Jannah Theme License is not validated, Go to the theme options page to validate the license, You need a single license for each domain name.
USA

Largest Federal Employee Union Expands International Presence

About 10,000 federal employees working in Europe will soon qualify for the Federation of American Government Employees. AFGE has launched a new local to expand its coverage. For more information, Tom Temin and Federal Drive AFGE Special Assistant Peter Winch joined the studio.

Tom Taemin What is the current situation for European employees? This isn’t exactly new footsteps for AFGE, is it?

peter winch AFGE is the largest federal employees’ union and the largest federal trade union. [Department of Defense (DoD)] employee. That’s the main group in Europe. And we’ve always had a few members in Europe, and we’re trying to get more members now.

Tom Taemin Therefore, the Department of Defense, for example, the existence of the State Department and [United States Agency For International Development (USAID)] and some of the other agents regularly present abroad abroad.

peter winch That is correct. Recently, the Biden administration made available information about federal employees who currently do not have unions and are able to organize. And they show about 10,000 federal employees in Europe. Almost all of them are from the Department of Defense.

Tom Taemin And you’re forming a locality, so it’s really a geographical locality, more than a local agency or a function like social security. [Veterans Affairs (VA)].

peter winch More than 1,000 of these 10,000 work for the Department of Defense’s newly created Defense Health Service. And that’s all of Europe, but most of them are in Germany.

Tom Taemin So 1,000. What about the remaining 9,000?

peter winch They usually serve in the Army or Navy. One of the existing locals is at the Naples Naples Air Station, and that local is also being built. What we want is for this new local, Local 14, to generate other locals to keep. [Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)] Recognition elections for the Defense and Health Service, the European Region, etc. And go from there. And we’re getting a lot of interest. People have called us since Biden was elected. We have many issues raised and cannot rely on federal officials. We therefore want to provide some means for European federal officials.

Tom Taemin And when it comes to FLRA’s choice to organize under the Federal Labor Relations Administration.

peter winch Yes, sorry, the acronym is Federal Labor Relations Office. The Federal Office of Labor Relations ensures that federal employees have the right to hold secret ballot elections for union representatives as and when required. And many federal officials in Europe seem to want a union. So AFGE is ready to be their union.

Tom Taemin Now that they have that election and say yes we want to do this. It doesn’t automatically get AFGE there. What if they say [National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)] or what?

peter winch In order for the FLRA to conduct elections, we need interest from federal officials.

Tom Taemin So you will be there before the election. So you would guess. Well, they got us to this point, so that’s the union we want.

peter winch One of my colleagues currently lives in Germany and can represent people attending AFGE in Europe. Germany in particular, but Europe as a whole. And his name is Javier Soto. And he’s been an AFGE detainee for years now.He lives in Germany and is ready to represent members paying dues there [Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)] Complaints, Merit System Protection Boards, and other statutory types of complaints. We don’t have a negotiated complaints procedure yet, but that’s our ultimate goal.

Tom Taemin I’m talking to Peter Winch. He serves as Special Assistant to the National Vice President for District 14 of the American Civil Service Federation. District 13 is now abolished. So you’re reorganizing the union itself a bit.

peter winch Initially, AFGE districts were established in the former Civil Service Commission, of which there were 15 districts. The 15th district had emerged with the 14th district some time ago and covered Europe. So sometimes there were some locals in Europe. But like I said, we only have one of them left. But what happened was that the Department of Defense introduced a rotation policy. Most of our members had to be replaced after a few years. We lost leadership and things are different now. Post-COVID, we’ve been able to do a lot with conference calls. His AFGE lawyers are resident in Germany and ready to restructure in Europe with new technology. And that is different.

Tom Taemin I took And the European Ministry of Defense already has some employees.

peter winch Defense Contract Management Agency Europe is organized and part of AFGE. I happened to sort them out a few years ago. We would like to do something similar to the Pentagon, which has a large warehousing and logistics operation in Germany. Federal civilian employment is also on the rise in Europe due to some of the tensions and conflicts we hear about in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Tom Taemin And what is the selling proposition? Why do you want to join AFGE?

peter winch What we hear is that instead of 2-3 year rotations like the Defense Health Agency, they now offer 7 year rotations. This is almost permanent in Europe. But you must always be in the boss’s favour. And that’s not the process AFGE likes. We value due process and predictability. We believe the DoD should start moving away from this rotation mentality in general. But federal employees deserve to be whistleblowers, raise questions about their jobs, and not have the threat of immediate return to the United States where they are now.

Tom Taemin And if they return to the US outside of their normal rotation, or even at the time of their rotation, will they stay with the same agency?

peter winch Generally speaking, return to the base where you previously worked. If you are a defense contract management agency, they work there, often doing quality control at a defense contract factory. And they are back in the US.

Tom Taemin So if they whistle now and are immediately rotated, being relegated from a nice office doing the type of work that puts their brains to work to a steel desk in the back of a warehouse with nothing to do That’s how my mind runs.

peter winch If I have a quality assurance job in Europe, I will go back to Georgia or my hometown and do the same job. Working in Europe has its appeal and that’s why they started this rotation. But some of the reasons given by the Pentagon were that the technology was different. Those things no longer apply. Especially in the medical field, it would be better to have a stable workforce. I need ongoing care and don’t want a doctor rotation. It is very difficult to hire nurses and doctors right now, and we do not want this unwarranted rotation policy to continue.

Tom Taemin As such, it is more predictable and stable for both employees and agencies.

peter winch AFGE is a mission to support unions. We support the mission of the Department of Defense. And what we are trying to do in Europe is to become a mission to support unions. Advocate for work in your interest as a federal employee and support the mission of the Department of Defense.

Tom Taemin And what is the timeline and schedule here? When will this election take place? When will I be certified? And how long will this take?

peter winch Well, I’d like to apply for election for a continent-wide Defense Health Service. It also has a new logo based on the US logo and a map of Europe. Also, there is a new card to fill out if you want to conduct elections at work. If they reach out to his AFGE and get a lot of contact, they can join in a way called E-dues. So I work in District 14, we have District 14, and our dues are $14. If you are a large member and you succeed in these elections, it will be $20 and you will have access to all the benefits of membership at that point.

Tom Taemin But do you want that election to take place in 2023?

peter winch With the interest we have gained, we believe our plan is to submit several elections this year and build a real presence in Europe with hundreds of members.

Tom Taemin And let’s say after the election the majority of people on a particular site said “Yes, I want this.” Is there an audit process before FLRA certifies?

peter winch Votes are sent to eligible employees and they vote. No union elections must always appear on federal ballots. If they vote for union representatives, AFGE is accredited and DoD has a legal obligation to negotiate with AFGE.



Summarize this content to 100 words About 10,000 federal employees working in Europe will soon qualify for the Federation of American Government Employees. AFGE has launched a new local to expand its coverage. For more information, Tom Temin and Federal Drive AFGE Special Assistant Peter Winch joined the studio.Tom Taemin What is the current situation for European employees? This isn’t exactly new footsteps for AFGE, is it? peter winch AFGE is the largest federal employees’ union and the largest federal trade union. [Department of Defense (DoD)] employee. That’s the main group in Europe. And we’ve always had a few members in Europe, and we’re trying to get more members now. Tom Taemin Therefore, the Department of Defense, for example, the existence of the State Department and [United States Agency For International Development (USAID)] and some of the other agents regularly present abroad abroad. peter winch That is correct. Recently, the Biden administration made available information about federal employees who currently do not have unions and are able to organize. And they show about 10,000 federal employees in Europe. Almost all of them are from the Department of Defense. Tom Taemin And you’re forming a locality, so it’s really a geographical locality, more than a local agency or a function like social security. [Veterans Affairs (VA)]. peter winch More than 1,000 of these 10,000 work for the Department of Defense’s newly created Defense Health Service. And that’s all of Europe, but most of them are in Germany. Tom Taemin So 1,000. What about the remaining 9,000? peter winch They usually serve in the Army or Navy. One of the existing locals is at the Naples Naples Air Station, and that local is also being built. What we want is for this new local, Local 14, to generate other locals to keep. [Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)] Recognition elections for the Defense and Health Service, the European Region, etc. And go from there. And we’re getting a lot of interest. People have called us since Biden was elected. We have many issues raised and cannot rely on federal officials. We therefore want to provide some means for European federal officials. Tom Taemin And when it comes to FLRA’s choice to organize under the Federal Labor Relations Administration. peter winch Yes, sorry, the acronym is Federal Labor Relations Office. The Federal Office of Labor Relations ensures that federal employees have the right to hold secret ballot elections for union representatives as and when required. And many federal officials in Europe seem to want a union. So AFGE is ready to be their union. Tom Taemin Now that they have that election and say yes we want to do this. It doesn’t automatically get AFGE there. What if they say [National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)] or what? peter winch In order for the FLRA to conduct elections, we need interest from federal officials. Tom Taemin So you will be there before the election. So you would guess. Well, they got us to this point, so that’s the union we want. peter winch One of my colleagues currently lives in Germany and can represent people attending AFGE in Europe. Germany in particular, but Europe as a whole. And his name is Javier Soto. And he’s been an AFGE detainee for years now.He lives in Germany and is ready to represent members paying dues there [Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)] Complaints, Merit System Protection Boards, and other statutory types of complaints. We don’t have a negotiated complaints procedure yet, but that’s our ultimate goal. Tom Taemin I’m talking to Peter Winch. He serves as Special Assistant to the National Vice President for District 14 of the American Civil Service Federation. District 13 is now abolished. So you’re reorganizing the union itself a bit. peter winch Initially, AFGE districts were established in the former Civil Service Commission, of which there were 15 districts. The 15th district had emerged with the 14th district some time ago and covered Europe. So sometimes there were some locals in Europe. But like I said, we only have one of them left. But what happened was that the Department of Defense introduced a rotation policy. Most of our members had to be replaced after a few years. We lost leadership and things are different now. Post-COVID, we’ve been able to do a lot with conference calls. His AFGE lawyers are resident in Germany and ready to restructure in Europe with new technology. And that is different. Tom Taemin I took And the European Ministry of Defense already has some employees. peter winch Defense Contract Management Agency Europe is organized and part of AFGE. I happened to sort them out a few years ago. We would like to do something similar to the Pentagon, which has a large warehousing and logistics operation in Germany. Federal civilian employment is also on the rise in Europe due to some of the tensions and conflicts we hear about in Ukraine and elsewhere. Tom Taemin And what is the selling proposition? Why do you want to join AFGE? peter winch What we hear is that instead of 2-3 year rotations like the Defense Health Agency, they now offer 7 year rotations. This is almost permanent in Europe. But you must always be in the boss’s favour. And that’s not the process AFGE likes. We value due process and predictability. We believe the DoD should start moving away from this rotation mentality in general. But federal employees deserve to be whistleblowers, raise questions about their jobs, and not have the threat of immediate return to the United States where they are now. Tom Taemin And if they return to the US outside of their normal rotation, or even at the time of their rotation, will they stay with the same agency? peter winch Generally speaking, return to the base where you previously worked. If you are a defense contract management agency, they work there, often doing quality control at a defense contract factory. And they are back in the US. Tom Taemin So if they whistle now and are immediately rotated, being relegated from a nice office doing the type of work that puts their brains to work to a steel desk in the back of a warehouse with nothing to do That’s how my mind runs. peter winch If I have a quality assurance job in Europe, I will go back to Georgia or my hometown and do the same job. Working in Europe has its appeal and that’s why they started this rotation. But some of the reasons given by the Pentagon were that the technology was different. Those things no longer apply. Especially in the medical field, it would be better to have a stable workforce. I need ongoing care and don’t want a doctor rotation. It is very difficult to hire nurses and doctors right now, and we do not want this unwarranted rotation policy to continue. Tom Taemin As such, it is more predictable and stable for both employees and agencies. peter winch AFGE is a mission to support unions. We support the mission of the Department of Defense. And what we are trying to do in Europe is to become a mission to support unions. Advocate for work in your interest as a federal employee and support the mission of the Department of Defense. Tom Taemin And what is the timeline and schedule here? When will this election take place? When will I be certified? And how long will this take? peter winch Well, I’d like to apply for election for a continent-wide Defense Health Service. It also has a new logo based on the US logo and a map of Europe. Also, there is a new card to fill out if you want to conduct elections at work. If they reach out to his AFGE and get a lot of contact, they can join in a way called E-dues. So I work in District 14, we have District 14, and our dues are $14. If you are a large member and you succeed in these elections, it will be $20 and you will have access to all the benefits of membership at that point. Tom Taemin But do you want that election to take place in 2023? peter winch With the interest we have gained, we believe our plan is to submit several elections this year and build a real presence in…
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2023/04/the-biggest-federal-employee-union-expands-its-international-presence/ Largest Federal Employee Union Expands International Presence

Back to top button