AFGE Local 1534 is seeking to negotiate with the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) over its abruptly announced reorganization plan that directly affects a third of the workforce.
DFC’s reorganization plan to refocus investments and staff by sector would immediately impact approximately 200 employees to be reassigned and retrained in new areas of work as their actual responsibilities would change and they would report to different managers. In addition, many other staff have been told they will eventually need to realign by sector as well.
The announcement of the plan last month led to chaos, confusion, and concerns among employees as they currently have no say in their new assignments. The plan, which is already hurting morale, could also lead to an exodus of experienced employees in understaffed teams. According to a recent employee survey, over one third of respondents said the change could negatively affect their plans to remain with the DFC. Employees who are not directly affected are worried about their colleagues being assigned to areas they have no expertise in. Less than 11% of respondents are in favor of the change while 36% oppose it and the remaining feel they lack enough specifics to make a decision.
With this major change in working conditions, agencies are required by law to bargain with unions. But according to local officers, the plan came as a surprise – they only learned about it last month. This was the opposite of what the local was told at a January meeting with CEO Scott Nathan and his representatives who said the agency did not expect any major changes to organizational structure.
In addition, while the plan would require extensive retraining, the proposed annual budget for the agency only includes an additional $9,000 for training.
When DFC’s union officers initially asked to negotiate, agency officials said they would reach out at the appropriate time. The DFC union, however, is optimistic that they would be able to negotiate as the CEO has just requested quarterly meetings with the local, with the first one being later on this month. The agency went from refusing to talk to establishing a plan to communicate.
“That was a turning point,” said Sudhir Paladugu, local vice president for the DFC bargaining unit.
The light at the end of the tunnel
DFC was created in 2019 under the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act to help fund infrastructure, technology, energy, and healthcare projects in developing countries. It was merged with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a division of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The agency has had several other issues for years, including a lack of career advancement for career staff, opaque hiring practices where outside candidates are routinely hired noncompetitively, and burrowing of political appointees into permanent non-political federal positions.
Local 1534 represents employees at the State Department, USAID, and DFC.The union at DFC had been in disarray for years since it was OPIC, having only four active members. Things turned around in January when Paladugu as appointed vice president, Herb Ladley as 2nd vice president and chief steward, and Carey Campbell as 3rd vice president and chief steward.
Within 4 months, they signed up over 60 new members and plan to hold new elections at the end of the year. The local is now actively working to protect the rights of members, and the agency now realized it has to start working with a revitalized bargaining unit.
“Since the union became active and started organizing employees to voice their concerns and engage with management, management has been surprised and it’s taking some time to adjust,” Paladugu said. “But the union is hopeful that management and our experienced HR counterparts understand their obligations to work with the unionized workforce. We hope they will engage with the union to make sure staff have a voice in the way this organization develops as it grows.”
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