AFGE applauds President Biden for filling the 10 positions on the Federal Service Impasses Panel with highly qualified individuals who will rebuild the reputation of the embattled panel.
AFGE strongly supports President Biden’s selections to the Federal Service Impasses Panel. We are confident that these members will fairly resolve labor disputes between unions and agencies and restore dignity and fairness to the panel and its important work on behalf of federal employees.
Biden appointed Chicago-Kent College of Law Professor Emeritus Martin H. Malin as chair of panel. Malin recently retired as director of Chicago-Kent’s Institute for Law and the Workplace where he was the founder. He was previously appointed to serve on the FSIP from 2009 to 2017 by former President Barack Obama.
Individuals appointed by Biden to serve as FSIP members are Wynter Allen, Jeanne Charles, Howard Friedman, Edward Hartfield, Marvin Johnson, Mark Pearce, Pamela Schwartz, Joseph Slater and Tamiko Watkins.
Less than 2 weeks after he took office, President Biden removed all 10 members of the FSIP – the arm of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) tasked with resolving disputes between unions and federal agencies when they reach an impasse during contract negotiations.
FSIP had been used by the Trump administration to impose anti-worker, union-busting agency contract proposals on federal workers. AFGE had called on the Biden administration to remove FSIP members and appoint new ones.
Our union applauds the Biden administration for continuing to take action to prevent and undo damage to the federal workforce.