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.

As a Bargaining Unit Employee (BUE) you are entitled to have a union representative present for any formal meeting with management. But what is a “formal meeting?” The Federal Labor Relations Authority’s (FLRA) “Guidance on Meetings”, dated September 1, 2015, is a useful resource to better understand.

The Federal Service Labor Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS, or “the Statute”) provides rights to union representation at formal meetings in Section 7114(a)(2). However, the Statute is not specific as to when these rights are triggered. According to the FLRA guidance, “In order for the section 7114(a)(2)(A) formal discussion right to exist, the following elements must be satisfied: (1) a discussion; (2) which is formal in nature; (3) between at least one or more agency representatives and one or more unit employees or their representatives; (4) concerning any grievance or personnel policy or practice or other general condition of employment.”
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However, not every discussion between an employee and management triggers this benefit of representation. For example, routine counseling sessions are typically not considered formal meetings. To be “formal” with the right to union representation, something must elevate the discussion above the routine. This can be highly case-specific but includes such considerations as the amount of notice given for the meeting, whether there was a set agenda, and the significance of the issues discussed. Contact your union to know more about formal meetings and the Statute, in general.

Retirement is supposed to be a time of excitement. Unfortunately, for many Corps employees, it’s a period rife with stress.
There are so many questions to consider. Do I move my TSP to the G-Fund? When can I draw on my TSP? When must I draw on it? What are my tax implications? Am I supposed to select a survivor benefit for my pension? Can I afford to keep my Federal Employees Group Life Insurance policy? When am I going to elect to receive social security benefits? Am I going to work after retiring from the Corps? How do I plan for long-term care? If you’re a Veteran, did you exercise your options for the military service buy back? This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to questions heading into retirement, and, honestly, they can be frightening enough that some Corps employees delay retirement rather than attempt to answer them all at once.
We have done a lot of research into retirement and found there are resources out there available to help those Federal employees who have worked hard and earned their retirements.
- FED IMPACT https://fedimpact.com/attend-retirement-workshop/ is an excellent source for Federal employees beginning to plan for retirement. They host seminars across the United States, registration is free, and they encourage your spouse to attend.
- TSP https://www.tsp.gov/login/ also has some tutorials and offers some live training through their website.
There are other resources out there, including using your own financial planner to assist you with your retirement plans and decisions. Note: If consulting a financial advisor, make sure that they are designated as a fiduciary and always ask how they are compensated.
As always, if you have any questions or need help, reach out to your union rep for assistance. If your local union rep is unsure of where to start, they can reach out to the ACE Council, and we can help get you going in the right direction.

Do you know your office’s policy on telework and remote work? If your office has such a policy, do you know how it was created?
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 we saw a shift (virtually overnight) from the vast majority of our work as USACE employees being conducted in-person to the vast majority of our work being done via telework. In the years that have followed, we’ve seen each office establish its own new “normal,” which may or may not be consistent with what’s being done in other USACE offices. In many cases the amount of telework that’s permitted is either based on the preferences of the office’s senior leadership or left to the preferences of individual supervisors. The exceptions are the USACE offices where a union representing the employees has bargained with management on a negotiated telework agreement.
One such example is North Atlantic Division (NAD), where the union (IFPTE Local 98) bargained on a negotiated telework agreement last year. When NAD leadership announced their intention to bring employees back to the office after 3 years of 100% telework, the union replied that it would bargain on the change in working conditions. NAD leadership tried to implement the change without bargaining, and the union responded by filing an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP), after which NAD leadership then came to the bargaining table. Later, while negotiations were still ongoing, NAD leadership tried to bypass the union and pressure employees into an agreement during a secret meeting, without the union’s negotiating team being present. The employees informed their union representatives, and the union filed another ULP. After the 2nd ULP, NAD leadership once again agreed to come to the bargaining table. The result was a negotiated telework policy that guarantees every NAD employee at least 4 days of telework per week.
If you have questions about the details of your office’s telework policy and/or when and how such policies can be negotiated for your office, contact your local union rep for additional information.

The IFPTE ACE Council greatly appreciates those readers who have answered our survey. We have received responses from bargaining unit employees in Chicago District, Mobile District, New York District, Pittsburgh District, San Francisco District, North Atlantic Division, Northwestern Division, and South Pacific Division. All of the specific issues presented in the survey were identified as important by at least some readers, and there were three issues that were marked as important by clear majorities of survey respondents: “Telework & Remote Work” (80%), “Federal Pay & Inflation” (76%), and “Federal Retirement & Pension” (68%). All three of these issues were focal points of the union’s advocacy with members of Congress and their staff during our recent IFPTE Legislative Week in Washington, DC.

Next month’s issue of this newsletter will feature an article related to the “Telework & Remote Work” issue and how you as a bargaining unit employee can best work with your union reps to make sure that your voice is heard when these policies are negotiated. In the meantime, the survey remains open for new responses, which will continue to inform future newsletter content.

Please let us know what is a priority for you!

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.

Yet another government shutdown deadline is looming on 1 MAR. We featured an article on what to do and what to expect if a government shutdown occurs in the January issue of our newsletter. Please ask your local union rep for a copy if you didn’t receive it. IFPTE International staff have also updated https://www.ifpte.org/shutdown to provide current information and resources to help any Federal employees who might be affected.

IFPTE continues to advocate on behalf of USACE lock operators and their contribution toward maintaining secure waterways for commerce and recreation. This includes our advocacy in the halls of Congress (mentioned above), as well as advocacy with the Administration and through industry publications like this recent article in the Waterways Journal.

​Safety is everyone’s job. Both the employer and the union jointly encourage employees to work safely and to report any unsafe conditions. We should all remember this and strive to make sure everyone goes home safely at the end of the day.

When a workplace inspection is about to take place, ask if you, your local union rep, and/or another coworker can attend. No matter who is conducting the inspection, it is essential that you and your fellow employees are aware that an inspection is taking place and have an opportunity to inform inspectors of any problems that you may have observed.

The main purpose of inspections is to discover health and safety hazards and correct them before illness or injury occurs. Examples of safety and health policies include (but are not limited to) Position Hazard Analysis (required for all positions), emergency response plans (including evacuation routes and emergency phone numbers), as well as policies for specific situations like confined-space entry programs and “lockout/tagout.”
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Don’t wait for an accident to happen. Be aware that, in addition to agency-wide safety guidance like EM 385-1-1, local collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) often identify specific requirements related to inspections and other safety procedures. Note that a CBA can also be referred to as a Labor Management Agreement (LMA) or simply as “the contract.” If you don’t already have it on file, ask your local union rep for a copy of your CBA and check to see if its safety requirements are being followed in your workplace. Your safety is paramount!

​For the 3rd time in just the past 4 months, we are facing the prospect of a government shutdown. Each of these deadlines causes stress and uncertainty for all of us and for all of our families. Even in cases where a shutdown is averted at the last minute, these deadlines can also cause major disruptions for the work that we do, especially where TDY travel is involved.

To make matters worse, this time the deadline for a government shutdown has been split in two, with some government employees being subject to a 19 JAN shutdown date, while others will be subject to a 2 FEB shutdown date. While many of the details on how specific individuals will be affected are not yet known, it should be assumed that some Corps employees will be subject to the 19 JAN deadline, while others will be subject to the 2 FEB deadline, and others will be able to remain working past both deadlines.

Whether you as an individual will be subject to furlough after 19 JAN, subject to furlough after 2 FEB, or able to continue working during the shutdown will depend upon the exact way in which your labor is funded. USACE Employees whose activities are funded by non-appropriated funds may be classified as “exempt” from the furlough and continue to work through the lapse in appropriations. Other USACE employees may be informed that they are “excepted” from furlough and ordered to report to work during the shutdown. Both furloughed and excepted federal employees will not be paid during the shutdown. However, the law requires that all Federal employees are paid in full as soon as possible once government funding is restored and the shutdown ends.

​In any case, plan on reporting to work on Monday, 22 JAN, as you normally would (and doing the same again on Monday, 5 FEB, if not already in a furlough status). Your supervisor should be able to inform you of your status on the first day of a shutdown, if not sooner.

If you have further questions about the shutdown procedures in your office and/or you have concerns about those procedures being administered fairly, contact your local union rep, let them know what’s going on, and ask if they can do something to help. Additional information and resources can be found at the following webpage created by IFPTE staff to help any Federal employees who might be affected: https://www.ifpte.org/shutdown.

National Consultation Rights (“NCRs”) allow unions like ours to be notified and comment on agency-wide policies affecting working conditions. NCRs are a concept from the same law that protects workers’ rights to form unions in the federal sector. The basic idea is that if a national union represents a sufficiently large number of workers nationwide, it has a right to be notified and provide comments before any national policy that affects working conditions is rolled out. A secondary benefit is the advance notice for our IFPTE locals, which can help you and your fellow workers in the USACE districts, divisions, labs, and activities prepare to bargain over such policies.
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IFPTE has held NCRs with DoD and the Department of the Army for a long time, and we are currently pursuing confirmation of our NCRs at the USACE level as well. IFPTE and the ACE Council are excited to use NCRs as an effective tool to help protect your rights in the workplace. If you would be interested in seeing and/or commenting on draft versions of agency policies that could affect your working conditions, let your local union rep know that you would like to be included on their distribution list for NCR notifications.