New Year, New Opportunities
This past year was a time of great progress and achievement for NFFE and its members. We have seen vast improvements in our organizing, stepped up our communications and secured a series of significant legislative victories.
Now, with 2010 in full swing, we are looking to build on these successes and bring our union to even greater heights. In this spirit, I would like to share with you some of the many priorities that NFFE will pursue as 2010 continues to unfold.
In the early days of this year, we announced the formation of the Federal Workers Alliance (FWA), a coalition of 21 unions representing federal workers. FWA members will work together in solidarity to promote favorable legislation and personnel policies for the more than 300,000 combined federal employees it represents. Working side by side with our union brothers and sisters on these matters benefits us all.
Another important relationship we are looking to cultivate is that between labor and management at the many agencies we represent. We intend to play a very active role in the formation of new agency partnership councils. Our goal is to build a strong foundation for robust and productive dialogue to take place between workers and their managers.
We have an ambitious legislative agenda for 2010. Among our numerous legislative priorities this year, we hope to secure pay parity between military and civilian employees, establish a paid parental leave benefit, and to obtain the benefits that many temporary federal employees are denied.
Lastly, NFFE will continue to focus on organizing and engaging new members. With the new Organizing Strategic Plan in motion, we are committing significant time and resources to growing our union. By year's end we anticipate greater growth in members than we experienced in 2009.
With your help, I am looking forward to making 2010 the best year ever to be a NFFE member.
William R. Dougan
Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act Overwhelmingly Passes House
Friday, June 5, 2009
(National Federation of Federal Employees)
Thursday evening, the
U.S. House of Representatives voted 258-154 in
favor of H.R. 626, the Federal Employees Paid
Parental Leave Act (FEPPLA).
The bipartisan bill,
sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and
cosponsored by 55 others, extends four weeks of
paid leave to federal employees with a newly
born, adopted, or fostered child. Under current
law, federal employees may take up to 12 weeks
of unpaid leave when caring for a
newborn, forcing many new families to choose
between a paycheck and caring for their
child.
“Faced by a slumping
economy, federal employees are increasingly
unable to afford the option of taking unpaid
leave after the birth of a child,” said NFFE
National President Richard N. Brown. “This puts
some federal employees in the unenviable
position of having to delay starting a family
because of the financial hardship associated
with lost wages. A paid parental leave benefit
is a good idea for a lot of good reasons, but
above all else, it’s the right thing to
do.”
NFFE has always been a
strong supporter of obtaining paid parental
leave for federal employees. Having won passage
in the House Thursday, our efforts are now
refocused on getting this bill through the
Senate, and delivering this important benefit
for federal employees.
“We applaud the House for
taking the initiative on this crucial piece of
legislation,” said Brown. “We look forward to
working with members of the Senate and Obama
Administration in making this bill the law.”
