The Singapore News Online, Breaking News, Latest News & Headlines

     From Government Executive : A union representing administrative law judges at the Social Security Administration on Thursday asked a federal appeals court to halt an impasses panel's proceedings with the agency, after the panel and another labor-management entity failed to respond to a constitutional challenge. Last October, the Social Security Administration declared an impasse in negotiations over a new contract with the Association of Administrative Law Judges, following a combined six months of negotiations and mediation, and asked for the Federal Service Impasses Panel to assert jurisdiction over the proceedings. Later that month, the union objected to the impasses panel getting involved, arguing that the way its members are appointed is unconstitutional. The union�s argument echoes multiple ongoing lawsuits that claim that given the power granted to the impasses panel, as well as lack of oversight and parties to appeal it...

     Below are two graphics that the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) , a labor union which represents most Social Security employees, sent to its members recently. Apparently, the milk carton graphic was sent 25 days after the "Where is Saul" graphic.      I can guess that Social Security has some online system that employees use to sign in and out and that any agency employees can check to see if any other agency employee is on duty. If that's the case, I don't know why Saul wouldn't use it. It seems quite unlikely that he was away from his office for more than two months. I hope that's not the case.

     The labor union that represents most Social Security employees has filed a grievance against the agency based upon the alleged failure to provide physical security at agency offices. The complaint concerns the unescorted presence of contractors and cleaners and the like. This may or may not be a threat to the security of Social Security data but I don�t see how it is a threat to union members.

     From an op ed in the Baltimore Sun by Ralph de Juliis, head of the union local that represents most Social Security employees: ... While the president has blustered and obfuscated through his first term, Trump-appointed Cabinet officials have waged a war on the federal workforce that has undermined our productivity, driven down morale and villainized the very employees who show up every day to serve the American people. ...   Now under threat is the Social Security Administration thanks to administration decisions that will ultimately harm employees and drive up wait times for Social Security recipients under the guise of good public relations. Social Security Administrator Commissioner Andrew Saul announced that the agency would extend office hours to the public on Wednesday afternoons in more than 1,100 field offices around the country. He followed this announcement with a promise to hire 1,100 new employees, claiming that the new hires woul...

     The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) has given the union (NTEU) that represents attorneys and decision writers in its Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) a win on telework. Social Security unilaterally terminated its contract with the union and refused to agree to terms requiring telework. FLRA ruled that Social Security had failed to produce evidence to back up its case and ruled for the union.

     From Government Executive : Since the Social Security Administration�s announcement last week that it would end its seven-year-old telework pilot program for nearly 12,000 employees, officials have cited two reasons for Commissioner Andrew Saul�s decision: long wait times for customers and an inability to evaluate employee performance. ... [C]ounter to the agency�s assertions, the inspector general found that telework actually improved productivity for employees at teleservice centers, which administer the 800 number. In fiscal 2017, teleworkers took an average of four additional calls per day than non-teleworkers, resolved those calls more quickly than employees in the office and spent an additional half hour each day helping customers. ... [A Social Security spokesperson] told Government Executive that another reason for ending the telework program is that managers cannot evaluate teleworking employees� performance under the current rule...