On June 13, 2002, Bill Cowell (NLNP) served as chair of the Election Committee at a special meeting of Local 2578. The purpose of the meeting was to receive nominations for officers of AFGE Local 2578. The following individuals were nominated at that meeting. Since there was an uncontested slate of candidates, the election for the positions took place at that meeting. All formally accepted the nominations for their respective positions.

The following are the current officers of AFGE Local 2578:

President: Vernon Early

Vice President: Peter Jeffrey

Secretary: Theodore Hull

Treasurer: Nkenge Sims

Delegate [2]: John Powers

Alternate Delegate [1]: Deborah Edge

Alternate Delegate [2]: Wendy Mallory

Alternate Delegate [3]: Theodore Hull

The new contract specifies timelines for the provision of performance ratings under the Performance Management System. For most NARA employees, the new Uniform Performance Appraisal Rating period begins in FY2003, which will be from October 1 through September 30 of each year.

Over the years, the Union has received numerous complaints from bargaining unit employees about delinquent performance appraisals. Supervisors who do not provide employees with timely performance ratings intentionally or unintentionally delay employees who perform at the "outstanding" or "highly successful" level the timely receipt of performance awards. In addition, given that a copy of the previous year’s performance appraisal is required to be attached to most Federal job applications, delinquent appraisals also frustrate employees who believe they have improved their performance over the previous year and may want to apply for another job.

Note that Article 15, Section 3(B)(2) states:

The Union is interested in collecting data from bargaining unit employees who do not receive their performance ratings in a timely fashion in accordance with this provision. Bargaining unit employees with delinquent performance appraisals should contact Chief Shop Steward John Powers by email or at 301-837-0901.

AFGE APPLAUDS HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE SUPPORT OF PAY PARITY

(Washington, D.C.)—Bobby L. Harnage, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), today issued the following statement in response to the amendment approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury-Postal Service to provide a 4.1 percent pay raise in 2003 for federal civilian employees:

"Once again this Administration has tried to buck the long-established practice of parity between military and civilian salary adjustments and once again the House has supported pay parity, recognizing the importance of fair pay for everyone who serves our nation.

"This year federal white collar employees should have been enjoying 95 percent comparability with their private sector counterparts under the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA). Instead, they still suffer from an average pay gap of 22 percent and only 42 percent of the gap has been closed.

"All Americans suffer when the federal government is unable to compete with the private sector, especially at a time when 50 percent of the federal work force will soon be eligible to retire.

"To attract and retain a work force that can deliver the high-quality services the public deserves and also address the human capital needs of the government, we must provide fair and equitable wages to all federal employees.

"Today’s House subcommittee action to support pay parity is an important part of the effort to make the government a competitive employer with the private sector. AFGE applauds Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.) for their bipartisan support on federal pay."