AFGE Council 215, which represents Office of Hearing Operations employees, and chief negotiator for AFGE on the agency’s reentry plan, said much of the holdup comes down to the agency’s insistence that all reentry negotiations take place at the national level and the agency’s reentry plan is too vague, given the myriad of job descriptions and working conditions across the agency. ...
“AFGE has got around 45,000 bargaining unit employees spread across virtually every component of SSA,” he said. “The positions and work they do, whether they see the public or not, and the functions that each of these components serve are very, very different, and even within the components you have subcomponents and divisions where the work can be different. There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach we can take with how the reentry process will operate, proceed and affect employees based on their position and the work they do.”
Couture said that making negotiations more difficult is distrust over whether the agency is being transparent about its plans. Union officials suspect that the agency actually has more specific reentry plans for each of its components, but is simply withholding that information in order to gain an upper hand in bargaining. ...
“SSA has been completely transparent with the labor unions representing our employees and informed them that there is only one agency-wide reentry plan, which applies to all SSA components,” [Darren] Lutz [a Social Security spokesperson] said, “The resumption of a limited, finite number of in-person hearings for certain aged cases to be conducted by non-bargaining unit administrative law judges is distinct from the agency-level reentry plan and it is not part of reentry for bargaining unit employees.” ...
In a Dec. 17 letter to Kijakazi, AFGE National President Everett Kelley escalated the issue, citing the acting director's desire for a “reset” in labor-management relations at the agency, expressed in a conversation last month.
“In the weeks since that conversation, I am sorry to say that labor relations at SSA have not improved at all, either in tone or in substance,” Kelley said. “Collective bargaining over reentry has been characterized by a lack of transparency, unfounded accusations of delays on the part of the union, and perhaps most concerning, an apparent refusal to engage in bargaining reentry at either the component or local level in spite of the fact that circumstances surrounding reentry vary so much both in terms of operational considerations as well as community transmission data.” ...
Let's state the obvious. The union wants Social Security offices closed FOREVER. They want their employees to work from home FOREVER. They have zero concern for what that would mean for the public. They want reopening stalled FOREVER by endless negotiations. There are real public health threats that need to be dealt with but what the union wants to accomplish goes well beyond any legitimate public health concerns.
The union needs to get realistic. The public isn't going to tolerate keeping Social Security offices shuttered forever. Democrats are sympathetic to unions in general but there are limits and I think those limits will become more and more obvious if this effort at stalling continues.
Dec 22, 2021
Not In Any Rush To Reopen
A message from Social Security:
We want to give you an update on our preparations for returning our employees to local Social Security offices, a process called reentry.
You may have seen a proposed reentry date of January 3, 2022 in the draft reentry plan that we provided to our unions, or in the media. While some executives reentered on December 1, we have not set a reentry date for the rest of the agency.
The best way to reach us is online at SSA.gov, or by calling our National 800 Number or a local Social Security office. At this time, please remember that we can only provide in-person service by appointment only for limited, critical issues. And we continue to hold voluntary hearings by online video and phone. We are taking steps to increase in-person help for people unable to complete their business online or by phone.
We will keep you updated on our reentry process.
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