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A New Way Forward

There is no question that organized labor in this country is under attack. These attacks have come at the very core of what it means to be a union – our right to collectively bargain. What started in Madison, Wisconsin has spread across this country as state and national politicians seek to vilify labor as the cause of their fiscal woes and make us pay through stripping our rights to bargain on behalf of the working men and women we represent.

This is the landscape we find ourselves in: one in which we must continue to build membership and work for change, or have our rights trampled. The easy path would be for us to become discouraged, hang our heads, and give up. But that is not what we are about, and that is not who we are. That is not our proud history.

At this moment in time, when the very worth and dignity in being an American worker is being called into question, we must continue to build membership and organize the unorganized. Our union’s very survival depends on our ability to grow and mentor future leaders. If we are unable or unwilling to grow, we will soon be out of business.

NFFE’s new Organizing and Recruiting Strategic Plan recognizes NFFE’s need to move from reacting to change to acting on change. To accomplish this will necessitate a fundamental shift in our thinking, requiring us to move from a “servicing model” to an “organizing model.” This is not about emphasizing building membership at the expense of servicing our members; it is about building highly-functioning locals, effective local leaders, and engaged members. It is fundamentally about gaining power for workers.

Building, supporting, and sustaining effective locals and councils is the only way we can be successful at building membership on a continuing basis. Collectively we all have a personal responsibility for the success or failure of our union.

Change will not happen overnight. But we must commit to begin this change if we are to sustain this union. Working together, this is our chance to build something greater than ourselves, and continue NFFE’s proud legacy of working for America every day.

William R. Dougan

President Obama Calls for Improved Federal Workplace Safety in New Executive Memo

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

(National Federation of Federal Employees)

President Barack Obama issued an Executive Memorandum yesterday announcing the Protecting Our Workers and Ensuring Reemployment (POWER) Initiative, a program which seeks to improve worker safety and lower costs related to workplace injuries.

According to the memorandum, more than 79,000 federal employees required workers’ compensation in fiscal year 2009, costing a total of $1.6 billion in payments. Though these numbers are lower than those of years past, the President seeks to bolster this positive trend.

“Many of these injuries and illnesses are preventable, and executive departments and agencies can and should do more to improve workplace safety and health, reduce the financial burden of injury on taxpayers, and relieve unnecessary suffering by workers and their families,” said Obama.

Authorized through fiscal year 2014, the new program requires all federal departments and agencies to coordinate with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs to set performance goals for reducing workplace injury and illness rates.

The program will extend prior workplace safety and health efforts by setting more aggressive performance targets, encouraging the collection and analysis of data on the causes and consequences of frequent or severe injury and illness, and prioritizing safety and health management programs that have proven effective in the past. Furthermore, it requires each executive department and agency to improve its performance in seven different areas, such as reducing total injury and illness case rates, reducing lost time injury and illness case rates, and increasing the timely filing of workers’ compensation claims, among others.

“The POWER Initiative is truly a win-win for the federal workforce and the American taxpayer,” said NFFE National President William R. Dougan. “Reducing the number workplace injuries and illness makes the government a safer and more productive place to work. Workplace safety is a very serious issue for us, and we are pleased to see President Obama make it a priority to his Administration.”

For more information on the POWER Initiative, click here.

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