In a major victory for the recently revitalized bargaining unit at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the agency last week announced it would postpone its reorganization plan until next year to allow the agency and staff more time to work out details and make sure employees’ concerns are addressed.
DFC’s reorganization plan to refocus investments and staff by sector was initially slated to begin in October. The plan, which would require approximately 200 employees to be reassigned and retrained in new areas of work, created chaos, confusion, and concerns among employees as they initially had no say in their new assignments. DFC is a small agency, so that 200 is almost everyone eligible to be in the union.
Thanks to AFGE Local 1534 and members who joined together and collectively voiced their concerns, DFC management agreed that the process won’t begin until next year and that employees’ concerns would be addressed.
Employees will now have a say in their new assignments as opposed to being told to move to an area they have no expertise or interest in. Even though preferred assignments are not guaranteed, the agency agreed to have a system in place where everyone’s preference, seniority, and experience before and after joining DFC are factored in. If there are additional problems pointed out by employees, management agreed that they would examine these issues and that solutions proposed by staff will be considered.
The local will now have time to negotiate with the agency, which has promised to give the union enough time to address everyone’s concerns.
“It’s a positive development welcomed by staff,” said Sudhir Paladugu, local vice president for the DFC bargaining unit. “The managers understand now that they are obligated to work with us. Management is being reasonable and accommodating, and they’re willing to partner with us. That goes a long way towards establishing positive workforce relations.”
“It’s great that they decided to use a more gradual timeline and invited more feedback from the employees, and I’m glad that the employees are more encouraged now to speak up and provided their feedback and organize,” he added.
Vice President Paladugu said union volunteers spent a lot of their free time organizing and collecting employee feedback about the reorganization, which has created a positive atmosphere where people are willing to give their input and give management a chance to work with the union.
"This wouldn't have been possible without the considerable effort from employees and support from AFGE national,” he said. “The employees are grateful for the outstanding support and unwavering commitment of the AFGE organization."
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