{"id":25925,"date":"2023-08-08T17:31:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T17:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/08\/union-calls-out-social-security-admin-on-bargaining-status-of-judges\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:04:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:04:24","slug":"union-calls-out-social-security-admin-on-bargaining-status-of-judges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/career-management\/2023\/08\/08\/union-calls-out-social-security-admin-on-bargaining-status-of-judges\/","title":{"rendered":"Union calls out Social Security Admin. on bargaining status of judges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Correction: Additional comments were added from SSA on Aug. 10 saying the agency had responded to congressional inquiry.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A class of administrative law judges hired to help reduce case backlogs at the Social Security Administration is unfairly being denied collective bargaining rights enjoyed by their colleagues at the agency, according to a union seeking to represent them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Judges adjudicating disability claims for SSA\u2019s National Hearing Center, created in 2007 to process cases from overworked local offices, are considered supervisory employees and thus excluded from unions by law. In practice, these employees say they don\u2019t get to exercise the supervisory authority they\u2019ve been granted, and therefore the reason for their exclusion is weakened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook at the position description for bargaining unit judges in the hearing offices: it\u2019s identical to those at the national hearing centers,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/aalj.org\/blog-news-and-events\/listen-to-an-interview-with-aalj-president-som-ramrup-double-breasted-judges-within-the-social-security-administration\" target=\"_blank\">Som Ramrup, <\/a>president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges Council 1 union. \u201cWhat both sets of judges do is hear and decide cases. There\u2019s really no reason to have this dual system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The judgeships were created when the center was stood up to address hundreds of thousands of pending hearings. Judges could adjudicate claims remotely, allowing them to assist beleaguered local offices around the country. Since many hearings went remote during the pandemic and the agency has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/agency\/performance\/materials\/2023\/SSA_FYs21-23_APR_Signed.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">dramatically decreased its pending hearings<\/a>, these judges function more and more like their unionized counterparts, said Ramrup.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2021\/06\/21\/set-up-to-fail-ssa-judges-have-long-faced-too-high-productivity-expectations\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-157585743.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Set up to fail: SSA judges have long faced \u2018too high\u2019 productivity expectations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Judges who oversee Social Security disability benefits appeals are expected to issue at least 500 decisions a year, a metric that has proven difficult to meet in the many years since its introduction.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s true that position descriptions for both judges are identical, Nicole Tiggemann, an agency spokesperson, confirmed in a statement. However, \u201cNHC [judges] currently have the authority to hire, direct, reward, suspend, discipline, or remove employees, decide grievances, and evaluate their performance,\u201d she said. These are all supervisory duties that distinguish between union eligibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having those authorities is not the same as being able to fully act on them, said one national hearing center judge who spoke to Federal Times on the condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have no discretion over which attorneys I\u2019m supervising,\u201d the judge said. \u201cThey are assigned to me by management, and [they] can be transferred or reassigned at management\u2019s discretion at any time. And that happens throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Employees and union leaders are calling calling on the agency to review and rectify the bargaining status of these employees, which the White House in January addressed<a href=\"https:\/\/chcoc.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/Reviewing-BUS-under-the-FSLMRS-with-Memo%201-26-2023_508_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"> via guidance<\/a> to all federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s an insult to the president that it still exists, because the Biden administration certainly directed federal agencies to identify whether or not bargaining unit positions were correctly excluded from coverage,\u201d said Ramrup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A 15-year battle<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the time the national hearing center was created, the number of pending cases had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/policy\/docs\/ssb\/v70n3\/v70n3p27.html\" target=\"_blank\">doubled over six years.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the end of fiscal 2022, the agency logged the lowest number of pending hearings in two decades, the agency reported. However, the pandemic caused an uptick in wait times because public offices closed, and still today, it\u2019s a priority of the agency to improve efficiency and service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Modern judges continue to do work in \u201ca high-volume environment,\u201d per a Government Accountability Office report from 2021. There are about 1,700 federal administrative law judges nationwide, of which about 1,500 work for SSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because of the nature of the work and the long-term improvements slated for the agency, non-union judges say they should be able to benefit from union representation that can guarantee free and open discussion of workloads, performance issues and ways to improve hearings processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d said one judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2020\/12\/09\/social-security-leaders-receive-double-no-confidence-votes\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18156666990093.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Social Security leaders receive double \u2018no confidence\u2019 votes<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Feds from two separate employee organizations voted overwhelmingly that they did not have confidence in Social Security Administration Leadership.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome of those judges are retaliated against,\u201d Ramrup said. \u201cThey\u2019re isolated. There are changes to their working conditions that are not bargained, and they\u2019re really subject to the whims of the managers at SSA without the protection of the union.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ramrup said the situation has not changed even despite recent Congressional attention. Last year, five senators sent a letter to acting commission Kilolo Kijakazi, asking what barriers stood in the way of transferring employees to the bargaining unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSince the creation of the NHCs, the purported \u2018supervisory\u2019 duties of NHC judges have essentially been eliminated, and the position of NHC [administrative law judge] is for all purposes the same as the position of bargaining unit ALJ,\u201d said the letter signed by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acting on OPM\u2019s recommendations and in step with the administration\u2019s pro-labor stance is an opportunity to \u201cfinally correct the anti-union exclusion of NHC ALJs from the AALJ bargaining unit,\u201d according to Brown\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agency\u2019s spokesperson said SSA responded to Sen. Brown on June 9 and Nov. 28, 2022. Sen. Brown\u2019s office did confirm that it received a response dated June 9 in a follow-up inquiry from Federal Times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2008 and 2011, federal labor authorities got involved and issued opposing decisions on the judges\u2019 eligibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The union filed a grievance against the agency\u2019s initial move to create the NHC and solicit job candidates without consulting its members. Throughout arbitration, the question of eligibility came up, and it was determined as a sideline issue that the positions at the national hearing center were union eligible as there was no evidence to show that these judges \u201cactually performed any supervisory duties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/fedlife\/lifestyle\/2023\/04\/12\/social-security-administration-ranks-as-worst-federal-workplace\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1391173662.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Social Security Administration ranks as worst federal workplace<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Federal employee engagement and satisfaction fell for the second year in a row and only four of the 17 large agencies improved their score from 2021.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, that decision was overturned three years later by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, though it did determine the agency committed an unfair labor practice by acting with hostility toward the union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Employees and union leaders are calling calling on the agency to review and rectify the bargaining status of these employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":74516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":66,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[66,31,15,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3269],"class_list":["post-25925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-management","category-home","category-management","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QAPGLBOAXZCO7D56POCZJ4CGVU","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/career\/2023\/08\/08\/union-calls-out-social-security-admin-on-bargaining-status-of-judges\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Union calls out Social Security Admin. on bargaining status of judges - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Employees and union leaders are calling calling on the agency to review and rectify the bargaining status of these employees.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Union calls out Social Security Admin. on bargaining status of judges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Employees and union leaders are calling calling on the agency to review and rectify the bargaining status of these employees.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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