JANE LOGGINS – FEA Director for DDESS
BEN HUNTER – FEA-SR General Counsel
ANGELIA STUBBS – FEA-SR General Counsel

FEA SR HCR Election Update — The FEA SR Human Civil Rights Coordinator will be elected by the active membership of FEA SR in the next few weeks. Nominations are open until February 26. Any active member may be nominated or self-nominated. The FEA SR HCR will serve on the FEA SR Area Council as a voting member for two years. Please see your local president for more information and nomination forms. A notice of election should be posted in each school. If you have questions please email feasr@fea-stateside.org

FEA-SR is proud to announce that we have our new website: www.fea-stateside.org. While the website is still under development with more content to be added in the future, we are now inviting all active FEA-SR members to visit our website and click on “Member Login” followed by “Create an Account.” After entering your name, personal/non-DoDEA email address, and phone number (optional), you will receive an email link to activate your account. After you activate your account, please allow time for FEA-SR to grant you access to the password-protected content only for members. If you have any questions or suggestions for the website, please email webmaster@fea-stateside.org. We appreciate your feedback and support as we continue to develop our website.

Along with the introduction of our new website, we also have a new email address (feasr@fea-stateside.org), which may be used to send monthly newsletters and other updates directly to FEA-SR members. If you did not receive this newsletter via your personal/non-DoDEA email, please check your Spam folder and other settings to make sure our new email address is allowed and will not be marked as spam. If you still did not receive the February newsletter in your inbox or spam folder, please follow the instructions above to “Create an Account.” Once you have been granted access to the members-only page, you can enter your email address to subscribe to FEA-SR emails. If you have any questions, please email webmaster@fea-stateside.org with your name, local, and personal/non-DoDEA email address.

MLA Arbitration Decision — FEA SR is disappointed the Agency has decided to prolong the legal process by filing an appeal to the FLRA. Arbitrator Orkin’s overwhelming decision in favor of FEA SR validates what the union has been saying since the Agency illegally forced a bogus and unsigned collective bargaining agreement upon Stateside educators: The Agency failed to complete bargaining with FEA SR; the Agency bargained in bad faith; the Agency committed an Unfair Labor Practice; and the 2005 MLA is still in full force and will be recognized as the true collective bargaining agreement between FEA SR and DDESS.

Tom Brady’s decision to submit an appeal comes after a bi-partisan group of Senators and members of Congress sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense, condemning DoDEA’s imposition of 24 additional hours of unpaid duty time. Tom Brady, Judy Minor and the leadership of DoDEA have harmed our educators, schools and students through their thoughtless actions. FEA-SR believes the appeal is unfounded under existing FLRA and DC Circuit Court precedent and we will continue fighting to ensure educators receive appropriate restitution.

FEA SR will keep membership informed as the process moves forward through the appeal process. Please also remember to record any extra assigned hours worked due to the implementation of this bogus contract. The tracking form can be found at the link below. Click here or Click here

Credits Plus Win — Credits Plus Win — Recently, FEA SR received a favorable ruling from the FLRA upholding Arbitrator Murphy’s July 2018 decision ordering the Agency to credit all relevant semester hours in setting salaries, regardless of whether the semester hours were earned before or after the award of an academic degree. The decision requires management to place Stateside bargaining unit members on the correct pay lane, based upon their education level, as well as award back pay to affected employees dating back to November 2010. FEA SR anticipates there will be a large number of educators entitled to backpay and that it will take time to fully implement the award and ensure that all impacted bargaining unit employees are made whole. FEA SR is in the process of submitting an initial batch of claims for relief in accordance with the decision. Once the initial claims have been paid, FEA SR will publish instructions for educators to submit their claims for backpay and salary lane adjustments to FEA SR legal counsel.

Non-Payment of EDA Arbitration – On February 12, the Association and Agency proceeded to arbitration of the grievance concerning the Agency’s failure to pay the prorated amount of the EDA for services members performed as part of the EDA agreement signed by the Agency. The Union presented 7 witnesses and the Agency had 3 witnesses to present. The parties were unable to complete the hearing in one day. The second day of the hearing is expected to be scheduled and completed before the end of the school year. If so, the parties will then submit their closing briefs and receive the arbitrator’s decision in the summer.

Continuation of Facilitated Meeting with FEA — FEA SR and FEA will meet together again as a small group this weekend to reach a resolution over our interests. We will focus on financial equity, making sure that the FEA SR bargaining unit is well supported by FEA. FEA SR board members involved in this meeting include local presidents, Venita Garnett and Alan Danahy, FEA SR General Counsel, Ben Hunter and me, Jane Loggins. FEA SR will update members as we move forward.

Know Your Rights — MLA — Article 22 — Section 1 Posting Notices
REASSIGNMENTS, VACANCIES, AND TRANSFERS

When the Agency is going to fill a vacant professional position, a written dated notice of the vacancy shall be issued. Employees who desire to be considered for a vacancy and who are certified and otherwise qualified for such a vacancy, shall submit a written request to their current and to the prospective supervisor. A vacant position occurs when a professional bargaining unit position is vacated by a bargaining unit member or when a new position is created.

MLA Certified -The 2005 MLA remains in full force and effect until a new agreement is legally implemented. An update about the status of contract bargaining can be found at www.fea-stateside.org and feaonline.org.

Jane