IN WHAT is another victory for trade unions in the United States, President Joe Biden has fired all ten of Donald Trump’s appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel a powerful labour relations body set up to arbitrate and resolve dispute between federal unions and management.
Biden took out its Trump appointees in one swoop when he demanded the resignation of union busters from the panel. Eight resigned and two who refused were fired.
Trump’s appointees, all anti-union activists, had blocked the right of unions to organise and to undertake collective bargaining.
Biden’s clean sweep is seen as a step forward in ending Trump’s campaign of federal union busting.
Quick Hits Citizen satisfaction with government service continues to drop, according to the latest rankings from the
American Customer Satisfaction Index. Their 2020 report on the federal government released Feb. 8 showed a drop of 4.4% to 65.1 out of 100. The Departments of Commerce and Agriculture were high scorers among government agencies; Treasury and the Social Security Administration scored the lowest. The survey measures citizen perceptions of ease of government processes, clarity of government information, website quality and the professionalism of government customer service. Former White House Chief of Staff
Denis McDonough was confirmed by the Senate to lead the
Department of Veterans Affairs. The vote was 87-7. McDonough will become just the second non-veteran to lead the agency.
Biden administration works to clean house of Trump appointees
Battle lines are forming across Washington as the Biden administration grapples with how to handle dozens of Trump loyalists the former President installed after the election. Over the past two weeks, the new administration has made an effort to remove a number of Trump appointees across various government agencies and boards. While some have gone quietly, others have not, raising questions about the legal authority President Joe Biden holds in removing his predecessor’s appointees, and how successful he will be in rooting out people he doesn’t want.
On Monday, newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opted to wipe the slate completely clean, dismissing hundreds of members across 42 advisory boards, including a number of last-minute Trump appointees such as former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, Trump’s deputy campaign manager.
On Tuesday, Joe Biden demanded the resignations of all 10 of Donald Trump’s appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, a powerful labor relations board, in a major victory for federal unions. Eight members resigned, and two were fired after refusing to step down. Trump’s appointees a group of partisan anti-labor activists had hobbled federal unions for years, sabotaging their ability to organize and bargain collectively. Biden’s clean sweep, which was first reported by Government Executive’s Erich Wagner, marks a crucial step toward ending his predecessor’s campaign of federal union busting.
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The Federal Service Impasses Panel plays a major role in disputes between executive agencies and federal unions disputes that often affect the government’s ability to administer programs fairly and lawfully. When unions and managers reach a stalemate at the bargaining table, the panel steps in to referee. It is supposed to find common ground between the parties