Biden wants RTO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

I do wonder what will happen if the Rs win the trifecta in 2024. They will be on the warpath. At a minimum both FBI and DOJ will be thoroughly gutted and FBI may even be completely closed down and revamped into something else. And here's the thing, I can't entirely blame the Rs either. A lot of corrupt stuff definitely happened at the FBI and to a certain extent the DOJ as part of the "resistance". But as for other agencies. Who knows.

[Anonymous]

So this news was not good, but I am going to try to sit tight to see what exactly my particular agency is going to do differently before having a strong response. My main concern is that we have given up a lot of physical space, and it is important to me to continue to have an office (at least a hoteled/shared one) for in-office days. However, we don't have enough of them now for people to come in more than 1-2 days per week. At this point in my career, an office is a non-negotiable for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

Or maybe Biden is doing the right, and even the Democratic, thing. Democrats typically support urban centers and those areas are the most hurt by 100% WFH. As for the right thing, maybe WFH folks need to think about more than themselves. In fact, the world is pretty interconnected and the ramifications of urban decay can easily feed to areas where WFH folks thought they were isolated. The pandemic has made people extremely selfish.

Why the fudge should I care about issues like urban decay. Sure, "because we live in a society." But why us? No one cared to pay us enough to live there, so why is this one sided? If you want us to care now, you should have at least pretended to care about us.

[Anonymous]

They’re not talking about returning to office all 5 days of the week. Why is everyone losing their $hit over this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

Or maybe Biden is doing the right, and even the Democratic, thing. Democrats typically support urban centers and those areas are the most hurt by 100% WFH. As for the right thing, maybe WFH folks need to think about more than themselves. In fact, the world is pretty interconnected and the ramifications of urban decay can easily feed to areas where WFH folks thought they were isolated. The pandemic has made people extremely selfish.

Why the fudge should I care about issues like urban decay. Sure, "because we live in a society." But why us? No one cared to pay us enough to live there, so why is this one sided? If you want us to care now, you should have at least pretended to care about us.

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

Or maybe Biden is doing the right, and even the Democratic, thing. Democrats typically support urban centers and those areas are the most hurt by 100% WFH. As for the right thing, maybe WFH folks need to think about more than themselves. In fact, the world is pretty interconnected and the ramifications of urban decay can easily feed to areas where WFH folks thought they were isolated. The pandemic has made people extremely selfish.

Why the fudge should I care about issues like urban decay. Sure, "because we live in a society." But why us? No one cared to pay us enough to live there, so why is this one sided? If you want us to care now, you should have at least pretended to care about us.

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

You expect a lot. We are no gods, we are no angles like you.

[Anonymous]

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

I work in the area of protecting the environment, so sorry, increasing commuting does not resonate with me. I also can't afford to live in the community in which my job is physically located, thus a fairly long commute.

[Anonymous]

They’re not talking about returning to office all 5 days of the week. Why is everyone losing their $hit over this?

I'm not losing my $hit, it is very frustrating, given that I have scheduled my kids' multiple therapies around thinking that I would only have to commute two days per pay period (if I am at home I can either use about an hour, vs. about 3 hours of leave, or do it in the early evening, since I have no commute). Now I may have to try to unwind that or pay someone to take them to them as scheduled. It definitely doesn't reflect appreciation for all of the extra hours I have put in for this job, and the work-related travel I already do, which takes me away from my family during non-business hours. I'm likely not quitting the job over it, but it's not a good thing for me or my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

I work in the area of protecting the environment, so sorry, increasing commuting does not resonate with me. I also can't afford to live in the community in which my job is physically located, thus a fairly long commute.

Exactly, this hits harder for employees in large metro areas, especially for DC. That’s my main problem with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

Or maybe Biden is doing the right, and even the Democratic, thing. Democrats typically support urban centers and those areas are the most hurt by 100% WFH. As for the right thing, maybe WFH folks need to think about more than themselves. In fact, the world is pretty interconnected and the ramifications of urban decay can easily feed to areas where WFH folks thought they were isolated. The pandemic has made people extremely selfish.

Why the fudge should I care about issues like urban decay. Sure, "because we live in a society." But why us? No one cared to pay us enough to live there, so why is this one sided? If you want us to care now, you should have at least pretended to care about us.

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

I care about my community! With WFH I can support small businesses in my community. I can be more flexible with things like maitainence work time slots, which makes their jobs easier. And most importantly by saving on commute time, I have time/energy to actually volunteer in my community. And by spending more time in my actual community I get to know people better and strengthen the community bonds. It’s a weird flex to claim that my office downtown is my “community.” it’s not and never has been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

Or maybe Biden is doing the right, and even the Democratic, thing. Democrats typically support urban centers and those areas are the most hurt by 100% WFH. As for the right thing, maybe WFH folks need to think about more than themselves. In fact, the world is pretty interconnected and the ramifications of urban decay can easily feed to areas where WFH folks thought they were isolated. The pandemic has made people extremely selfish.

Why the fudge should I care about issues like urban decay. Sure, "because we live in a society." But why us? No one cared to pay us enough to live there, so why is this one sided? If you want us to care now, you should have at least pretended to care about us.

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

This motivation is part of why some of us make so little, and thus live so far away. Most of our work is regional, national, or international, and I'm on Teams calls with people in other locations half of every day. So why is downtown DC "my community," and not the place I live, where my kids are growing up, or the places my work impacts?

I'm only going to "help" DC by burning gas, there literally isn't a single metro stop, coffee shop, or lunch place I can walk to in less than half an hour (which is the full length of my lunch break). Hard to see the positive impact for society there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

Or maybe Biden is doing the right, and even the Democratic, thing. Democrats typically support urban centers and those areas are the most hurt by 100% WFH. As for the right thing, maybe WFH folks need to think about more than themselves. In fact, the world is pretty interconnected and the ramifications of urban decay can easily feed to areas where WFH folks thought they were isolated. The pandemic has made people extremely selfish.

Why the fudge should I care about issues like urban decay. Sure, "because we live in a society." But why us? No one cared to pay us enough to live there, so why is this one sided? If you want us to care now, you should have at least pretended to care about us.

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

What did DC ever do for Federal employees, besides have a horrible Metro system and charge high prices for parking? They treat us like we’re a bank account. What about the high paid lawyers and lobbyists, why not ask them for money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a bad move. I'm a DOJ attorney, and constantly evaluating my private sector options. If WFH is reduced, I'll go with the money, understanding that I am being paid more and going in at least as often.

And the DOJ will replace you in a heartbeat. Bye!

Same, we have all of these people in their 60s and 70s threatening to retire if we return to the office and although I’d rather stay home too I hope we go back just enough for them all to retire from the jobs they’ve been sitting in for decades.

+1. They all believe they're irreplaceable. Call their bluff.

No one is replaceable but it takes a loooooooooong time to hire even one. If a few leave, that program will suffer

No, it really won't. Back in the Bush II administration, all of our vacancies were taken away, we were cut to whatever FTE on-board count we were at the moment.

And we didn't suffer. Instead we had to really think about which positions to replace.

There's a LOT of fluff and we all know it.

That is definitely not my experience. It takes us a year or two to replace someone and for the most part their work doesn't go away. I only know of one position in my division that was taken off the org chart - the only admin assistant, so now another division's admin assistant and a retired part time contractor do her work.

Yes, eventually the others will be replaced, but our work suffers in quality and timeliness for the year or two each position is vacant because everyone's covering multiple jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

They’re not talking about returning to office all 5 days of the week. Why is everyone losing their $hit over this?

I'm not losing my $hit, it is very frustrating, given that I have scheduled my kids' multiple therapies around thinking that I would only have to commute two days per pay period (if I am at home I can either use about an hour, vs. about 3 hours of leave, or do it in the early evening, since I have no commute). Now I may have to try to unwind that or pay someone to take them to them as scheduled. It definitely doesn't reflect appreciation for all of the extra hours I have put in for this job, and the work-related travel I already do, which takes me away from my family during non-business hours. I'm likely not quitting the job over it, but it's not a good thing for me or my kids.

What did you do before 2020? My kids were young before telework existed, and I had to use a lot of my leave for those types of things. It's nice to save your leave for just "fun" stuff, but this is life with kids.

It's this type of privilege that pisses the rest of the country off about Feds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re now seriously arguing that if Trump were president he wouldn’t be ordering federal workers back to the office? Really?

No Ms. Strawman, we are not arguing that because Trump is not in office and its irrelevant.
Really.

Only replying to the poster who said they wouldn’t vote Biden 2024 because of RTO. Republicans are much more hellbent on making life difficult for Feds.

This is not as clear an issue as you'd think, and I'll take my chances with a Republican if Biden continues this nonsense. For example, the former chair of FDIC was a Republican and was very pro-WFH, then she quit and now her successor, who is a Democrat, has been endlessly trying to find ways to undercut WFH, even though the CBA allows full-time WFH for most employees. The Republican former chair was pro-WFH because she thought it was good for cutting costs associated with expensive building leases.

Also, if you look back historically, pay raises for federal employees have been more generous under Republican administrations. Remember all those pay freezes under Obama? (Don't rely on the pay raise that happened in the past year, which was an anomaly in the grand scheme.)

I'm a Democrat, but while most stuff that happens at the national level really doesn't impact me, forcing me to go back to the office absolutely does, and so for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican president if Biden continues this effort.

I’m a fed who loves telework and think the RTO pitch is definitely driven by private sector financial interests. And I’m not some huge fan of Biden either, but there’s no way I’m voting Republican when women’s reproductive rights are being taken away and guns are one of the top killers of children in this country. I’m not giving up my morals in some total gamble that maybe a Republican will be more telework friendly. Also, remember which party is trying to decrease the power of unions, which have a huge part in negotiating telework agreements at many agencies.

It’s just such a bizarre take to vote R over this.

1. Reproductive rights aren't changing for the better anytime soon. That battle is lost. The Supreme Court is 6-3.
2. Gun deaths are out of control in DC. What have Biden and Boswer done to prevent these gun deaths?
3. How is Biden honoring unions when he seems to believe that he can single-handedly force federal employees back to the office?

Maybe you should start demanding that Biden actually show some results for your vote.

We know that Republicans that currently lead the party will make life hell for Federal employees.
I mean, Biden should do better, but he knows we have no other real options.

Or maybe Biden is doing the right, and even the Democratic, thing. Democrats typically support urban centers and those areas are the most hurt by 100% WFH. As for the right thing, maybe WFH folks need to think about more than themselves. In fact, the world is pretty interconnected and the ramifications of urban decay can easily feed to areas where WFH folks thought they were isolated. The pandemic has made people extremely selfish.

Why the fudge should I care about issues like urban decay. Sure, "because we live in a society." But why us? No one cared to pay us enough to live there, so why is this one sided? If you want us to care now, you should have at least pretended to care about us.

I never understand selfish civil servants who don’t care about their communities. Why did you get into this line of work if you don’t care about broader issues in society?

What did DC ever do for Federal employees, besides have a horrible Metro system and charge high prices for parking? They treat us like we’re a bank account. What about the high paid lawyers and lobbyists, why not ask them for money?

Yep. And to the extent that Rs are claiming they care about DC’s economic wellbeing - how about authorizing a commutet tax?