AFGE has launched a new local that seeks to cover more than 10,000 federal employees working for U.S. agencies in Europe who currently lack a collective voice at work.
The new local was formed under AFGE District 14, which already represents small pockets of federal employees working in Europe. Most federal employees working in Europe are unrepresented, and this new local allows AFGE to extend service to those employees.
Membership in the new at-large local is open to federal employees throughout Europe at any agency who are not already represented by an AFGE local. Employees can be under the General Schedule, Wage Grade, or Non-Appropriated Fund pay systems.
Most federal employees in Europe work for the Defense Department at military hospitals, child care centers, commissaries and exchanges, as firefighters, and in combat support and logistics.
Stars and Stripes ran an exclusive story about the upstart local, featuring a few of the employees who have already joined the new AFGE Local.
Why we need a local in Europe
Dozens of employees have reached out to District 14 over the past few months, complaining of mistreatment in job placements and workplace discrimination, among other abuses. Providing employees a collective voice to tackle these issues was the main reason for launching the new local, district representatives said.
Even though employees will not be covered under negotiated collective bargaining agreements or grievance procedures in the near term, District 14 can represent AFGE members in matters before the Merit Systems Protection Board and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Having an avenue for AFGE to represent aggrieved employees in workplace disputes could be a game changer for employees, who otherwise would have to go it alone. “I’ve seen employees who have spent $30,000 out of pocket without any resolutions,” Mark Cox, a DoD employee in Germany who is one of the inaugural members of the new local and will serve as local president, told the news outlet. “And I’ve seen where civilian employees have completely resigned from government, people who put quite a few years into their career.”
Long-term goal
The goal is to establish various workplace union committees across Europe under the new local that will lead to campaigns for union recognition through elections run by the Federal Labor Relations Authority and possibly the creation of other AFGE units out of the new local, each with their own bargaining agreements.
In standing up the new local, AFGE is replicating its successful launch of Local 1 – chartered with 13 members more than 20 years ago to represent employees at the newly created Transportation Security Administration. Local 1 eventually spawned AFGE Council 100, which currently represents 44,000 TSA employees at nearly 40 locals across the country.
AFGE has created a special webpage, www.afge.org/Europe, to share additional information and resources regarding the new at-large local (AFGE Local 14) and a direct link to join using AFGE E-Dues. Initial dues have been set at $14 per pay period.
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