AFGE, Local 3937 - Local Membership Informal Meeting

March 11, 2026

Conference Call

Attendance was not taken tonight, as this will be a more informal meeting than usual, and we are not voting on any motions.  The Local is between Secretaries, as Tonya Boren has moved to a non-bargaining unit position. We are in the process of training a new Secretary.  Tonight’s notes (vs. our usual member-approved minutes) will still be available afterward on our website.

The meeting was held via Zoom conference call with dial-in information posted to the Members section of our Local website.  The meeting was chaired by John Pfannenstein, Local President.

Agenda:

• Treasurer’s Report
• Old Business
• New Business
• Reports
• Minutes review

Treasurer’s Report:

Jackie provided the report of our accounts: the checking account has $139,280 and the savings account has $177,483.  She is currently preparing to send the LM report to Department of Labor, as we do each year.

Old Business:

None.

New Business:

Telework Suspension Grievance

This was filed a year ago, and today we WON!  The arbitrator ruled in the Union’s favor: that the Agency did violate Article 41 of the Contract when they unilaterally “temporarily suspended” TW in March 2025.  They had argued that “temporary” can mean indefinite, but the arbitrator did not agree.  Therefore, the suspension action was a de facto termination of TW altogether, which did violate Article 41.  Former Commissioner Martin O’Malley testified on our behalf.  The Agency is ordered to cease and desist and to return to status quo ante (which would return 2-day per week TW to most of the field), but this may be delayed for some time, including all the way through the Agency’s FLRA appeal.  It is too soon to tell how and when implementation will occur, so don’t make changes to your childcare or commute yet; but it is a victory nonetheless. 

Cash Awards

For those who received awards this year, you may have seen a much lower amount than expected based on your PACS score and past trends.  Last month, the Agency and AFGE signed a settlement agreement (without barring future litigation) that eligibility for ROC awards (now called “Performance” awards) would be based on PAC cumulative scores of 3.5 rather than 4.0.  This created a larger pool of qualified employees.  The agreement also eliminated the cap for ECSAs (now called “On the Spot” awards), and funds are paid using what is leftover from Performance awards.  However, since the Agency did not allocate any additional funds for the now larger group of eligible employees, everyone’s total was less.  The Union has filed a Section 10 grievance, and we are asking for either more award money for all those affected, or time-off awards of administrative leave if the Agency claims budgetary constraints.  This has been very disappointing, especially after the Agency’s communication implying that everyone would get more award money this year.

              National Calendar

This will go live on April 11^th, and will be routed through TED vs. the eLAS calendar.  You would activate as available in a queue, and your appointment at that scheduled time may be from anywhere in the country.  You then go into Not Ready status until you are ready to begin the next appointment.  This system could result in anywhere from 9 RSI or 4 DIB as a quota or maximum for the day.  A combined appointment (e.g. RIB + AUX) would count each claim separately towards that quota.  There should not be too much cause for management to reassign appointments if someone calls out sick or is absent locally in your own office, now that it’s a centralized Agency workload.

Reports:

None.

Open Floor / Miscellaneous:

We offered a Q&A session on issues that members may have during open discussion.  We talked about Service Observations on phone calls, and how much of a role voice analytics will have on the selection and evaluation of those calls.  Anything surfaced by AI is to be reviewed by a real person per our MOU, and employees will be able to request the audio if needed.

You can stay informed about topics like these and much more by going to www.afge.org to sign up for Action Alerts to be sent via text or email so that you are informed of current legislative and political events – please do so on your personal computer or phone, not on duty time or on Agency equipment.