Local Presidents:

Last week an MOU was negotiated by the General Committee regarding swine flu.  The Agency has begun to conduct formal discussions with staff regarding the contents of this agreement.

I don’t know what Agency official will say about the MOU, but I have received some reports that SSA management is telling employees that if they refuse to interview clients who appear to have swine flu symptoms that they will be disciplined.

The MOU refers to alternative protocols for interviewing in item 4 and requires SSA management to inform those with symptoms that they have alternative ways of dealing with the Agency other than face to face interviews.

In addition, Article 9, Section 6 of the contract requires SSA to make appropriate arrangements for employees who interview individuals with a known serious communicable disease.  The National Institute of Health defines swine flu as a pandemic and refers to it as a serious communicable disease.  According to the contract if an employee interviews such an individual they have a right for an Agency financed medical exam on administrative time and SSA will provide the employee with workers compensation filing instructions and forms.   This section has always been interpreted as allowing the employee to refer the interview to management because of the potential for spreading of the communicable disease.

Also, the Executive Order on health and safety in the federal workplace and its implementing regulations have provisions regarding imminent danger which allow employees to refuse a work assignment if they have a legitimate belief that performing the work assignment will subject them to adverse health and safety consequences.  Certainly contracting swine flu would be such a potential adverse consequence of interviewing someone with symptoms of a serious communicable disease.  Therefore employees have a right to refuse to interview someone with swine flu symptoms due to the imminent danger involved of transmition of a serious communicable disease that has resulted in thousands of deaths.

It is essential that the union attend these formal discussions and take the opportunity to exercise the union’s rights to speak at such formal discussions and explain the union’s views of what employees rights are regarding swine flu interviews.

If the Agency fails to give the union notice and an opportunity to attend and speak at such formal discussions, we should file a ULP.

In addition, SSA will be conducting formal discussions on Article 21 alignment statements.  The union should also attend these discussions and take careful notes regarding what SSA is saying during these formal discussions.  The union should also use the opportunity to express its view that employees are only required to produce work performance regarding the performance standards that they are given. Alignment statements are intended to inform employees on what the Agency’s goals are but are not intended to be substitutes for performance standards.  Goal achievement is not a performance standard unless it is clearly contained in the performance standard narrative

Please forward this message to your Local Representatives.

Witold Skwierczynski