AFGE 1534 is undergoing major stress and the leadership is assessing what to do about financial mismanagement and questionable decisions made by those who were spending our money. All members of AFGE 1534 contribute to it through the dues we pay.
We are supposed to make decisions about how our money is spent if an expenditure is over $250. It appears that the constitutional requirement for membership oversight was not met. At present we do not know why or what happened to cause it, but our funds have become so depleted that we cannot afford to pay our office staff.
It is a very unfortunate situation for us to have to let our staff go without work for some period of time while we regain our financial footing. But we cannot accept even if they wished to do so for them to work without pay. Those of us who work at the Department could work in the office during our lunch break or at other times when we can take leave.
That might be the best solution at this time. In the long run we need to figure out what was going on that caused this financial emergency and we need to hold those officers accountable who did not use our funds effectively.
I had not written about the election protest that I lodged because I wanted it to go through channels. Surprisingly the District 14 Office appears not to have taken its responsibility to investigate my allegations seriously. I never heard back from them.
I have heard about the present emergency situation and thus am responding from my perspective. I have complete confidence in the integrity of President Walter Bruce. I am confident that his major concern is for the welfare of AFGE 1534 and bargaining unit employees. I also believe that now, more than ever, it is time for a New Team for AFGE.
This is a new blog about contracting in the government. Having had the unfortunate experience of being a whistleblower, I have learned something about how waste, fraud, and abuse happens.
