VP and OPM Dir. Announce Effort to Inform Feds of Union Eligibility, Collective Bargaining Status
Source: AFGE, Photo by Janelle Murphy
Vice President Kamala Harris and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja announced the Biden Administration’s reinvigorated effort to have agencies regularly inform new federal employees of union eligibility.
This initiative stems from President Biden’s April 26, 2021, Executive Order (EO) on Worker Organizing and Empowerment and indicates a step in promoting collective bargaining in federal agencies and the private sector.
“Being the largest employer in the nation — I think people sometimes forget that — the federal government has a responsibility to lead by example when it comes to labor rights and to make sure that all federal jobs are good jobs,” stated OPM Director Ahuja, “The right to organize is sacrosanct. It empowers workers with their collective voice and ensures they are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. It gives them a seat at the table to demand fair pay and benefits for their work and safe working conditions.”
On October 20, 2021, OPM released a memo urging agencies to inform prospective employees and new hires about the position’s associated union affiliation and collective bargaining status. Later that day, OPM released a subsequent memo reminding agencies of their duty to inform employees of their Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Act rights, which is now expected on a quarterly or biannual basis.
“We know that this effort is going to impact a lot of people, but we also know that by example we can hopefully encourage all workplaces and all industries to look at what is in the best interest of productivity, in the best interest of morale and in the best interest, of course, of valuing the dignity of work,” stated Vice President Harris.
More than half of the federal government’s non-postal workers are members of 2,000 local bargaining units, according to OPM’s labor-management relations data – that translates to roughly 1.2 million individuals in unions. However, federal unions are required to represent every person in the bargaining unit – even if the employee is not a dues-paying member, which is about an additional 835,000 individuals.
“For too long, there has been a concerted effort by corporations and wealthy individuals to prevent working people from organizing and bargaining collectively to better their working conditions and standard of living…[W]e applaud the steps that the Biden administration is taking today to roll back attacks on labor unions, help federal employees understand their union rights, and support them in exercising those rights,” stated Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE), in response.
