Social Security Official Responds to AFGE

Yesterday, the Federal Diary reported on efforts by the American Federation of Government Employees to push Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael J. Astrue out of office.

A paragraph in the column said: "One of the main complaints the union has with Astrue concerns the decision to move Employee Activity Association functions, such as day-care and fitness centers, to other vendors." Union leaders said that was "the straw that broke our backs."

Astrue was not available for comment when the article was written, but he released this statement yesterday:

“For nearly two decades, the Social Security Administration has entered into no-bid, no-audit contracts worth tens of millions of dollars to one well-connected organization, the Employees' Activities Association (EAA). That era is over.

The EAA has stubbornly stonewalled our efforts to conduct an audit of its activities and the activities of its secretive for-profit subsidiaries. AFGE's officers have responded to our efforts to ensure that federal laws and policies are followed by repeatedly threatening political retaliation against me and members of Social Security’s career civil service.
The American public is demanding honesty, transparency, and compliance with the law. I will continue to uphold these principles regardless of the inaccurate attacks that stance generates.
I have asked Congress to direct the Government Accountability Office to do the full audit that the EAA has thus far resisted.

I also want to thank the Social Security employees who first blew the whistle on the EAA, and I want to assure them that we will continue to stand by them.”

By Sara Goo  |  February 6, 2009; 12:04 PM ET  | Category:  Social Security Administration , Unions
Previous: Some Good News | Next: AFGE's John Gage Cautions Members About Pay

The comments to this entry are closed.