Labor Agreement Is a First for Immigration Judges (WPost)

[Omaha Steve]

Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/10/AR2006081001756_pf.html



Labor Agreement Is a First for Immigration Judges

By Stephen Barr
Friday, August 11, 2006;

After seven years of negotiations, the Justice Department and a union representing 218 immigration judges signed their first collective-bargaining agreement yesterday.

Leaders of the union, the National Association of Immigration Judges, said the contract would improve communication between Justice headquarters and the judges, who serve in 53 cities and detention centers across the country, by guaranteeing quarterly meetings to discuss security, workload and other issues.

By most accounts, immigration law is second only to tax law in complexity, and interest in immigration issues and deportation cases has risen sharply since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The judges, who are employees of the Justice Department, handle about 300,000 cases a year, rendering final agency decisions on asylum claims and some national security issues.

"We have more public interest in the courts and in immigration, and it makes our job even more challenging," said Denise Slavin , the association's president.

Also below main story

AFGE Reelects Gage

John Gage , president of the American Federation of Government Employees, was reelected to a second three-year term late Wednesday in Atlanta.

Gage defeated a former union president, Bobby Harnage , in a runoff election, winning about 52 percent of the vote. Larry Raney , the head of a Bureau of Prisons local, was eliminated in the first round of balloting, a union spokeswoman said.

J. David Cox was selected as AFGE's national secretary-treasurer, defeating Kitty Peddicord . Andrea E. Brooks was reelected as national vice president and women's director, defeating Marilyn Wiley .
Talk Shows

Ron Ault , president of the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department, and Don Hale , chairman of the AFGE Defense Conference Steering Group, will discuss the Defense Department's new National Security Personnel System at 10 a.m. today on "Inside Government," an AFGE-sponsored program, on http://federalnewsradio.com and WFED radio (1050 AM).

John R. MacDonald , assistant commissioner for information and technology at Customs and Border Protection, will be the guest on "The IBM Business of Government Hour" at 9 a.m. Saturday on WJFK radio (106.7 FM).

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