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AFGE Local 704 Bargaining Contract Ratification

Written by

AFGE Local 704

Published on

May 16, 2020
BlogAFGE

Welcome and Thank You

Local 704 Members will VOTE to decide our position on ratifying the recently negotiated and mediated articles of our Collective Bargaining Agreement from June 3rd through June 7th, 2020.

Your vote will help decide the path to better working conditions and the ability to protect public health and the environment.  The most important right you have as a Union Member is to vote for your Working Conditions!

Be Informed, Get Engaged and Vote

  • Find the topics that are important to you on this website.
  • Look for emails, texts, mailers and phone calls for more information and how to vote.
  • Attend our Local 704 Zoom Town Hall Video Call and Q&A with one of Council 238 Bargainers on Thursday, May 28th at 7pm.  Zoom invite will be emailed to Members.  Send your questions now to be answered at the Town Hall (704afge@gmail.com)
  • From June 3rd – June 7th, Vote online to Ratify, Reject or Abstain the proposed Bargaining Contract.  Voting invitations will be emailed to Members by June 3rd, 2020.

What is our Union Local, Council and National AFGE?

EPA Region 5’s Union is Local 704 and has approximately 430 dues-paying Members, and it represents about 900 Collective Bargaining Employees.  Local 704 joins 12 other EPA Locals to comprise Council 238, which is part of the National AFGE.  Our Collective Bargaining contract is between the EPA Agency and Council 238. 

How did we get here?

Council 238 and the Agency have been operating under a Collective Bargaining Contract agreed upon in 2007, including a few updates for Maxiflex and other matters.  The contract was due for renegotiation and the parties were discussing which articles to renegotiate.  In July 2019, the Agency walked away from the discussions and imposed a Unilateral Management Imposed Directive (UMAD).  The UMAD was a blatant attempt by the EPA Agency Administration to encumber our working conditions and try to bust our Public Union. 

The UMAD imposed unfair conditions on issues such as telework, work schedules, core work hours, Union official time, Union use of Agency resources, topics of grievances, Union dues, awards, promotions, and other conditions.  Council 238 filed a lawsuit and the Agency offered to negotiate and mediate on a limited number of articles in the UMAD if Council 238 drops the lawsuit.  The two sides’ agreed and bargaining teams began negotiating on 15 articles or portions of articles on January 7th, 2020 and ended on March 13th, 2020.  The parties agreed to resolutions on 11 of these articles; the remainder went to mediation, where two were resolved.  The last two articles will now separately be decided by an Impasse Panel. 

The final steps are for each of the 13 Locals to decide if their Local supports, rejects or abstains from voting on the entire article package, and vote at the Council to determine ratification.  If ratified, the contract could go into effect in approximately 30 days.

How will Local 704 and Council 238 vote on ratification?

Both the Local and Council will vote on the ratification package as a whole.  Local 704 Dues-Paying Members will get an email to vote online on June 3rd, 2020.  Voting will last through June 7th with one vote per member email.  The simple majority vote will win, and our Union President will be our delegate at the Council 238 ratification vote.  The Council 238 ratification vote will be on June 10th, 2002.  Each of the 13 Locals will get one vote to determine ratification.

Anyone who would like to become a Local 704 Member should contact 704afge@gmail.com.  This is a great time to get involved. 

What are we voting on?

  • Local 704’s “Summary of Proposed Bargained Contract Articles“
  • ” with general improvements, changes and deficiencies.
  • Local 704’s detailed “Crosswalk of Proposed Bargained Contract Articles” comparing Contract Articles from 2007 MCBA, 2019 UMAD and the proposed Contract Articles with full lists of improvements, changes and deficiencies.

    Disclaimer: These documents highlight significant issues Local 704 Special Committee on Ratification were able to summarize from the original contract documents and the ratification materials provided by AFGE Council 238.  We recommend you review the contracts and ratification documents for further detail.  In accordance with the 2019 EPA/AFGE Settlement Agreement, the negotiations, and therefore any potential changes to the 2019 UMAD, were limited to the following contract articles or portions of articles.  All other 2019 UMAD provisions not listed here will remain in the new contract if ratified.

Other Important Documents:

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