AFGE Council 260 President Peter Jeffrey, Local 2578 President Vernon Early, Secretary Ted Hull, and Principal Representative Greg LaMotta attended this year’s Legislative and Grassroots Mobilization Conference. The Conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, February 9-13, 2003.

The purpose of the Conference is to bring AFGE members together to educate them about the latest issues of concern to the National Office. The Conference also provide a mechanism for members to bring their agency concerns directly to their Congressmen.

AFGE outlined five areas of major concern at the national level: 1) the projected increased privatization of Federal Government work, 2) the replacement of General Schedule pay scales with pay for performance rates and the continued fight over pay parity, 3) the dismantling of the Civil Service through privatization and the merit system, 4) caps on the Federal Wage System (Blue Collar Pay), and 5) exploding health care costs and increasing the Federal portion of the FEHBP premium. To learn more about these issues, visit the members only section of http://www.afge.org.

On Tuesday February 11, NARA attendees visited the offices of Washington DC area Congressmen Albert Wynn, Jim Moran, John Warner, Chris Van Hollen, and Tom Davis. At each office they echoed the concerns of fellow Union members and carried NARA employee issues of concern to their Members of Congress.

During March-early April, the local’s Organizing Committee will sponsor three Lunch and Learn sessions.

• March 4 – Federal Register
• March 18 – AII - NHS, NHT, NHTO, NLNS, NWTS, NWTD, NWT
• April 1 – AII - NWCTC, NWCTF, NWCT, NWCTM

One of the goals of the Lunch and Learn sessions is to increase membership in AFGE Local 2578. Only through increased membership can we support the work of the national office and continue the work of the Union. Twenty new members have joined as a result of the Lunch & Learns.

We welcome the following Brothers and Sisters to the membership of AFGE Local 2578:

• David Pfeiffer, Isidor Robertson, Kimberly Scates

(Washington, D.C.)—Bobby L. Harnage, Sr., National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) today issued the following statement urging that the President stop dragging his feet and issue an executive order implementing the additional one percent pay increase for federal employees:

"President Bush has employed every delaying tactic in the book in his quest to shortchange federal employees on their salaries. After finally signing into law the 4.1 percent adjustment that Congress insisted on over Bush’s objections, he is now dragging his feet just because he can.

So focused is he on eliminating taxes for multimillionaires, that he appears to have no appreciation for the toll his delaying tactics have on the hard-working Americans who make up the federal workforce, most of whom earn less per year than the targets of his tax cuts receive in dividends in a single month.

The additional one percent in salary adjustment may be beneath this President’s regard, but 1.8 million federal employees need him to fulfill his responsibilities so that they can get on with their own responsibilities to their families, their landlords, their grocers, and their credit card companies.

The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA) calls for federal salaries to include both an ECI-based component and a locality component. The locality component is designed to recognize that in order for federal pay to achieve comparability with private sector pay, differences in local labor market rates should be reflected in federal salary adjustments. As such, the President should allocate the additional one percent provided in the FY 2003 omnibus bill to locality pay. And he should do so immediately, without further delay."
[from AFGE News Release, Feb 25, 2002]

Benefits coordinator Deborah Edge would like to remind members that benefits information may be found on the AFGE website, members only section (http://www.afge.org). Some improved benfits include Union Plus Auto Insurance from AIG; the Flower Service; and the brand new Union Plus Pet Services, which include Accident-Only insurance, Head-to Tail coverage, Accident and Illness for Indoor cats and care for Senior Pets. For additional information visit the AFGE website or email or call Ms. Edge (301-837-1678)

A member recently asked about how Local members can show their support for the picketing member of Elevator Mechanics Union, Local 10. Following are those questions and responses from Council President Jeffrey:

What should union members response be?

• We should offer words of support to our fellow trade unionists on the line. And explain that by law, we must cross the picket line. You could also offer to join the picket during non-duty time.

Should we refuse to cross the picket line?

• It is illegal for federal employees to strike. This includes sympathy strikes I.e. refusing to cross a picket line. Therefore, we must cross the picket line and report for duty or be in an approved leave status.

Should we go out and join them at lunch time?

• You may go out and picket during non-duty time. This includes before or after work, your lunchtime, or in an approved leave status. You may identify yourself as a member of AFGE Local 2578. However, you should not visibly wear your government i.d. or a government uniform (if applicable). It would be nice if we could have union employees join the picket during non-duty hours.