Federal Union Negotiates Historic Contract Provisions Extending Key Benefits to Federal Employees in Domestic Partnerships
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contact: Mark Davis, NFFE
Forest Service Council Negotiating
Team
Phone: 608-772-2169
Washington, D.C. – The
National Federation of Federal Employees
(NFFE), a national union representing 110,000
federal workers government-wide, including
22,000 in the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), is
proud to announce the negotiation of a new
benefit extending FMLA-like entitlements to
USFS employees living in domestic partnerships.
Negotiated by NFFE’s Forest Service Council
(NFFE-FSC) in its recent collective bargaining
agreement (CBA), the provisions allow covered
federal workers to take leave to care for their
partner with a serious health condition.
Covered employees may also take up to three
months of unpaid leave and/or annual leave to
care for a newly born or adopted child.
“This is
a big step forward for the federal workforce,”
said NFFE National President William R. Dougan.
“Now, Forest Service employees living in
domestic partnerships will have the right to
care for their loved ones in times of need.
This is an example that we hope other agencies
will follow.”
Effective October 25, new contractual
provisions put leave entitlements parallel to
that of the FMLA in place for USFS workers with
domestic partners. Though the provisions are
modeled after entitlements found within the
FMLA, it does not replace or alter the
statutory framework of the law. FMLA provides
leave entitlements that allow married federal
workers to meet family challenges, such as the
birth or placement of a new child in the family
or a serious health condition of a spouse. The
new CBA extends similar leave entitlements to
USFS workers with domestic
partners.
Since
President Obama took office in January of 2009,
the Administration has made a number of key
policy changes regarding domestic partnership
issues. President Obama’s June 17, 2009 memo to
federal agencies, subject “Federal Benefits and
Non-Discrimination,” laid out a policy
objective of extending to same-sex domestic
partners benefits equivalent to those available
to married employees, to the extent it could be
achieved consistent with Federal law. On June
14, 2010, the Administration issued a new rule
clarifying that domestic partners were covered
family members for purposes of sick leave
usage.
“It was
the leadership shown by President Obama and OPM
Director Berry that made this accomplishment
possible,” said negotiations team member Mark
Davis, who drafted the provisions. “It
took the union to secure these benefits, but it
was their statement of policy and definition
for ‘domestic partner’ that opened the
door.”
“We are proud to have negotiated this important benefit for our bargaining unit members and their families,” said NFFE-FSC President Ron Thatcher, noting that this family-friendly benefit will have no cost to the government. “This just goes to show how much workers can achieve when they do not allow themselves to be artificially separated by their differences, but rather stand together in solidarity. Now that NFFE-FSC and the USFS have shown the way, we hope that other agencies will implement policy to extend the same benefits to all federal employees.”