The Association of Administrative Law Judges/IFPTE (AALJ) invites you to become a member of a powerful, influential and committed corps of professionals. The AALJ advocates on behalf of its members to ensure judicial independence for Social Security judges and due process protections for the Americans we serve.
A fully engaged and committed membership makes for a stronger Union, and the AALJ has proven that it gets results for its members. This is no more evident than with the newly negotiated collective bargaining agreement (CBA). For the first time in its history, the AALJ leadership has successfully negotiated a fully agreed upon, seven-year CBA with unprecedented gains for its members in terms of professionalism and work-life balance. This new contract affords maximum flexibility to bargaining unit members in terms of work-life balance, and contains a host of other significant benefits. This contract shows that the AALJ can deliver for members on issues that matter to them, that collective action benefits members and that membership matters at the bargaining table. More importantly, you can feel confident that the AALJ will protect your interests with this new contract. Among the many highlights, the new contract establishes an any-80 type of biweekly work period which expands both the available work hours and the number of hours judges may work in one day. The contract enables members to telework anywhere in the United States, and unties telework from any production standard.
The new agreement re-establishes that SSA ALJs are APA-appointed judges and that their decisions must be free from influence to ensure due process protections for claimants. We invite you to review the new CBA here and see for yourself how the AALJ has made significant improvements for its members.
At this time, the AALJ is actively lobbying on Capitol Hill on a number of legislative initiatives including:
CBA Spotlight
- Expanded daily time band of 5:00am-10pm
- Allows up to 12 hours of work per day
- Telework de-linked from scheduling of hearings
- Judges permitted two telework locations
- No more two-hour rule
- Maximum telework posture
- Additional equipment for use at home
- Bar dues and CLE reimbursement
- Transfer list retained
- CBA training for all judges
- Increased duty time for retirement planning
- Adjustable benches in new hearing room buildouts
- Enhanced leave provisions, including voting and bereavement leave
- Repealing the SSA regulation allowing non-APA attorney examiners to conduct disability hearings;
- Restoring ALJs to the competitive service;
- Addressing pay compression among professional federal employees;
- Ensuring that all bargaining unit members are correctly classified and capable of joining the bargaining unit; and
- Enhancing safety measures for administrative law judges.
The AALJ can only pursue these legislative efforts with the support of its members.
As a member, you will have a voice and the right to run for local, regional or national AALJ office and vote in AALJ elections. You will have access to a wealth of resources in our members’ only library. You will be able to volunteer to serve on labor-management committees to improve judges’ working conditions. The work of these committees happens on Official Time and may involve travel.
The AALJ serves all of the judges in its bargaining unit, but can do more with your support. To join today, click here. If you have any questions about joining, please contact AALJ Secretary Kimberly Schiro. If you wish to speak to a member in your local area, Judge Schiro can also connect you with your LAR and/or Regional Vice President.