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Season 4, Episode 33

FAIR Act and D.C. statehood among top AFGE legislative priorities

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Guest Name:


Tatishka Thomas

Guest Website:


https://www.afge548.org/ 

Guest Social Media:


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Supportive Documents:


Tatishka Thomas, President of the American Federal Government Employees Local 548 joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed this year’s top legislative priorities for the AFGE - passage of the FAIR Act and statehood for Washington, D.C.

Thomas also serves as the District 5 National Representative for AFGE’s National Veteran’s Affairs

She acknowledged that due to a significant wage gap between the federal government and the private sector, some federal workers are taking jobs in the private sector, ultimately costing Local 548 members. Thomas explained how the 8.7 percent wage increase called for in the FAIR Act will reward those federal employees who continue to do their jobs. 

In addition to wages, the AFGE supports the D.C. Statehood Act, which, as the name suggests, would make the District of Columbia the union’s 51st state. Thomas pointed out that the residents of Washington D.C. pay taxes but have no direct representation in the federal legislature. With Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, it is unlikely this bill will receive a vote during this Congressional term.

Thomas then spoke about the efforts by the VA to cut down on the paperwork needed to onboard new providers. The VA, working with the AFGE, is hoping to shorten these processes so providers can be onboarded quicker.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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