If elected, we will fight for the following:
Telework: Management violated our collective bargaining agreement by first reducing our ability to telework, then fully cancelling all regular telework agreements. We will fight for restoration of our telework— not just through arbitration and lawsuits, but through collective action.
Performance reviews: At nearly the end of our appraisal cycle, DOL management has implemented a performance review system that violates our contract and the law. We will fight this new, illegal system to the maximum extent possible, by collective action, unit-wide grievances, and individual grievances, forcing them to justify every single rating we can get our hands on.
Workplace health and safety: The FPB has had recurring problems for years with pests, HVAC issues, and more. We will pursue every avenue to force management to address these problems, from building more active and empowered health and safety committees to taking action together to identify and call out these problems (think a wall of photos of every pest problem and malfunctioning water fountain outside building management's office).
Office moves: We will bargain, grieve, and fight for better office assignments as management increasingly attempts to reduce the Department's footprint. We will aggressively enforce our collective-bargaining agreement's minimum space requirement and its requirement that management allocate window space equally between management and union-represented employees.
Labor-management relations: We will send representatives to every agency working group and committee that we have the right to representation in, and will empower rank-and-file members to represent the union in such roles.
Sanctity of our unit: We will fight to keep employees in Local 12 in both small ways--such as filing grievances over the removal of OCIO employees from the unit or challenging designating employees who have no management or supervisory duties as exempt—and large ways— such as lobbying, rallying, and suing to keep our agencies, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, within the Department of Labor.
And we will build a union that is:
Inclusive and democratic: We want a union where members feel a sense of belonging and ownership: one that makes decisions democratically, encourages member engagement, and is driven by the needs of the members. We will ask you for your priorities, opinions, and thoughts, and we will let those answers direct our actions.
Transparent and communicative: We will make information about the Local and how it’s fighting on members’ behalf readily accessible to members, from the status of grievances and negotiations to its history and finances. We'll make a website for the local, and we'll post helpful information on it (like we're doing with this site!) We'll design ways for members to talk to each other, via email lists, social media, chats, or other means.
Active and in solidarity: We envision a Local 12 that vigorously defends the interests of DOL unit employees and stands with other union locals across AFGE and the federal government to protect and expand federal worker's rights.
Organizing-focused: A strong union has stewards in every major division, active unionists in every office, and a substantial majority of dues-paying members throughout the bargaining unit. We can only achieve that by focusing on organizing, having one-on-one conversations with unit members, and empowering members to grow our membership.