FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 06, 2026
October 06, 2026
Contact:
Brittany Holder
(202) 737-8700
[email protected]
AFGE SSA General Committee Files National Grievance Following Agency Repudiation of Contract
Categories:
SSA
SSA union calls on Congress to fully fund agency, restore collective bargaining rights, and overhaul a dispute process that lets agencies ignore contracts for years
WASHINGTON – Today, American Federation of Government Employees SSA General Committee which represents more than 35,000 Social Security Administration (SSA) employees filed a national grievance after the agency announced that it would again illegally repudiate its contract with AFGE by unilaterally ending flexible work arrangements, also known as alternative work schedules, for all SSA employees.
SSA’s email to employees made clear this is not a temporary suspension, but a wholesale elimination of a balanced decades-long program designed to give employees greater flexibility in working their full 40-hour workweek in service to the American people while ensuring sufficient office coverage needs.
AFGE SSA General Committee issued the following statement:
“Only a small portion of SSA’s total workforce utilized an alternative work schedule, with the overwhelming majority of employees already working a regular five-day workweek. Smaller offices were not eligible. However, SSA’s email paints a false picture of an agency overwhelmed by employees with alternative schedules that it harmed public service, even in those components that do not interact with the public directly. None of it is true, and managers already had tools available in our contract to deal with temporary needs. Instead, SSA decided it would no longer honor an agreement it made in 2019 during the first Trump Administration.
“This decision will harm public service by further depressing morale in an already overwhelmed workforce who have seen their rights and benefits disrespected by agency leadership again. Many employees will leave, exacerbating attrition and further depleting service capacity. We demand that SSA reverse this decision.
“This illegal action to eliminate alternative work schedules comes mere months after SSA inhumanely eliminated our advanced leave programs. Like with advanced leave, many SSA employees utilized alternative work schedules to make time to seek medical treatment and take care of loved ones without loss of pay. SSA’s action will fall harshest on those workers who will have to choose between getting paid or getting care. The cruelty of this move cannot be overstated.
“Like with the illegal repudiation of our telework program, the illegal repudiation of official time for union leadership, the illegal repudiation of advanced leave, and more, the union has filed a national grievance to restore and enforce our alternative work schedules. While we will process this grievance as expeditiously as possible, we believe that legislative changes are necessary to more effectively protect and enforce workers’ rights under the law and in legally binding contracts.”
“In light of this reality, we are calling on Congress to do the following:
- Pass legislation to expand unions’ ability to seek injunctive relief in unfair labor practice cases
- Pass legislation to require agencies to implement arbitration awards favorable to federal sector labor organizations pending any exceptions filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), or FLRA decisions favorable to federal sector unions pending any appeal to federal courts.
- Pass the Protecting America’s Workforce Act (PAWA) in the Senate to restore collective bargaining rights to over 3,000 SSA information technology workers and to around one million workers across the federal government.
“The above legislation would update the law to better fulfill its purpose, and to protect and restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers currently with and without contracts.
“Additionally, we call on Congress to fully fund SSA by setting its administrative budget to 1.2 percent of annual benefit outlays, earmarked for human staffing, and to hire 20,000 new workers to replace the employees SSA paid to leave last year and to bring our staffing levels to meet current service needs. Doing so will improve service to the American people who paid to be served by human employees when they choose to be served by human employees and eliminate SSA’s pretext for its cruel and inhumane actions.”
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