In a move that has sparked controversy, a Biden administration appointee has negotiated a contract with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union representing over 40,000 Social Security Administration employees.
This agreement would permit federal workers to continue their work-from-home arrangements until 2029. This development comes in the wake of concerted attempts by the Biden administration to counteract President-elect Donald Trump's initiatives to overhaul the federal workforce via his newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
According to The Post Millennial, the agreement was orchestrated by President Biden's recently resigned Social Security Administration Commissioner, Martin O'Malley. The revised contract safeguards telework until 2029, with the agency upholding its current hybrid work-from-home policies. These policies necessitate employees' physical presence in the office for two to five days each week.
Richard Couture, President of AFGE, communicated to union members, "This deal will secure not just telework for SSA employees, but will secure staffing levels through prevention of higher attrition, which in turn will secure the ability of the Agency to serve the public."
In anticipation of Donald Trump's inauguration next month, unions have been lobbying for the extension of existing collective bargaining agreements with federal employees. Certain union leaders are urging the current White House team to issue an executive order supporting these actions.
The AFGE, as the largest federal worker union, along with other organized labor groups, represents over a million federal government employees. The existing durations of legally binding union contracts, which dictate terms on working conditions, can be modified or extended.
In a bid to reduce government expenditure and enhance operations, Trump has appointed billionaire Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new task force, the "Department of Government Efficiency." Musk and Ramaswamy have expressed their intent to eliminate work-from-home policies and downsize the federal workforce. "Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome," the duo stated in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published in November.
While contract terms cannot override federal law, they can restrict the leeway of agencies in managing their personnel. Lawyers at the Department of Justice have been working with the National Treasury Employees Union to secure union recognition before Biden's exit from office. This move underscores the ongoing tension between traditional work structures and the evolving needs of a modern workforce.
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