Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Propose: End Work-From-Home for Federal Employees to Trim Government Fat
FUTURE OF TELEWORK FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
November 21st, 2024 | Posted by in Did you know? | TeleWork - (0 Comments)AFGE Family,
Let's get one thing clear from the outset: 2024 is not ending the way many of us hoped it would. But the uncertainty over a change in presidential administrations does not take away from the incredible accomplishments we delivered for federal and D.C. government workers over the past year.
From record organizing growth to new rights and protections for many of the employees we represent, AFGE members had a lot to celebrate this year – and we're looking back at our top 10 victories in this latest edition of the Government Standard.
Here's a look at our featured stories:
Top 10 Victories for AFGE in 2024
AFGE continued to secure significant victories this year that have improved the lives of all government employees and their families, as we used our collective voice to speak out against unjust policies and proposals.
Post-Election, AFGE's Focus Remains on Representing Members
The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States and the leadership changes in Congress bring with it a lot of uncertainty – for our jobs, our workplace rights, and our individual freedoms. But what's not uncertain is the commitment of our members, and all federal and D.C. government employees, to continue working on behalf of all Americans.
AFGE Mobilizes Members to Help Elect Pro-Worker Candidates
For months leading up to Election Day, AFGE members across the country knocked on doors and phone banked to get out the union vote for Kamala Harris and pro-worker candidates. AFGE members at all levels were involved in outreach for the 2024 elections, given the stakes for the future of our union and the entire labor movement.
AFGE Made Organizing History in 2024, and We're Just Getting Started.
AFGE reached our goal of organizing 300,000 members just two months into the year, and we're well on our way to reaching our newest goal of 325,000 members by 2025.
OR NOT!
There's nothing worse than trying to reach out to one of your family members or friends, but realizing you don't have their current email, phone, or mailing address. When it comes to our union family, having accurate contact information is just as important.
That's why AFGE members voted at the 2015 National Convention to make January “Data Update Month.”
To kickoff 2025, we're asking every member of the AFGE family to take a couple minutes to update their contact information so we can mobilize members and spring into action when the time comes.
Don't delay, visit MY PROFILE on the AFGE website.
Phonebank from Home- Monday 10/28
October 26th, 2024 | Posted by in Did you know? | ELECTIONS | PHONEBANKS | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)Dear AFGE Activist,
The 2024 election is less than two weeks away and there is so much at stake!
AFGE members, our families, and our communities are up against a lot. Rising inflation and economic inequality are making it harder for us to make ends meet. Attacks on voting rights are making it harder to ensure our voices are heard. Recent efforts across the country to roll back reproductive rights are jeopardizing women's health and compromising their futures. Project 2025 threatens to roll back the very existence of public sector unions. The list goes on.
It is easy to feel overwhelmed at the challenges we face. But we know that together we have the power to change things. In that spirit, WFP, AFGE Y.O.U.N.G. is coming together on Monday, October 28 starting at 7:00 pm (EST) to help turn voters out to the polls. We'll be working together to reach out to voters in a key battleground swing states.
Register here to join our virtual phone bank on Oct. 28 from 7-9pm EST.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpdXkEmB3joObEMc2NqnDezHZ2ee3WJLJP3-ZH8ZGNr92Syg/viewform
We look forward to seeing you on October 28!
In Solidarity,
AFGE
VOTING TIME REMINDER
Excused absence for time to vote is covered under our National Agreement between AFGE and SSA. Article 31, Section 3 states:
“The Employer will excuse employees for a reasonable time, without seriously interfering with operations, to vote or register in any election or referendum on a civic matter in his/her community. An employee will be excused from duty so as to permit him/her to report for work 3 hours before the polls open or to leave work 3 hours before the polls close, whichever amounts in the lesser amount of time. Under unusual circumstances, an employee can be excused up to the full day. The Employer will notify employees annually of this right at the beginning of each fiscal year and shall encourage employees to avail themselves of the right to register and vote.”
The amount of time you get is based on the time your arrive at work.
- If your tour is 8:00-4:30 you would have 2 hours to vote from (6 a.m. – 8 a.m.) and 2 ½ hours from
(4:30 – 7:00), employee could be excused for 30 minutes at the end of the day for the purpose of voting.
- If your tour is 9:00-5:30, since the polls were open 3 hours before the beginning of workday, no absence for voting should be granted.
- If you work a compressed work schedule (5-4-9), with a tour from 7:30-5:00. You have 1-½ hours from (6 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.), and 2 hours from (5:00 – 7:00 p.m.). The employee could be excused for one hour for the purpose of voting.
REBATES FOR NEW MEMBER & RECRUITER
October 19th, 2024 | Posted by in Benefits | Did you know? | JOIN AFGE | REBATES | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)
NEW Member REBATE $100.00
October 17th, 2024 | Posted by in Did you know? | JOIN AFGE | Local 1395 | News | REBATES | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)
DO NOT OPEN/READ ON AGENCY EQUIPMENT
October 17th, 2024 | Posted by in ELECTIONS | News | Political - (0 Comments)Project 2025 is a blueprint for the hostile takeover of the federal government under an anti-union presidential administration. Everything from our jobs and union rights to the very existence of our agencies and our union are on the line.
Authored by the ultra-conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, much of what is included in the 922-page document has to do with recommendations for enormous changes to the terms of federal employment, such as eliminating the GS and WG pay systems, making huge changes to the retirement system by cutting federal employee pensions and increasing the Social Security age, reinstating discriminatory hiring practices, making it almost impossible to reverse disciplinary actions and more.
Project 2025 threatens the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of federal employees and the unions that represent them by recommending budget cuts to shrink the government, privatize portions of the government and convert hundreds of thousands of jobs to Schedule F, which demands loyalty to the president, not the Constitution. It also recommends ordering agencies to reopen existing collective bargaining agreements to attain the strongest management rights and to decertify unions at DOD and DHS.
AFGE needs all hands-on deck to stop Project 2025 because if it succeeds, AFGE will no longer exist.
Share These Resources With Your Colleagues:
- We need your help! Join our fight to stop Project 2025!
- Download AFGE Project 2025 Flyer
- Project 2025 and Unions
- Exposing Project 2025’s Pro-Corruption & Anti-Democracy Agenda
AFGE in the News
- The Bradcast: Trump's Project 2025 is 'The Final Dagger in the Heart of the Civil Service
- Virginia Dogwood: Project 2025 threatens thousands of Virginia workers
- Associated Press: Federal workers around nation’s capital worry over Trump’s plans to send some of them elsewhere
- America's Workforce Radio: Federal jobs would be eliminated if Project 2025 becomes a reality
- Trump’s second-term agenda plans a purge of the federal workforce
- What Trump 2.0 could mean for the environment
- Conservative-backed group is creating a list of federal workers it suspects could resist Trump plans
- ‘Everything is on the line’: federal union rallies for 2024
- Why scientists fear a second Trump term, and what they are doing about it
- What to Know about Project 2025’s Dangers to Science
- Trump may disavow 'Project 2025' but his proposed job cuts to federal workers are right out of the playbook
- Trump loyalists plan to name and shame ‘blacklist’ of federal workers
- Here's Team Trump's terrifying plan to dismantle the government
- MAGA operative compiling list of "anti-Trump" federal workers, setting stage for Project 2025 purge
- John Oliver on a second Trump term: ‘Really does promise to be far, far worse’
Paid for by AFGE PAC (www.afge.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
2025 COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT (COLA)
October 15th, 2024 | Posted by in Benefits | COLA | News | Political - (0 Comments)Most Feds to Receive Diet COLA – Again – in 2025
October 15, 2024
The 2025 cost of living adjustment (COLA) was announced last week, and most federal workers will again receive a reduced COLA due to a flawed rule in the current law.
For 2025, Social Security beneficiaries and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirees are expected to receive a 2.5% COLA, while Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirees, those hired in 1984 or later, will only get a 2% increase.
Under the current law, the COLAs for Social Security, CSRS, and FERS are all calculated based on the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If CPI is 2% or less, the FERS COLA is the same as the CSRS and Social Security COLA. But if the CPI is between 2.01% and 3%, the FERS COLA is 2%. If the CPI is greater than 3%, then the COLA for FERS is 1% less than the CSRS COLA.
What does that mean for a FERS retiree? It means they will lose $128 a year just for 2025, assuming the same average pension. But for those who retired four years ago with the same average pension, their pension would have lost more than $1,000 to rising costs because the losses are compounded.
This unfair penalty places FERS retirees further away from keeping pace with the cost of living.
That’s why AFGE supports the Equal COLA Act (S. 3194 introduced by Sen. Alex Padilla and H.R. 866 introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly) which would eliminate this unfair penalty for FERS Retirees. The legislation would also eliminate the arbitrary pension cost of living reduction federal employees face in high inflation years.
“Our nation’s public servants shouldn’t see their hard-earned retirement benefits eroded by a COLA set at the start to be arbitrarily lower the real inflation rate,” said AFGE Legislative Director Julie Tippens.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal emp
ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE?
October 15th, 2024 | Posted by in Did you know? | ELECTIONS | Political | Uncategorized - (0 Comments) Dear AFGE Activist, We're three weeks away from Election Day!Now is the time to make sure you're ready to cast your vote this November and connect with your friends, family, union siblings and neighbors to ensure they are prepared to participate in the democratic process. Knowing your status is an important step in making your voice heard in local and national elections. You can find more information about your state's voting laws and deadlines through Ballot Ready. And don't forget, early voting has already started in some states. Click here to find the early voting schedule in your state. Let's make sure we're well prepared this election cycle to cast our votes! In Solidarity, AFGE |
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