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FEMA UNION - Who We Are

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) represents over 750,000 workers in nearly every agency of the federal and D.C. governments, spread across over 900 local unions.

AFGE is in the middle of every battle involving the well-being of federal and D.C. employees and their families. We lobby the White House, work in agencies, litigate in court and lobby in the halls of Congress. AFGE is all about producing results that positively affect our members’ lives.

Become part of a community at your worksite and in your state. AFGE prides itself on being an organization that is built by members for members. By connecting with your union colleagues, you’ll know that you have a team working on your behalf at your agency!

What AFGE 4060 Does for FEMA Employees

AFGE provides legal representation, technical expertise, and informational services for the hundreds of thousands of federal and D.C. government workers who are our members. We train our members to become activists at their workplace and in their communities, help them make their voices heard in media at the local, regional, and national level, keep them up-to-date on the benefits that come with their union membership, and are the nation’s leading legislative advocate for federal and D.C. government workers.

What is the difference between a BUE and a Member?

Bargaining Unit Employee (BUE): All BUE's are protected by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). This is typically the non-supervisors in the covered regions. To verify your union coverage, we encourage all employees to go into eOPF and review your SF-50 Personnel Action Form (Box #37). If your SF-50 form bears the code #1059, this indicates that you are covered by the bargaining unit and eligible to become a member. Check the CBA or L4060 Introduction Powerpoint for more details. For more information about the 7777 or the 8888 codes, look at the Bargaining Unit Status Codes Explained PowerPoint by OCHCO below under “Resources”.

Reasons I have a 7777 or an 8888 and not a 1059 BUS Code?

Some regions are excluded (1, 6, 8, 10) because they were not unionized at the time of our merging into one local when we formed AFGE 4060. We are looking into organizing the excluded regions.

Each region is different due to the rules those regions had when we became one union (versus the several small unions each region used to have). We adopted the rules each region had at the time and it's something we will change in the future but that is a much more complicated process.

Other factors are: supervisory/managerial status, organizational location, duty station, position sensitivity/access to classified information, and other factors based on inclusion and exclusion criteria outlined in the CBA, FLRA Certificate, and Labor-Management Statute at 5 USC 7112.

Bargaining Unit Status codes administratively denote unit coverage.

8888 – universal code for ineligible positions (supervisors, etc).

7777 – universal code for eligible, not included. (Regions not covered by CBA; most COREs in HQ, 3, 4, 9; access to sensitive material like HR or Watch employees in Top-Secret Clearance areas, etc.)

1059 -- OPM issued unique BUS code for BUEs covered by the CBA at FEMA.

For more information about the 7777 or the 8888 codes, look at the Bargaining Unit Status Codes Explained PowerPoint by OCHCO below under “Resources”.

Please note: A comprehensive BUS code review is currently taking place and LER will not be reviewing individual requests during this time. Employees who disagree with the outcome of the BUS code determination may submit an individual FHR case with Classification requesting a closer review of the PD.

This means if you have read through the BUS Codes Explained PowerPoint (under Resources below) and you still think your BUS Code is incorrect, you can submit a case in Fed HR for your individual BUS code review.

Dues Paying Member: A covered employee who pays membership dues and has extra rights such as:

Have a voice in CBA negotiations.
Vote to veto or ratify a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Vote in union elections for officer positions and delegates.
Serve as union officials or stewards.
Members also have access to special discounts on the AFGE National website.

Dues help pay for our membership w AFGE national, Grievance Tracker software, lawyers, and more. Lawyers help w legal advice on recent changes affecting federal employees. We also retained lawyers for a $16.5 million owed in backpay lawsuit a few years ago.

For those of you who wish to become union members and contribute to the strength of our collective voice, please download the SF-1187 Dues Withholding Authorization Form (found in the upper right column for a link to DOWNLOAD the pdf enable editing or also located in the documents tab on the left column). The dues for union membership are $25 per pay period. Please send your completed SF-1187 (no need to fill out your SSN) to our treasurer, Anthony Strohm (contact to the right column) and cc your RVP or Regional Steward.

How Do I Get Member Benefits?

After your SF1187 goes through, you can register on the National AFGE site.

1) Go to www.afge.org

2) At the top, go to "Log In", then "Register"

3) Select "Member Number + Last 4 Digits of SSN"

4) Complete the registration and update your info. Please use your personal email address and personal phone number (not FEMA)

Please be sure to keep your AFGE profile updated! That's the best way to ensure you don't miss out on what the Union is up to. By the way, did you know there are Union BENEFITS, like Life Insurance, Dental, and cellphone plan discounts? This is where those discounts come in for dues paying members.

FAQs

Q) I've been promoted and am no longer eligible for union membership. How do I cancel my dues?

A) Fill out a SF-1188 Cancellation of Labor Dues for Payroll Deduction form.

Q) If I become a dues-paying member, can I cancel anytime?

A) US Code (5 USC 7115(a) specifies a one-year dues requirement for federal unions. “Except as provided under subsection (b) of this section, any such assignment may not be revoked for a period of 1 year.” After the 1-year minimum, you can stop paying dues anytime by submitting a signed SF-1188.

Q) Who is covered by the CBA?

A) To verify your union coverage, we encourage all employees to go into eOPF and review your SF-50 Personnel Action Form (Box #37). If your SF-50 form bears the code #1059, this indicates that you are covered by the bargaining unit. No supervisors or reservists. Currently, each region is different but we are working to get all non-supervisory PFT/COREs in all regions included in the future. However at this time the following non-supervisory employees are included:

R1: Excluded

R2: PFT, CORE

R3: PFT

R4: PFT, COREs located in ATL or Thomasville

R5: PFT, CORE

R6: Excluded

R7: PFT, CORE

R8: Excluded

R9: PFT

R10: Excluded

HQ Nationwide: PFTs assigned to HQ organizations nationwide. Distribution Centers, NPSCs, etc.

Excluded: COREs, student interns.

Mt. Weather: non-professional GS, WG.

NETC: COREs and GSes.

There are a few rare cases in certain subsections of groups that are the exceptions to the general rules above (i.e. few COREs included in R4 but most COREs aren't). Some warehouse employees in R6 are technically HQ assets so they are included. Certain positions are categorically excluded (some HR, some sensitive security type positions). Please refer to your SF50 in box 37. If it says 1059, you are covered by the CBA and can become union members. For more information about the 7777 or the 8888 codes, look at the Bargaining Unit Status Codes Explained PowerPoint by OCHCO below under “Resources”.

Q) Why are there so many variances in who is covered by the CBA?

A) The short answer is prior to L4060, each region had their own and separate union Local with different rules on who was included. Some regions (1, 6, 8, 10) didn't have a union at all. When the opportunity came to become a stronger union and have ONE local AFGE, instead of several smaller locals, our CBA just adopted the rules that the previous locals had. This was due to a time constraint and explains the inconsistencies between regions. It is something we want to address in the future.