WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Education, having made headlines over the past year for its
attacks on both teachers and students, has now launched its newest attack directly at public employees. In a violation of the law, Department of Education implemented a management edict attacking unions and denying workers their legal right to representation.
After months of anti-union proposals and hostile behavior at the bargaining table, Department of Education management told AFGE Council 252 President Claudette Young on Friday, March 9, that it would not negotiate and would instead implement its own terms. The so-called “collective bargaining agreement” referred to by management is an illegal management edict that guts employee rights, including those addressing workplace health and safety, telework, and alternative work schedules.
“AFGE did not agree to these unilateral terms,” Young said. “AFGE is, and has been, eager to return to the table to negotiate a fair and just contract, which all employees deserve.”
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ vendetta on public education has expanded and she is now attacking all workers within the agency. She is attempting to gut employee contracts and interfering with AFGE’s legal obligation to represent their members.
AFGE Council 252 represents 3,900 Department of Education employees across the country, all of whom will be adversely impacted by DeVos, anti-union approach. AFGE is required to represent everyone covered by the union contract. DeVos’s new edict requires shop stewards and local union officers to use leave without pay to carry out their statutory representational duties –
