In recent years, Army Corps leaders have begun championing the promise of remotely operated waterway infrastructure. The ACE Council has been fighting throughout for greater transparency and accountability when it comes to this ill-conceived plan. In a truly promising development, the following has appeared in this year’s Senate Appropriations bill.

There’s more to be done to get this in the final Senate/House Appropriations bill, but this is a big step in protecting these jobs from being automated away. A lot of effort went into this from many ACE Council locals getting meetings with congressional staffers, sending people to Capitol Hill for IFPTE’s Legislative Week, the IFPTE ACE Council setting up meetings, and IFPTE President Matt Biggs, IFPTE Legislative Director Faraz Khan, and USACE Lock and Dam operator Mike Arendt (SAM) all spent many hours advocating for this language in an effort to protect these jobs.

IFPTE recently held our annual Legislative Week in Washington, DC, and we (as your fellow USACE employees) took to the halls of Congress to advocate for your interests. IFPTE local leaders representing USACE employees met with Sen. Maria Cantwell (WA), Rep. Frank Mrvan (IN), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI). We also met with the staff members for Sen. Laphonza Butler (CA), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Sen. Tom Carper (DE), Sen. Ed Markey (MA), Sen. Alex Padilla (CA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI), Sen. Ron Wyden (OR), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY), Rep. Sam Graves (MO), Rep. Jared Huffman (CA), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), Rep. Barbara Lee (CA), Rep. Kevin Mullin (CA), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA), Rep. Mike Quigley (IL), Rep. Chris Smith (NJ), Rep. Nydia Velázquez (NY), and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Our advocacy covered issues such as increasing Federal-worker pay (which has not kept up with inflation), eliminating FERS tiers (which force Federal employees hired after 2013 to pay extra, with no additional benefits), protecting against arbitrary restrictions on telework, and protecting the jobs of USACE lock operators and park rangers, among other issues.
If you’d like to learn more about the union’s efforts to advocate on behalf of your interests with USACE, the Administration, and/or Congress (or if you’d like to share your own ideas on how we can advocate most effectively), contact your local union rep.