USDA wants AFGE’s help in spreading the word about NSLP throughout your communities. The goal is to help make a positive impact on the lives of underprivileged children by promoting participation in the Summer Meals program and making the community aware of its benefits.

To learn more about USDA’s Summer Food Service Program and how you can help publicize it to your community, please visit http://www.afge.org/index.cfm?contentID=3304.

Reblogged from AFGE Members Tell Their Stories:

Below is an ad that will run in the Federal Times which features a few of our AFGE federal nurses. Thank you to our ad participants: AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr, AFGE District 8 National Vice President Jane Nygaard, AFGE DoD Local 1401 Vice President Erika Townes, AFGE VA Local 609 member Judith Kelly, AFGE DoD Local 1942 member Lisa Haik, AFGE VA Local 2152 Title 38 Vice President Jeanine Swygman, AFGE VA Local 1915 First Vice President David Mollett and AFGE BOP Local 3947 Vice President Sandra Parr.

Please be sure to include your name, location, the federal agency you work for and your AFGE local number. So many of our members have shared their experiences and we want to hear from YOU!

Listen Now!

 Tune in now to AFGE’s “Inside Government” for a discussion on workplace safety. The show, which originally aired on Friday, April 26, is now available on demand.

Chris Hayes, host of MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” looked back on the Boston Marathon bombings and Texas fertilizer plant explosion to highlight the value of public employees and workplace safety.

GovLoop Community Engagement Director Andrew Krzmarzick then provided tips for furloughed federal employees facing a work backlog and highlighted the benefits of government agencies using social media.

Greg Brooks, president of AFGE’s Federal Aviation Administration Local 2282, discussed the latest developments on furloughs at the FAA. Brooks also addressed the short- and long-term consequences of sequestration, including the impact on national security.

AFGE Small Business Administration Council 228 President Elaine Powell-Belnavis then discussed the union’s labor contract agreement with SBA, which covers 2,000 federal employees and provides a range of benefits from an updated awards program to an expedited arbitration process.

Listen LIVE on Fridays at 10 a.m. on 1500 AM WFED in the D.C. area or online at FederalNewsRadio.com.

For more information, please visit InsideGovernmentRadio.com.

Left to right: AFGE District 11 NVP Gerald Swanke; District 5 NVP Everette Kelley; NST Eugene Hudson Jr.; Women’s and Fair Practices NVP Augusta Thomas; National Pres. J. David Cox, Sr.; District 10 NVP Roy Flores; District 7 NVP Arnold Scott; and Dalia Rabin-Pelossof.

An executive conference room was dedicated today at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, as part of the tribute to American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr., recipient of the 2012 Public Service Award from the American Friends of the Yitzhak Rabin Center. The Center is the official memorial to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who pursued public service through his country’s Labor Party. Rabin, winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize (along with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat), dedicated his life to the pursuit of peace, justice, and public service. Yitzhak Rabin was slain by an assassin in 1995, but his efforts to bring together people of disparate backgrounds to work for peace and social progress continue through the work of the Center.

The AFGE delegation met with Israeli labor leaders and members who work in various government agencies, including the Tel Hashomer hospital where many wounded soldiers are treated by medical personnel represented by AFGE’s Israeli counterpart, the International Union of Government Employees. The delegation also visited an Air Force base to meet with local union representatives to discuss their working conditions, union rights and agency missions. The unions pledged continued future contacts and to work in solidarity to improve the voice of workers in their respective countries.

At the dedication ceremony, Cox remarked:

“The message of the AFL-CIO is that ‘work connects us all.’ That fundamental truth is why the labor movement has been the vehicle for human progress all through history. People differ in terms of religion, belief, gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, language, and ability – but when we join together in a union, none of that matters. We become brothers and sisters in the struggle for dignity on the job and a better life for everybody.

“The struggle for peace is really the same as labor’s struggle,” continued Cox. “My hope and prayer is that this space will be a place where people from all backgrounds will come together and find common ground, working for labor solidarity, peace, and a better life for all peoples.”

Listen Now!

Tune in now to AFGE’s “Inside Government” for analysis of proposed changes to federal employees’ pension plans and health benefits. The show, which originally aired on Friday, April 19, is now available on demand.

Bob Weiner, former Clinton White House spokesman, lauded the work of federal employees in the face of budget cuts, pay freezes and furloughs. Weiner also detailed sequestration’s harmful effects on cancer research.

AFGE Small Business Administration Council 228 President Elaine Powell-Belnavis then discussed the union’s labor contract agreement with SBA, which covers 2,000 federal employees and provides a range of benefits from an updated awards program to an expedited arbitration process.

Common Cause President and CEO and former Rep. Bob Edgar of Pennsylvania addressed the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) and increase in federal employees’ pension contributions in President Obama’s budget proposal.

Lastly, AFGE Public Policy Director Jacque Simon detailed proposed changes to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Listen LIVE on Fridays at 10 a.m. on 1500 AM WFED in the D.C. area or online at FederalNewsRadio.com.

For more information, please visit InsideGovernmentRadio.com.

Listen Now!

Tune in now to AFGE’s “Inside Government” for reactions to President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal. The show, which originally aired on Friday, April 12, is now available on demand.

AFGE National Council of Social Security Administration Field Operations Locals President Witold Skwierczynski addressed the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) and increase in federal employees’ pension contributions in the president’s budget proposal. Skwierczynski also discussed the status of unresolved articles – appraisals, merit promotions and telework – in the union’s contract agreement with SSA management.

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare President and CEO Max Richtman continued the budget conversation, analyzing the chained CPI impact on Social Security benefits for seniors and veterans.

Lastly, AFGE Public Policy Director Jacque Simon detailed proposed changes to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Listen LIVE on Fridays at 10 a.m. on 1500 AM WFED in the D.C. area or online at FederalNewsRadio.com.

For more information, please visit InsideGovernmentRadio.com.

Filed under: Federal Employees, Federal Employees Union, Inside Government, Labor Union, Legislation, Pay & Benefits, Social Security, Uncategorized ]]> http://afgeunionblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/listen-now-reaction-to-obamas-2014-budget-plan-on-inside-government/feed/ 0 afgeunionblog IG logo http://afgeunionblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/afge-official-criticizes-health-insurance-proposals-in-obama-budget/ http://afgeunionblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/afge-official-criticizes-health-insurance-proposals-in-obama-budget/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:40:37 +0000 Union Blog http://afgeunionblog.wordpress.com/?p=3685 ]]>

AFGE Public Policy Director Jacqueline Simon testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and the Census regarding proposed changes to FEHBP.

In testimony delivered today before a House subcommittee, American Federation of Government Employees Public Policy Director Jacqueline Simon criticized proposals that the Obama administration has presented for altering the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Simon testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and the Census. The hearing focused on the FEHBP and whether it is a good value for federal employees. A copy of the testimony is available here: http://bit.ly/14egKZe.

Simon’s testimony was critical of the proposals for FEHBP changes that the administration has put forth.  As described in President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget, released Wednesday, the proposals would shift costs for the program onto federal employees to the tune of $8.4 billion over 10 years.

“With federal pay frozen for three straight years, massive tax increases on FERS employees via increased retirement contributions, and furloughs of up to 14 days that may be repeated each year for the next decade, federal employees cannot withstand any more reductions in their compensation,” Simon said.

The proposals include charging more for federal employees who are ill or overweight, charging more to families with more than two persons, worsening the FEHBP’s already severe problems with risk segmentation by introducing regional PPOs, and making changes to prescription drug coverage. The administration would also support FEHBP coverage for domestic partners and other dependents.

“The administration’s FY 14 budget piles on with additional cuts to retirement benefits for both CSRS and FERS employees hired before 2013.  It is astounding that they would add more than $8 billion in cuts to FEHBP on top of this,” Simon said. “The administration calls this ‘modernization’ of benefits; we call it cannibalization.”

Simon also called for the establishment of a statutory employee advisory committee for FEHBP that would be modeled on the Employee Thrift Advisory Committee for the Thrift Savings Plan, the Federal Salary Council for the General Schedule pay system, and the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Council for the Federal Wage System.

“Federal workers pay on average 30% of premiums and as much as 64% in some plans, yet we are denied information and denied any input in decisions about changes in benefits, changes in administration or changes in the program’s structure.  Workers are apparently just supposed to keep quiet and keep paying,” Simon said. “But like all other middle class Americans, federal workers cannot afford to do this.  Giving federal employees an opportunity to learn more about their health insurance program – and a chance to have their interests, views, and concerns receive serious consideration – is a reform worth supporting.”

President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget marks a shameful abandonment of his campaign promise to protect the middle class and needy from tax increases or harmful benefit cuts, the head of the largest federal employee union said today.

“Instead of holding to its promise to protect the middle class and the working poor, the administration seems determined to contribute to a worsening of living standards for federal workers, disabled veterans, and the elderly,” American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. said.

The budget includes proposals that would cut federal retirement benefits, cut Federal Employee Health Benefits, cut Social Security benefits, and cut federal jobs.  The budget also proposes to end the three year pay freeze with a 1% adjustment, an amount so low that it banks $18 billion in savings over ten years for the government to spend elsewhere.

Federal Retirement

The administration’s budget hits federal retirement benefits in three ways: denying pay adjustments, so the salaries on which retirement benefits are based are lower, increasing by 1.2% the amount of salary that employees  hired prior to 2013 would pay for their benefit, and reducing the annual cost-of-living increase in Social Security and annuities by using an inferior measure of inflation.

These proposals are unjustified and deviate completely from the standards set by large private employers.  About 98% of private employers that provide traditional pensions charge their employees nothing for this benefit; the administration just keeps charging more and more each year.  The 1.2% contribution increase in the budget would be a permanent cut, even though it is presented as part of a fix to a temporary “problem.”

Regarding the proposed change to the chained CPI, American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. said  “this is no “technical fix,” it is a benefit cut on some of the most vulnerable citizens in our country – the elderly who built this nation’s prosperity, disabled veterans who sacrificed their health and bodily integrity to this nation’s security, and federal retirees who labored under an agreement that their retirement benefits would be adjusted to maintain their living standards in old age.”  According to an analysis by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, using chained CPI for indexing income tax brackets would mean raising taxes 14.5 percent for those earning between $10,000 and $20,000 a year. Sixty-nine percent of the tax increases resulting from chained CPI-indexing would come from households earning less than $100,000, the Center said.

Switching to chained CPI will hit others equally hard. Federal retirees, whose average pensions under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) are just $13,000, will suffer substantial declines in living standards under chained CPI. The average Social Security recipient, who at age 65 receives just $15,000 per year, will suffer cuts of $650 a year by age 75 and $1,130 a year by the time she or he turns 85.

Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) Cuts

The administration’s budget also calls for $8.4 billion in cuts to the government’s financial support for federal employees’ health insurance.  The changes sought by the administration would penalize the ill by charging them higher premiums, penalize families with more than two members by charging them higher premiums, and penalize those in high health care cost regions by charging them higher premiums.  “Adding FEHBP cuts to the pay freeze, furloughs, and retirement and Social Security cuts just defies comprehension.  The President actually says in his budget that federal employees “deserve our respect and gratitude.”  I would describe this package of cuts as evidence of disrespect and ingratitude, and I know that’s how all of our members feel as well,” said Cox.

Poultry processing

The budget also proposes an overhaul to the poultry inspection process that would leave one federal inspector responsible for examining up to 175 birds per minute – or three birds every second – as they whiz down the inspection line. AFGE, along with food safety and consumer watchdog groups, has been urging the administration to withdraw this rule change since it was first proposed in January 2012.

While the poultry slaughter inspection program does need to be modernized, AFGE is concerned that this proposal could have adverse impacts on both food safety and worker safety, Cox said.

“This proposal isn’t about food safety. Speeding up processing times is all about generating more profit for the chicken slaughter industry by moving chickens from the farm to your kitchen table as quickly as possible – regardless of the potential health consequences,” Cox said.