FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2018
July 16, 2018
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
[email protected]
AFGE Statement on SSA’s Assault on Worker Rights
Categories:
SSA, Executive Orders
Social Security violating worker rights to execute Trump executive orders
WASHINGTON - American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. today issued the following statement:
“The Social Security Administration is attempting to wipe all traces of our union from SSA offices and deny workers their legal rights to representation. Workers who need our help the most are often the ones who are least able to speak out – low-wage workers, veterans with service-connected disabilities, whistleblowers who face reprisal from their managers.
“We are obligated under the law to represent all employees covered by our negotiated contracts, but SSA is deliberately and illegally restricting our ability to carry out this obligation. This is nothing less than a direct assault on our union and our democracy.
“On Monday, July 9, SSA management unilaterally implemented extensive changes to the contract that had previously been negotiated with AFGE Council 220 in order to execute President Trump’s May 25 executive orders, which gut federal employees’ workplace rights and protections. The union attempted to negotiate with the agency over implementation of the proposed changes, but SSA managers walked away from the talks after just three days.
“What’s going on at SSA will spread to other agencies if we don’t stop it in its tracks. The Trump administration’s effort to purge unions from the workplace is an attempt to turn the entire government into an at-will workforce with workers hired and fired based on their allegiance to the president.
“AFGE will continue to fulfill our legal obligation to represent all employees in the federal government – no matter how ruthless the administration is in trying to shut us down.”
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