Union Suppression

new cat belated/disambig?<div>
</div><div>see RTW
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</div><div>sparked by:</div><div>
</div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AN 819</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no lnx</font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div><b>Federal workers union sues for right to openly criticize political candidates</b></div><div>
</div><div>Written by Alex Henderson<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>August 14, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>In November 2018, the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) issued a memo warning federal workers to refrain from calling for a politician’s impeachment or openly lobbying for a particular candidate. And the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), this week, announced that it is filing a lawsuit asking the federal government to end its rules restricting employees from criticizing political candidates.</div><div>
</div><div>AFGE is the largest union of federal workers in the U.S. and has around 700,000 members. In the lawsuit, the union is challenging the restriction as a free speech violation.</div><div> </div><div>David Cox, Sr., nationalist president of the AFGE, officially stated, “OSC’s vague, overbroad guidance creates an opening for managers and political appointees to go after career civil servants for politically-motivated reasons.”</div><div>
</div><div>The OSC memo issued last year specifically mentioned the Hatch Act of 1939, a federal law that forbids employees of the executive branch of the federal government — apart from the president or vice president — from engaging in some forms of political activity.</div><div>
</div><div>In the memo, the OSC advised, “There are no ‘magic words’ of express advocacy necessary in order for statements to be considered political activity under the Hatch Act. Therefore, when a federal employee is prohibited by the Hatch Act from engaging in political activity — e.g., when on duty, in the federal workplace, or invoking official authority — the employee must be careful to avoid making statements directed toward the success or failure of, among others, a candidate for partisan political office.”</div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NB 11x17 poster nrlb seen as ~ 1st amend, but anti-union efforts ok</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div></div></div>