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Volume 03, Issue 08: April 2015
Employee Rights Are Our Business
Serving The DFAS-Cleveland Bargaining Unit Employees
Issue #8
Of The Newsletter
For DFAS-Cleveland
Bargaining Unit Employees
Inside This Issue
What's Going On?
Y.O.U.N.G. Time
Your Rights
Did You Know?
AFGE News
AFGE-Local 3283 Roster
Executive Board
Gregory Harmon (President), Denise Glover (Executive Vice President), Brenda Allison (Treasurer), Ricarlo Winfrey (Secretary)
Other Officers & Stewards
James Bohannon, retired (Chief Steward), Iysha Cotton, Dawn Craig, retired (Office Administrator / Sunshine Committee)
Kimberly Daugherty, Kellen Fuqua, Laurie Glicker (Women & Fair Practices/Legislation Coordinator), Joseph Glover
Bryan Johnson, Che Johnson, Deborah Johnson, Charlotte Kimble, A. Troy Marshall, David Miller, retired
Artesha Mondie (Membership Coordinator), William Owens (Y.O.U.N.G. Coordinator), Hugh Sullivan, Gail Tate
Clarissia Telepak (Army)
Office Location/Hours
Federal Building, Room #1437
P.O. Box 99035
Cleveland, Ohio 44199
Mon > Fri: 10:00am > 4:00pm
Contact Info
Phone: (216) 522-6830
Fax: (216) 522-5835
E-Mail: afgelocal3283@gmail.com
Web Site: http://local3283.org
Social Media
Facebook:
YOUNG AFGE Local 3283
Instagram:
@AFGE3283
Regular Body Meetings
(RBM)
RBM are monthly and always in the Federal
Building from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. The actual
date and room location is dependent on GSA
room availability. Local 3283 body members
are notified of RBM specifics via email, and
this information can be found on the News
And Events page of our web site:
www.local3283.org. For 2015, all RBM are
scheduled for Wednesdays in Room C-1
(inside the Cafeteria).
Remaining Scheduled Dates For 2015:
April 22nd
May 20th
June 17th
July 22nd
August 19th
September 16th
October 21st
November 18th
December 16th
April 22, 2015
Events For 2015
June 29 > July 3:
MidWest Regional Training
In Chicago, Illinois
August 17 > 21:
AFGE National Convention
In Orlando, Florida
October:
AFGE-Local 3283 Election
In Cleveland, Ohio
May 5, 2015
May 10, 2015
May 25, 2015
The 2015 Talent Contest is still going on. Stop by the Union office or see a Steward or download the previous issue
from the Local's web site to obtain the words to Solidarity Forever. And then Compete. See Contest Rules below.
2015 TALENT CONTEST RULES
1. The talent contest will begin with the February 18 Regular Body Meeting (RBM) and end with the October 21 RBM.
2. At the beginning of each monthly RBM, up to three members can sign up to perform Solidarity Forever at the end of the meeting.
3. Members interested in participating can not sign up before 12:00pm.
4. The members still in attendance at the end of the meeting will serve as the judges.
5. Performance style will be at the discretion of the performer.
6. Each monthly RBM winner will receive a $25 gift card.
7. No repeat monthly RBM winners.
8. All monthly RBM winners will be eligible to compete for the grand prizes at the October 21 RBM.
9. Grand prizes will be: 1st = $250, 2nd = $150, 3rd = $75.
10. All AFGE-Local 3283 members in good standing are eligible to participate.
11. The talent contest is separate from the usual monthly RBM attendance contest.
June 21, 2015
July 4, 2015
Go to www.afge.org
Select the Action Network drop down menu
Select Find Elected Officials
Input your zip code and select Get Local
Words From KELLEN FUQUA, Steward
Spring is here. The days are longer, the lake is thawing out, and Y.O.U.N.G. is on the move.
Y.O.U.N.G. has been focusing to provide Government workers the tools that will allow them to
know their rights as employees, providing opportunities for mentorship and promoting
involvement in community service. To keep in line with these principles, Y.O.U.N.G. is
implementing a program in which AFGE members who are taking college courses can receive
credit by working with Y.O.U.N.G. on various projects and programs that we have launched, or
will launch in the near future. Please contact Kellen Fuqua for more details. Do not forget to
bring toiletries to the Federal Building, Room #1437 for our ongoing Toiletry Drive. We have
been working with the City Mission for over a year on this service effort and every contribution
is significant. Y.O.U.N.G. thanks you for your support. We plan on providing more events and
information in the near future. Please like our Facebook page (YOUNG AFGE Local 3283)
and/or our Instagram page (@AFGE3283).
What: Drawing
When: April 16, 2015 (Thursday)
Where: Federal Building, Room #1437
Time: 12:30pm
One Prize: Two Cleveland Cavaliers Playoff Tickets (First Round, Game #2)
Ticket availability for members including teleworkers:
Members at Federal Building: Union Office
Members at Bratenahl: see your on site Steward
Members at Army: see your on site Steward
All AFGE-Local 3283 members in good standing are eligible to participate,
except the Officers & Stewards of AFGE-Local 3283.
Winner is not required to be present.
Contact
Laurie Glicker (Coordinator)
and Charlotte Kimble
if you experience or have suggestions
regarding discrimination
in the workplace.
AFGE-Local 3283
Women & Fair Practices
Weingarten Notice
If called to a meeting with management,
read the following or present this notice when the meeting begins:
"If this discussion could in any way lead to me being disciplined, terminated, or affect
my personal working conditions, I request that my AFGE representative be present at
this meeting. Until my representative arrives, I choose not to participate in this
discussion."
From AFL-CIO:
Augusta Thomas is the National National Vice President for Women and Fair
Practices at American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE ). Life long
civil rights activist, recognized labor leader and a loving mother and great-great
grandmother are only a few of the things we can say about this remarkable woman.
Thomas joined AFGE in 1966, when she began her career as a nursing assistant at
the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Louisville, KY. Her fight for equal rights
and activism in the civil rights movement started way before most of her
colleagues, but her age is only a part of what makes Thomas an extraordinary
person. As leader in her Local, Thomas has served as treasurer, secretary, chief
steward, executive vice-president and president. Currently, she runs the Women’s
and Fair Practices Department at AFGE. In recognition of her hard work to
promote racial equality and economic development, the Commonwealth of
Kentucky has declared April 4th as Augusta Thomas Day and AFGE’s 6th District
has also developed the Augusta Thomas Humanitarian Award in her honor. With
great energy, dedication and hard work Thomas keeps advocating for the rights of
women, people of color and LGBTQ communities in labor and serves as an
inspiration to many of us in the movement.
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
If you would like to seek counseling for your EEO concern, you must contact an EEO Counselor within 45 calendar days of the date of the incident
that you feel is discriminatory. This time limit is prescribed by law and generally cannot be extended or changed. For example, if you learned on
March 1st that you were non-selected for a promotion and feel it was denied due to discrimination, you have 45 calendar days after that date to
initiate the counseling process. If you feel that a personnel action such as a suspension is discriminatory, your claim is not ready for counseling until
the effective date of the personnel action, as opposed to the date the personnel action was proposed.
EEO Process: How To File
Go to Eportal.
Select the Human Resources Icon (should be at the top of the page).
Left top half corner you will see an option for Employee Services; select Equal Opportunity.
Middle of the screen states Initiating an EEO Discrimination Complaint; select EEO Contact form.
Complete the form.
The Basis is one of the following: Race, National Origin, Color, or Age.
Save (form is automatically submitted).
Word Search Puzzle:
Master Collective
Bargaining Agreement
(MCBA)
EPAYROLLALLOTMENTSUSNTEGF
YLDISCIPLINARYPWXXEEONVPU
FQUDNQTTEWKPTOPCSRBWIEAUH
NRDDIEWEOJGMSFALUVETTMECI
VAEUEBTRLIOIFAVDDAQHOELMY
MQPDKHKRYETZNPEPGQUEMGKQE
DCNNULCQAIWNNCCLJGADOACWV
BSMOICASOGUOOLTYCXLKRNIBU
BJBFIHTNKANRRGGLMFEFPASIV
UDEEKTRILRPISKARACMGTMMAI
FTRRTEALOEORECUWFYPFIECZO
AIYNVPETCNUWIWGLIOLRRCONL
IACIEAWNNOIDECXVZVOVENNVE
ZFETVAAMHEENOVMTXNYTMATGN
QWTEVVRKPMSHFFILICMCZMRWC
SIGHEURDYHDETOFTYVEVSRATE
ZVPIOOKLJWELRLRIAXNOSOCOR
CRRZWMISTHGIRPACCNTMIFTWP
FGFJZMOVERTIMEEEEIRSYRIIR
NOITATNEMELPPUSRHDAELENYQ
YCWFNOITARTIBRAOKKJLTPGEQ
UXOPTYCQCUCWNDJOOIHNTLMFW
JUGJIQPUWVUDFTKHFVCRQIAYY
VJKVPEZHWPFNRZZQFZKFJFMVY
MAEWFTOJUZDXLJDSDKCTKPREB
ALTERNATIVEWORKSCHEDULE
ANNUALLEAVE
ARBITRATION
CONTRACTING
DISCIPLINARY
EQUALEMPLOYMENT
FAMILYMEDICAL
GRIEVANCEPROCEDURES
HEALTH
MERITPROMOTION
OFFICIALTIME
OVERTIME
PAYROLLALLOTMENTS
PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENT
POSITIONREVIEWS
REDUCTIONINFORCE
REPRESENTATION
RIGHTS
SICKLEAVE
SUPPLEMENTATION
TELEWORK
VIOLENCE
WEINGARTEN
WORKHOURS
WORKLIFE
Words From JAMES BOHANNON, Chief Steward
Did you know that you have the right to be represented during an
investigation where you believe you’ll face disciplinary charges?
Did you know that you have 20 days to file a grievance?
Did you know that after a decision in a grievance, you have 5 days to file
the next step?
Did you know that you can not file a grievance and an EEO charge for the
same thing?
Did You know that you can serve in the Union without being a steward?
Explanations:
Any time you are being questioned, interviewed or investigated you have the
right to be represented if you feel it may lead to disciplinary action. This is a
law that the agency reminds you of every year.
Under the new contract which went into affect September 10, 2014, from
the day of occurance you have 20 days to file a grievance. You should know
that those 20 day are time for the steward to do their investigation and data
gathering to present your case. That time could make your case but if you
wait until the last day to file your case could be lost.
Going into the next few steps there really is not time to gather more
information because after the decision there is only 5 days to file the next
step. Since the letter has to be reviewed before we send it and must contain
what happened in the previous step, there isn’t enough time to gather more
information for the case.
It is illegal to file both an EEO charge and a grievance for the same issue.
Re-occurance of something can be filed the other way and in many cases
EEO issues need more than one occurrence.
The local has committees at different times to perform some needed tasks.
One task was to review the bylaws. There could be other issues needing
advocates so there is always a need for members to take part and be
involved.
To access the Master Collective Bargaining Agreement (MCBA)
Method One (The Local's web site):
1. Go to www.local3283.org
2. Select the Resources page located under the Main Menu on the left
hand side.
3. Select the Master Collective Bargaining Agreement-2014 document.
Method Two (The Agency's ePortal):
1. Click on Human Resource Community
2. Click on Labor and Employee Relations (left side of screen)
3. Click on Labor Relations
4. Select Collective Bargaining Agreement between DFAS and the
AFGE Union - Effective 13 Jun 2014 etc........ (Located in middle top
half of page under Employee Services - Negotiated Agreements)
12 Ways the New Congressional Budget Proposals Impact Your Wallet March 20, 2015
Both Houses of Congress this week issued their budget proposals for fiscal year 2016. Who are they going to help and who are they going to hurt?
1. Both proposals would require you and all federal employees to contribute an additional 6% of your salary to get the same pension plan you
currently have – roughly $127 billion in savings from 2016 through 2025. This is the same as a permanent 6% pay cut, or working without pay for three
weeks every year. There are also $32 billion in cuts from the Thrift Savings Plan G-Fund, which would reduce the rate paid to retirees for investments in
the G-fund. These cuts leave many retirees and employees near retirement in the lurch because they organized their financial futures around a set of
promises the government made to them while they served their country.
2. Your Health Care in the Crosshairs? Your health insurance is on the chopping block. The House proposal would slash more than $60 billion by
vouchering federal employee health benefits. The FEHB benefit would grow at a rate below health care inflation. Over time, a larger share of health care
costs is pushed onto the individual.
3. You’ll Have to Work a Lot Harder. Under the Senate proposal, you would have to shoulder other people’s workload as agencies would not fill every
vacancy when one of you leaves or retires. The House proposal would actually reduce the “non-security” federal workforce by 10%, or $59 billion dollars
worth of staffing cuts to federal agencies without any assessment of the impacts of those reductions on government services.
4. And You Won’t Even Have the Tools You Need to Do Your Job. Both versions leave in place reckless, job-killing sequestration cuts that prevent
your agencies from carrying out their mission. That means less resources to cure deadly diseases, protect air travelers, rescue victims of natural disasters,
protect our borders, protect food safety, keep criminals off the streets, and more.
5. A Return to Pre-911 Airport Security. The House budget calls for a return to the pre-9/11 airport security by requiring TSA to hand over control of
airport security at more airports to for-profit companies, endangering air travelers and our nation’s security.
6. More Employees would be Furloughed in a Shutdown. The House version would take away fees-based agencies’ ability to fund their programs and
shield themselves from a government shutdown. The budget proposal would require these programs that are currently funded through fees to be funded
through the annual appropriations process.
7. Seniors get the Short End of the Stick. The House version would turn Medicare into a voucher program, thereby putting the lives of seniors in the
hands of for-profit insurance companies.
8. Poor Children get an Even Shorter End of the Stick. Both versions would take away health coverage for many poor children, people with
disabilities, and seniors in nursing home.
9. A Manufactured Crisis in Social Security? The House proposal would make it more difficult for Congress to prevent a 20 percent cut to Social
Security benefits. New rules prevent Social Security from using resources in one fund to cover shortcomings in another, like it has successfully for years.
Proposals that undermine Social Security undermine everyone’s retirement, including federal employees’.
10. They Want to Destroy the Labor Movement and Your Workplace Rights. The process of forming unions is already skewed in favor of
employers. The Senate proposal would make it even more difficult for workers to join a union to ensure fair compensation and treatment in the
workplace.
11. They Are All for Cheap Labor. The Senate proposal would enrich companies doing business with the federal government by repealing the law that
requires them to pay workers local prevailing wages.
12. They Are Enriching Their Campaign Donors. Both proposals would reward Wall Street firms that caused the financial crisis in 2008 either by
weakening or repealing vital financial security designed to prevent the next financial crisis. Both budgets would lower taxes that mostly benefit big
corporations, and both call for weaker regulations on corporations so they can enrich themselves at the expense of everything else, including the
environment.
The proposals also cut $40 billion from the U.S. Postal Service and adopts a number of cost-cutting measures including some to reduce the health care
and life insurance benefits for postal workers. The Senate proposal is vague, doesn’t have much details, and doesn’t always mention specific programs or
laws it’s targeting. For example, it avoids mentioning Dodd-Frank, the law designed to protect Americans from greedy Wall Street investors and bankers,
when it proposes to weaken it.
The House and Senate passed the budget this week.
Frustrated Lawmakers Draw up Plan to Stop Their Colleagues from Robbing You March 26, 2015
House Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen and his colleagues are fed up with Robin Hood in reverse. They’re fed up with how some
of their colleagues are trying to destroy the federal workforce that’s there to carry out our government’s work of promoting and protecting public interest.
So this week they came up with their own proposal that stands in stark contrast to the two plans proposed last week by the chairmen of both House and
Senate Budget committees. Van Hollen’s budget blueprint makes it clear that it’s a bad idea to dismantle the very workforce that keeps America running.
His proposal would require no more cuts to federal employees’ compensation including their pensions. It would end job-killing sequestration cuts that
forced hundreds of thousands of workers to stay home without pay in 2013. His budget points out that many federal employees, including doctors and
lawyers, would have been paid a lot more had they chosen to abandon public service and go to work in the private sector. It also points out that one in
three federal employees are veterans, that they have been forced to pay $150 billon out of their own pockets to help reduce the deficits caused by Wall
Street and corporate greed, and that federal employees have contributed enormously to the common good through their work. “Last year alone, federal
employees addressed a wide range of national priorities, from responding to the Ebola outbreak to helping reduce veterans’ homelessness to helping
millions obtain affordable healthcare,” Van Hollen’s budget proposal states. Van Hollen’s plan would ensure that federal employees have the resources
they need to do their jobs. It would block cuts to Social Security, among other things.