Blantant Fraud, Waste, And Abuse Still Ongoing At WBDOC – And Bears Too

22 July 2012

By PPRN News Staff

This is a follow up to the story we ran on April 20, 2012 entitled, “Social Security Administration letting tax dollars go up in smoke“, and it seems as though nothing has changed.

Pat, the Social Security employee who first alerted us to the problem and later verified by other employees, sent us this email:

“Hi again! Sorry to bother you but it’s gotten worse, and to the point I’ve put in my retirement papers. I can’t handle the stress anymore. It’s making me sick just to walk in the place.  In fact, the lady who handles retirements is overwhelmed with requests.

We were sent a couple of emails about the smoking. One was from the head of our Local, and the other was from Baltimore management. The union gal had said she was against the smoking ban, and the other email was about the ban and how people can’t leave the property to smoke outside the break and lunch times (and they ignore that too). I’ve added them to this email.

Hope all is good with you guys. That article went around here and people were talking about it in whispers. Alot of them said it was spot on and others were blaming people for talking. I knew it was going to happen. Thanks for protecting my identity like that.”

Pat provided PPRN News with the emails that were sent to SSA employees from the head of the local union, AFGE Local 2809, Gloria Hartman which in part stated:

“As many of you have heard, when the 2012 AFGE/SSA Contract goes into effect on July 16, 2012, there is a ban on smoking on SSA property. This is included in Article 9 Section 16.

I would like you to know, as a smoker, I did not agree to this. In the Ratification Meeting on June 6, 2012, I recommended we vote “no” to ratifying the contract because of this issue. All in attendance agreed and voted to NOT RATIFY the conceptual contract.

…

To accept the contract, the majority of components must vote “Yes” to ratify. The Field Offices/TSR’s, Office of Quality Review, Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, and PSC’s all voted to ratify the contract. Therefore, the contract was accepted.” (emphasis added)

The management’s email read:

“As a result of the 2012 National Agreement, smoking will be banned on any SSA-controlled property or premises effective Monday, July 16, 2012. 　This includes stand-alone facilities such as the Headquarters (Baltimore, MD) complex, the Wilkes-Barre Data Operations Center, the Birmingham SSA Center, etc. It also includes stand-alone Field Offices and Hearing Offices. The policy does not apply to facilities where SSA offices are co-located with other federal or private organizations. At these locations, the General Services Administration (GSA) or state regulations will continue to apply. This policy also applies to members of the public, as well as all SSA employees and its federal contractors.

As a reminder, there are no contractual provisions for “smoke breaks.” Absences from the workplace related to smoking will be treated as any other absence from the workplace. ” (emphasis added)

A quick call to Pat confirmed that not only were the unauthorized breaks continuing, but they would as long as 15 to 20 minutes at approximately the same time as before the smoking ban was put in place, but there are some people who are returning back from scheduled breaks and lunches 5 minutes past the end of the break