AFGE May Sue Over 250 Job Cuts by DOL
The American Federation of Government Employee said last week is it seeking a congressional investigation into a contracting process by the U.S. Labor Department that eliminated 250 jobs. AFGE also said it is considering filing a class action lawsuit against DOL.
Most of the jobs were held by African-American women; they were eliminated because the agency awarded a contract to GAP Solutions, Inc. to perform administrative functions across 13 departmental agencies in 32 locations, the union said. "We are concerned that this competition has been unfairly awarded and disproportionately impacts minority employees," said Alex Bastani, president of the AFGE Local 12, which represents the affected employees. "Abolishing these positions is a slap in the face to all federal workers."
AFGE said GAP Solutions presented a private sector bid of $71 million to perform administrative tasks. "The Department of Labor, however, excluded critical job functions and grossly undervalued others in its Performance Work Statement which serves as the basis for the private sector bid. Excluding or undervaluing work functions is a violation of the A-76 guidelines which regulate competitive outsourcing in the federal government," AFGE claimed. Bastani said GAP will have to perform a higher level of work than it bid, which will increase the cost of the work.