Last week, the Biden Administration released new data as part of its effort to encourage union membership at the federal level. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) added bargaining unit information to the FedScope database, the agency’s main public database.
The new feature shows whether bargaining units are represented by a union, and it further breaks down those that are unrepresented to show if they are eligible for representation. Information can also be segmented by agency subcomponent, pay system, state, and occupation.
In response to the database updates, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFEE) released a press release applauding OPM for “promoting union representation among 300,000 federal employees who are eligible to join a union but are not currently in a bargaining unit.”
NFEE National President, Randy Erwin said:
This upgraded resource will be an excellent tool for our union to locate non-union employees across the federal government who are rightfully entitled to representation and a voice in their workplace. NFFE specifically requested assistance in identifying the hundreds of thousands of unrepresented government workers, and today OPM delivered on its commitment to promote employee organizing and collective bargaining by rolling out the enhanced database. We are excited to help these federal employees who have not yet joined a union organize in their workplaces and obtain critical rights and benefits through unionizing.
The action by OPM is part of the Biden Administration’s report that outlines ways to help unions increase their membership. AFFT covered the report when it was released in February.