DIRECTOR’S REPORT TO THE COMMITTEE
REVIEW OF MEMBERSHIP TRENDS
While membership is up slightly from the start of the year, it seems that we have
plateaued as it relates to significant growth. A recent check of adds and drops
reveals that despite our aggressiveness in recruitment, workers are leaving the
union at a rate which supersedes our efforts. If we are to continue to build our
power through membership strength, we must outpace drops by working harder
to bring new members into the union.
Bonus Bucks – The most recent campaign from November 1, 2005 through
February 28, 2006 yielded 4256 new members. District Five was the highest
recruiting District with 749 new members. District Ten’s Ben E. Johnson of Local
1972 was the highest recruiter with 68 new members, and he will receive the
grand prize of a laptop computer. District Eight’s Maxine Schaaf of Local 1509
won the drawing for a home computer for recruiters who submitted two or more
membership applications. A summary of this year’s campaign is as follows:
District
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
14th
District Total
449
321
262
299
259
252
172
226
749
456
419
262
Top Recruiter
Sharon Lake
George J. Meshko
Christopher Roberts
Walter L. Williams
Teri L. James
Lyle Cole
Necia A. McDaniel
Cassandra E. Cain-Hunter
Ben E. Johnson
Randy Dale Chambers
Lurine J. Bess
Joseph M. Riley
Local
1012
3003
4010
2779
0609
2119
2547
2054
1972
1592
2110
0002
Total
19
21
24
21
16
19
14
34
68
20
30
25
NEW UNIT ORGANIZING
The following new units were brought into AFGE via representation elections:
November 2005 to May 2006 Organizing Victories
Dept. of Navy NAVFAC
637
Washington, DC
VA Loma Linda Healthcare System
375
Loma Linda, CA
28
Washington, DC
Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency
2
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
VA Medical Center
29
Jamestown, ND
183
Coatesville, PA
Great Lakes National Cemetery
10
Holly, MI
William Beaumont Army Hospital & Ft. Bliss Army
Base Dental Clinic
45
Beaumont, TX
REPRESENTATION PETITIONS
Department of Homeland Security – Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
AFGE is in the midst of the largest contested representational election since the
passage of the Civil Service Reform Act. At stake is the representation of more
than 20,000 employees of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and
Border Protection (CBP), among them 2,585 current AFGE members. The
election will be by mail, with ballots mailed on May 9, 2006 and counted on June
27, 2006. AFGE has already secured a new certification for our unit of 10,000
Office of Border Patrol employees; the Border Patrol is part of CBP as well.
Department of Homeland Security – FEMA – At the request of the National
President, M&O has begun working with the FEMA locals to consolidate the
existing AFGE units in FEMA and in offices which have been split off from FEMA
by DHS. The Locals seem interested in establishing a bargaining council to carry
out representation under a consolidated unit.
USDA Import Inspectors – The FLRA upheld the Regional Director’s decision in
our favor on the petition for successorship for the Import Inspectors. (These
employees were removed from the Inspector bargaining unit and denied
bargaining unit status because of their supposed national security duties). M&O
handled the hearing for the NJCFIL; we have now filed to consolidate the two
units, at the request of the NJCFIL, which should assist the Council in the ongoing bargaining for a new master agreement.
Bureau of Prisons – At the request of both Council 33 and Local 3546, M&O filed
for a consolidation of the Central Office bargaining unit with the field bargaining
unit at BOP. After some resistance from BOP, we were able to arrive at a joint
stipulation with the employer as to the facts, and agree to a waiver of appeal
rights. The FLRA issued a new certification in Case No. WA-RP-06-0016 on
March 31, 2006. Local 3546 has always been part of the Council, but
representing a separate bargaining unit. This consolidation of unit should assist
the Council in the on-going bargaining for a new master labor agreement. During
the discussion of consolidation, it became clear that about 400 employees are
erroneously excluded by the agency from the Central Office unit; M&O is meeting
{00211216.DOC}
3
with the Local 3546 leadership to prepare a clarification of unit petition to correct
this situation.
Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) – AFGE Council 163 is made up of four
DCAA locals in the New York-New England area, and is the exclusive
representative for employees of DCAA’s North Eastern region. Each of the other
DCAA Regions is represented by an AFGE Local; however, the agency has been
stalling at agreeing to initial contracts in the regions that we have organized in
recent years. At the request of Council 163 and the other Locals, M&O has filed
for a consolidation of the DCAA units. Consolidation of these units should result
in strengthening the AFGE position at the bargaining table.
AFMC – AFGE filed a unit consolidation petition seeking to add all professional
employees of the Eglin AFB, Florida who are currently represented by AFGE
Local 1942 to the established AFMC nationwide consolidated bargaining unit.
The Agency does not oppose the consolidation; however, because professional
employees are given the statutory right of self-determination, AFGE expects an
election will be directed by the FLRA.
TSA – Thanks in large part to the excellent support provided by the Legislative
Department, AFGE was asked to meet with the General Accounting Office (GAO)
about the large and varied personnel problems which have plagued the
Transportation Security Administrative. To this end, GAO sent a team of six to
the AFGE headquarters to interview members of the TSA Strategy Work Group
about representation issues impacting the workforce. In addition to the staff
input, several screener activists also participated in the interview by phone.
March 1st marked the 5-year anniversary of AFGE’s chartering of TSA Local 1, a
key component in our strategy to win bargaining rights for the TSA workforce. At
present, there are approximately 983 dues-paying union members working for
TSA. This is after purging from the rolls 286 members who no longer work for
the agency. At its November meeting, the NEC voted to allow Districts the
opportunity to establish District-wide Locals for TSA. To this end, several NVP’s
have made requests of the NST to charter new TSA Locals. Those NVP’s who
elect not to establish a District-wide Local for TSA will continue to have the TSA
members in their respective Districts reside in Local 1. There are several issues
we wish to bring to the attention of the Council as it relates to the TSA
membership and the reorganization of the Local.
First, the dues amount colleted for these members is $15 per month, or $7.50 per
pay period. This is not quite equal to the AFGE per capita tax payment of
$15.50. Some of you may recall the decision to set the dues rate at an amount
equal to the per capita tax was based on the fact that we could not yet offer this
workforce the full array of representation benefits (no collective bargaining, etc.)
that our other Locals receive. In the past, this has resulted in the Local (because
of the extra pay period each year), just breaking even in what is owed to the
{00211216.DOC}
4
National Union. Further, as a result of NEC policy requiring that all dues collected
from TSA members be reinvested into the campaign, the Local contributes an
average of between $150,000 and $190,000 (depending on membership
strength) each year towards the continuation of our campaign to organize this
workforce. Insomuch as this amount is “folded into” the overall SO5 budget, as
opposed to the TSA 000 line item in the organizing budget, it is hard to segregate
TSA spending from other election campaign expenses. The bottom line is that
the TSA Local itself has NO money. All monies collected are immediately owed
to the National Office for re-distribution back to the campaign.
Second, AFGE has no dues-withholding agreement with TSA. This means that
every individual who pays dues to us would have to initiate a new dues deduction
form if the dues amount is changed. The impact of this on newly chartered Locals
will be that the new Local will have to re-sign each member by asking them to fill
out a new dues deduction form for the new dues amount. Even then, it is not
certain that TSA will agree to provide the dues withholding report to the National
Union in a format that indicates “which Local” the member is in. We are
researching this possibility and hope to have an answer within the next several
weeks.
To this end, it is recommended that the new Locals not raise dues until
after the August convention so that this process will only have to be done
once.
Third, there are occasions when a TSA worker will join AFGE by sending the
dues deduction form directly to TSA and file no paperwork at all with the union.
This practice results in the Finance Department receiving a dues-deduction
report from TSA which has no indication of where the member resides. As of this
writing, there are approximately 42 TSA members in this category. Because we
(AFGE) have no form to associate with these members and thus, no initiation
date to input, Finance cannot add them to the UNIX database. So, we get their
dues, but they cannot access the website or other membership benefits. This is
not conducive to our ongoing campaign. Although we will attempt to secure
copies of the forms from the TSA payroll office, it is unlikely that TSA will comply
with our request.
As a result, it is recommended that the NEC Organizing Committee
recommend to the NST that an initiation date of March 1, 2006 be assigned
to these 42 members, and that in the future the initiation date be
considered to be the date that the member shows up for the first time on
the dues deduction report. Those members would be placed into Local 1
until such time as their actual residence can be determined.
Based on the most recent reconciliation of the TSA membership roster, the
breakdown of members by AFGE District is as follows:
{00211216.DOC}
5
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
94
28
55
309
7
151
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 14
1
6
39
48
188
2
Total: 928 for which we can determine the District in which the member resides.
As mentioned above, there are an additional 42 members for which we have no
address. This renders a total of 970 TSA dues payers.
Finally, it should be noted that within the last month, District 5 has added over
200 new TSA members. The majority of these are from the Puerto Rico Airport,
although, thanks to AFGE winning back the jobs of several screeners in Orlando,
we have seen a spike in new members there as well.
DOD REORGANIZATIONS
DFAS Local 2094 – DFAS Kansas City, Missouri implemented a reorganization
that administratively transferred employees to the Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps Command Technology Services Organization-Kansas City (TSO-KC).
AFGE’s position is that it is the successor labor organization for the affected
employees, with the employees accreting into the AFGE nationwide consolidated
bargaining unit of U.S. Marine Corps employees. An opening letter was sent by
the FLRA to the Agency on March 13, 2006 requesting the standard information
needed for processing a petition.
Navy Locals 1415 and 2326 – Local 1415 filed a clarification-of-unit petition on
the bargaining-unit status of employees employed by the Naval Surface Warfare
Center, Crane, Indiana who are currently represented by Local 1415, and
employees who are employed by the Naval Station Great Lakes, IL that are
currently represented by Local 2326.
The subject employees were administratively transferred to the Naval Supply
Command (NAVSUP), Fleet Industrial Supply Center (FISC), Supply
Management Department (SMD) Midwest. The Agency contends that as a result
of the reorganization the employees from Local 1415 and local 2326 should be
accreted into the bargaining unit that is currently represented by AFGE Local 53
located in Norfolk, VA. AFGE Locals 1415 and 2326 contend that it is the
successor labor organization for the employees that were transferred from their
respective bargaining units.
The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) has scheduled a hearing
regarding the petition(s) beginning on May 2, 2006 in Philadelphia, PA.
{00211216.DOC}
6
Representatives from each AFGE Local will participate, and Membership and
Organization will act as the chief representative during the FLRA proceedings.
FAA – On December 1, 2005, AFGE filed a petition with the appropriate 30%
showing of interest seeking an election for all non-professional employees of the
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Business Center, Payroll Operations
Branch, Payroll Section 5, College Park, Georgia that were represented by the
National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NATCA).
The FLRA Regional Director issued an Order to Show Cause on March 23, 2006
stating that an investigation by the Regional Director revealed that there are four
Payroll Sections, all located in Denver, Colorado, and that the petitioned-for
employees are part of the established bargaining unit currently represented by
AFGE.
On April 18, 2006, AFGE filed a response to the Authority’s Show Cause Order
asserting that the proposed bargaining unit is an appropriate stand alone unit,
and that the Authority or the Agency has not provided AFGE with any information
regarding the petitioned-for employees of the Payroll Section 5, and therefore
should order a hearing for fact finding purposes.
TRAINING
Organizing Institute Training (OIT) – The Membership and Organization
Department is holding two OITs this year:
1) The Salt Lake City, UT OIT to be held June 23-28
2) The Cambridge, MA OIT to be held July 21-26
The Salt Lake City training is advertised as a “NSPS Boot Camp” that is
specifically designed for Department of Defense (DOD) employees. The session
is currently closed to additional participants, since we have the maximum number
of participants needed. The participant group consists of employees from
various DOD agencies. The field training for the Boot Camp will take place at Hill
Air Force Base.
Applications for the Boston OIT are still being accepted. Available spaces are
filling rapidly.
EXPOSITIONS/INDUSTRY SHOWS
In compliance with NEC policy, AFGE will again participate in four highly visible
public relations events this year:
1) The AFL-CIO Union Industries Show in Cleveland, OH held May 5-7;
2) The Excellence in Government conference in Washington, DC to be
held July 10-11;
{00211216.DOC}
7
3) The Indiana Black Expo in Indianapolis to be held July 14-16;
4) The Blacks in Government (BIG) conference in New York City to be
held August 21-25.
AFGE Benefit Program –
Union Privilege is celebrating its 20th anniversary and the significant impact
benefits have had on unions and union members. Union Privilege commissioned
a market research survey conducted by Peter Hart Research involving 6,000
members and 200 local union leaders from all affiliates. The study concluded
that members believe that benefits add value to membership and are a good
reason to join a union. Awareness of benefits has grown and they have had a
corresponding positive impact on members’ views of their union. However, 48%
of leaders say the union is not doing enough to make rank-and-file members
aware of the program benefits.
AFGE has a new online discount program with ConsumerReports.org.
Consumer reports is the nation's undisputed authority for helping people get the
most for their money by providing unbiased product reviews, ratings, and buying
guides. Members will receive a discounted annual subscription price of $19 a
year versus the $26 price charged to the general public, a savings of 27%.
Another new benefit now available to members is Union Voice which is a
discounted Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). VOIP phone service sends
local and long distance calls over the Internet and offers significant savings over
old fashioned phone service. Members who have a broadband Internet
connection may place calls using a regular phone using a box that plugs directly
into their broadband router. They may also download a program and make calls
using a headset connected to their computer. This is a perfect plan for members
who access the Internet through DSL as members pay $11.95 per month for
unlimited outbound calling to anywhere to the United States and Canada. And
when members use their AFGE Credit Card, they pay only $99 per year. Details
and more information on the options available may be found on the Member
Benefits section of the AFGE web site or by contacting Mark Williams.
A contract has been signed with Tesco, a top of the line provider of cell phone
accessories. Members will be able to receive exclusive discounts via a
customized web site available to members only. We anticipate this benefit to be
available to members by July of this year.
Enhancements were also added to the auto insurance program and the dental
services discount program. The rates have changed for the Health Services
program. The Standard Program is still $14.95/year per family, but a new one-
{00211216.DOC}
8
time fee of $4.95 is now charged if members enroll using their Union Plus credit
card. The Premium Program is now $69.95 per year per family.
Program Utilization – The following first-quarter statistics of 2005 show the
continuing impact of the AFGE Benefits through the utilization of the programs.

A total of 39,721 members carry the AFGE Union MasterCard, representing
$92,011,015 in outstanding credit. Roughly one in every five AFGE members
carries an AFGE MasterCard.

A total of 1,428 AFGE members have an account with the Union Plus Loan
Program for a total outstanding balance of $7,676,772. The average loan
balance is $5,376.

A total of 16 AFGE members are utilizing the Union Privilege Home Equity
Program representing $437,361 in dollars outstanding. The average balance
of the home equity loan was $27,335.

A total of 1,076 mortgages were written for a total of $121,560,302 in total
dollars in closed mortgages. The average size of the mortgage is $112,974
representing $707,510 in savings on fees.

A total of 1,025 members are enrolled in the Health Savings Program. A total
of 4,807 claims have been made in the amount of $261,907 representing
$45,827 in savings.

A total of 390 auto insurance policies have been written for a total premium of
$589,047. The average premium is $1,510 representing $136,500 in savings.

Since the programs inception, a total of 14,102 desk or lap top computers,
cameras, camcorders, TV’s or MP3/DVD players were sold to AFGE
members using the Easy Computer Purchase Program (ECP2)

A total of 1,457 members have enrolled in the free Accidental death and
Dismemberment program for a total of $7,285,000 in free insurance
coverage.
The following programs are not reported on a by-Union basis and the numbers
shown are the total for all Unions combined:

A total of 263,879 Union members have taken advantage of the Union Plus
Legal Services Program’s valuable benefit since it was introduced. It is
estimated that this represents a total saving on initial consultations of
$19,790,925.
{00211216.DOC}
9

A total of 20,200 Union members have contacted the Education Services
Program, and a total of 131,225 members were unique visitors to Union Plus
web site.

A total of 3,639 phone inquirers and 1,264 web inquiries were received
resulting in the establishment of 355 Debt Management Plans under the
Credit Counseling program.

A total of 98,698 orders in the amount of $5,206,926 were made using the
Union Plus Flowers program. This represents a saving of $781,039.

Union members have generated a total of $26,692,126 in car rental revenue.
This represents a saving of $3,203,055.

The total number of Union members who have a Pet Insurance policy is 1,072
for a total coverage of $3,484,000. This represents a saving of $37,520.

A total of 12,894 Union members used the MyFICO discount program to learn
their FICO score.

A total of 990 Union members saved moving expenses through the North
American Van Lines program.

A total of 160 Union members booked Worldwide Travel packages.

A total of 916 cruises were booked through the Union plus program for an
estimated savings of $262,000.

Union members, through the Union Plus discount computer program,
generated a total of $5,597,484 in computer sales for a total saving of
$419,811.

A total of $415,859 in sales was generated in the Entertainment Discount
Program representing a savings of $62,379.

A total of 334 Union members used the Health Club Discounts for total
savings of $72,812.

A total of 6,768 Union members have used the Music Club Discounts
program and saved $3,384.

A total of 2,669 members participate in the home heating oil discount program
representing a total saved of $667,250.

A total of 3,905 members have signed up for the Union Plus Internet Service
representing a savings of $419,397
{00211216.DOC}
10

A total of 1,912 members have used the Union Plus Tax service and 725
were filed without charge.
Toll-Free Benefits Line Utilization Statistics – From November of 2005 through
March of 2006 a total of 8,283 calls have been received through the toll free
Benefits Line. This represents a continuing reliance by our members in utilizing
this important resource. It is estimated that an additional 800 benefit calls a
month are received via the direct M&O Department telephone number.
{00211216.DOC}