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American Federation of Government Employees

American labor union

Field	Value
name	American Federation of Government Employees
location_country	United States
affiliation	AFL–CIO
members	321,000 (2025)
image	[[File:AFGE-Official-Logo.png	250px]]
abbreviation	AFGE
founded	August 18, 1932
type	Labor union
headquarters	Washington, D.C.
leader_title	President
leader_name	Everett Kelley
website

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is an American labor union representing over 820,000 employees of the federal government and the District of Columbia. AFGE is the largest union for civilian, non-postal federal employees and the largest union for District of Columbia employees who report directly to the mayor (i.e., outside D.C. public schools). It is affiliated with the AFL–CIO.

AFGE is a federation of local unions, with each local maintaining autonomy through operating under local constitutions that comply with the AFGE national constitution ratified during its founding in 1932. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C.

Labor relations in the federal sector are governed by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, an independent federal agency, and federal sector unions have recourse to binding arbitration and to the Federal Services Impasses Panel to resolve impasses. Under and , federal employees are prohibited from striking against the United States government, and doing so is a criminal offense.

History

Since the Lloyd–La Follette Act of 1912, federal and postal employees have been granted the right to join and form labor organizations. The act also prohibits federal employees from striking. Prior to the establishment of AFGE, a small number of federal workers were represented by the Knights of Labor and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE). The NFFE received a charter from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1917. AFGE was founded in August 1932 by local unions affiliated with the AFL that broke away from the NFFE after it became independent of the AFL. AFGE's motto was established as "To Do For All That Which No One Can Do For Oneself". Its original emblem was a shield with the stars and stripes and the words "Justice, Fraternity, Progress".

AFGE’s constituent units were referred to as lodges until 1968, when they were renamed locals. A local may represent a single bargaining unit or multiple bargaining units, depending on the agency.

Executive Order 10988 issued by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 granted federal employees the right to collective bargaining. Federal employees' right to organize and bargain binding labor contracts was established in law by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which AFGE helped to draft, and which states that collective bargaining in the federal sector is in the public interest while also barring the right to strike.

AFGE filed a series of lawsuits in the 2000s that resulted in the suspension of key components of the George W. Bush administration’s National Security Personnel System at the Department of Defense and the MaxHR personnel system at the Department of Homeland Security. The union also supported legislative changes intended to create a more balanced process for contracting-out decisions affecting federal employees.

Employees of the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, elected AFGE as their union representative in June 2011, adding approximately 39,000 workers to the union’s representation.

In August 2015, AFGE at its national convention decided its official colors are blue and gold.

In April 2025, a coalition of labor unions including AFGE, non-profit organizations, and local governments sued President Donald Trump, United States federal executive departments, and Trump's second cabinet over the federal mass layoffs in his second term in the lawsuit AFGE v. Trump.

The current emblem is three workers supporting a globe with a map of the United States and the words "Proud to Make America Work".

Organization

Henrietta Olding, shown here in 1917, was an early vice president of District 2 and a labor and women’s rights activist.

AFGE is led by a National Executive Council, made up of a National President, National Secretary-Treasurer, National Vice President for Women's and Fair Practices, and 12 National Vice Presidents who oversee geographic districts and are elected at District caucuses.

Presidents

:1932: David R. Glass :1932: John Arthur Shaw :1933: Claude Babcock :1936: Charles Irwin Stengle :1939: Cecil E. Custer :1939: James B. Burns :1948: James G. Yaden :1950: Henry C. Iler :1951: James A. Campbell :1962: John Griner :1972: Clyde M. Webber :1976: Ken Blaylock :1988: John Sturdivant :1997: Bobby Harnage :2003: John Gage :2012: Jeffrey David Cox :2020: Everett Kelley

Secretary-Treasurers

:1935: Berniece Heffner :1953: Henrietta E. Olding :1956: Esther F. Johnson :1970: Douglas H. Kershaw :1974: Nicholas Nolan :1986: Allen H. Kaplan :1991: Bobby Harnage :1997: Rita Mason :2000: Jim Davis :2006: Jeffrey David Cox :2012: Eugene Hudson :2018: Everett Kelley :2020: Eric Bunn

Districts

AFGE ball cap from the 1980s.

AFGE is divided into twelve geographic districts, each with its own regional office. The twelve districts are:

District 2: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont
District 3: Delaware, Pennsylvania
District 4: Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
District 5: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
District 6: Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio
District 7: Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin
District 8: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
District 9: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
District 10: Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Panama
District 11: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Guam, Okinawa
District 12: Arizona, Hawaii, California, Nevada
District 14: D.C., Maryland (Prince George's County, Montgomery County), Virginia (Fairfax County, Prince William County), Europe

Councils of Locals

AFGE rally against Department of Veterans Affair budget cuts, 2012.

For AFGE, collective bargaining responsibilities are delegated to numbered "Councils of Locals" at major agencies, including the following:

AFGE DEFCON
AFGE Federal Fire Fighter Steering Committee
AFGE Federal Law Enforcement Council
Federal Protective Service Council
The Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA) Council
National Border Patrol Council
National Council of Prisons Locals
National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals
National Council of VA Locals
TSA Council
ICE Council
CIS Council
Coast Guard Council
Defense Contract Management Agency
DFAS Council of Locals
Midwest Council of Food Inspection Locals
Air Force Materiel Command Locals
National Council of EEOC Locals
National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals
National Council of HUD Locals
EPA Locals
Council of NARA Locals

Membership

All federal sector union membership is voluntary, as the law prohibits closed shops. Federal employees are barred from being candidates for partisan political office, and no dues money may be spent on partisan political campaigns.

AFGE began with 562 members in 1932 and quickly grew to 37,199 members across 328 lodges (now locals) by 1936.

Dues-paying membership was reported as 197,096 at the end of fiscal year 2000. This number peaked in fiscal year 2018 with 332,977 members. By 2024, the number was 319,825. Approximately 42% of AFGE membership came from the National VA Council in 2024.

References

(10 February 2025). "AFGE Membership Highest in History as Government Workers Join in Droves to Stand Up for Public Service". www.afge.org.
(22 April 2015). "AFGE at a Glance".
"Our Affiliated Unions {{!}} AFL-CIO".
(1975). "Collective Bargaining for Public Management (state and Local)". U.S. Civil Service Commission, Bureau of Training, Labor Relations Training Center.
(January 2013). "Workers in America: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]". Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
(11 January 2023). "A Time in History: AFGE Defeats NSPS".
(13 November 2014). "Another AFGE Victory as DHS Drops Appeal in Personnel System Lawsuit".
(23 June 2011). "TSA workers elect AFGE as union representative".
(18 February 2016). "National Officers' Bios".
(2007). "Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-class History". Taylor & Francis.
(1973). "Notable Names in American History". James T. White & Company.
(12 March 2020). "Perspective {{!}} He was a Baptist pastor for 31 years. Now he leads the largest federal labor union.". The Washington Post.
(3 May 2016). "Districts".
"Archived copy".
"afgefirefighters.org".
"AFGE Law Enforcement Committee |".
"National Border Patrol Council - Protecting Those Who Protect Our Borders".
(23 January 2017). "AFGE - CPL33".
"National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals".
"AFGE National VA Council » fighting for the jobs & future of federal employees".
"Home - AFGE Council 100".
"National ICE Council - Protecting those who protect America".
"AFGE LOCAL 1458 - National CIS Council 119 Secretary Treasurer Lopez announces vote tally 1/04/14".
"Union Facts - Government Employees, Council 120 - United States Coast Guard Council Of Afge Locals - Profile, Membership, Leaders, Political Operations, etc.".
"Afgec170.org - afgec170 Resources and Information".
"Former AFGE171 Main Page".
"The-Inspector The Meat Inspectors Home Page".
"AFGE Council 214".
"Council 216 Main Page".
"AFGE Council 220".
Name, Your. "HUD AFGE COUNCIL 222 Home Page".
(2 April 2024). "Home • AFGE Council 238". afge238.org.
"afgecouncil260.org".
"500-002 (LM2) 12/31/2024".
"Government Employees Union".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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