USCIS Director, AFGE National President Sign Memorandum of Agreement

Tuesday April 17, 2007

WASHINGTON-U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez and John Gage, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE), signed a joint agreement today to advance the close working relationship between labor and management at USCIS.

“USCIS is at a mission crossroad that requires its best effort to meet the national security and immigration needs of the nation,” said Director Gonzalez. “Empowering USCIS employees to better accomplish their mission and encouraging mutual respect between management and workers through this agreement are keys to our future success.”

The agreement was developed using an approach to labor-management relations that relies on experienced facilitators to work collaboratively with representatives of labor and management. Robert Tobias and Erin Baillie, labor-management facilitators, will meet later this month and during May with managers and local union officials at USCIS offices in Vermont, California and in Dallas to collect data and information as part of the implementation.

Representatives of USCIS management and labor will meet in June to forge a plan to build a more efficient and effective relationship between USCIS and AFGE, culminating with the development of a new labor-management contract.

Senior leadership of USCIS and the national AFGE union, including Michael Knowles, recently elected president of the AFGE National USCIS Council, also attended today’s ceremony.

Related Documents Signed Agreement Between U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and American Federation of Government Employees PDF (286 Kb)