Union says Biden administration's new transgender policy violates labor rules

A union representing Social Security Administration employees wants Biden administration end a new “pronoun policy” related transgender workers, arguing it imposes  political views on members.

American Federation of Government Employees Local 2505 filed a grievance Friday over a policy announced internally on Wednesday called the “Policy on Prohibiting Discrimination, Including Harassment, Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Gender Expression.

The union, which represents 600 low-level employees in Oklahoma and Arkansas, said the policy changed restroom access, the dress code, and "created a new form with the employee’s name, gender identity, pronouns," according to the Daily Wire.

"All of the changes are violations of ... existing terms and conditions of employment," the grievance reads.

The union also say the changes having been made without advanced notice and the opportunity to bargain also violates its workers' terms and conditions of employment. 

Acting SSA Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi announced the policy Wednesday to employees with the subject "Building an Equitable and Inclusive Culture: Gender Identity."

“Soon, you will receive notice of a mandatory training to help you prepare for full implementation of the policy, which will happen on March 31, 2023," reads Kijakazi's email, the Daily wire also reports. 

The 27-page policy, obtained by the news outlet, defines the terms agender, bigender, cisgender, gender diverse, genderfluid, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and two-spirit, and lays out numerous ways in which the agency will support employees who wish to transition to one of those categories.

Ralph Dejuliis, the union local president, said two employees have already asked for a religious exemption.

A spokesman for the Social Security Administration responded to  the local chapter’s complaint, saying: "The allegations in this locally filed grievance are inaccurate. We have resolved the bargaining obligations associated with the referenced policy with all of the unions representing Social Security employees, at the national level."