FCC HQ Move Timing Still Uncertain; 87% of Staff Backs Waiting for Vaccine Before Return
The timing of the FCC’s move to new headquarters remains uncertain, and 87% of frontline FCC employees hope to telework full time until an effective COVID-19 vaccine is in wide use and the pandemic “subsides,” said a survey by the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 209, which represents FCC employees. “At this juncture, I can’t provide you with a definite timeline for these next steps” in the agency's relocation, wrote FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry in an agencywide email at the end of September. “But I hope to be able to do so in mid-October.”
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The boxed contents of offices from the agency’s former Washington headquarters at the Portals building have been moved into the new building at 45 L St. NE, near Union Station, and IT systems and telephones are being installed. But FCC employees otherwise aren’t currently working from the building, said Berry’s email. An FCC spokesperson affirmed Berry’s email but declined to comment on the move's current progress or status.
With its former building packed up and new offices not yet available, the FCC is technically “homeless,” said NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan during a panel for the virtual Radio Show Thursday. “I’ve heard from many of you who you are eager to get into the new building and see, unpack, and set up your new workspaces,” said Berry in the email. “We hope to be able to provide those interested with an opportunity to do that in a safe and socially distanced manner.” That opportunity would be wholly voluntary, Berry said.
“NTEU remains concerned about the procedures for allowing employees into the new workspaces,” emailed Chapter 209 President Tracy Bridgham. The union, she said, would like to see "a detailed plan explaining the safety procedures for employees; oversight of cleaning and disinfecting work; and assurances that everyone associated with the new facility is following” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and General Services Administration “standards, including air filtration and circulation.”
Bridgham praised the FCC’s willingness to allow telework during the pandemic. NTEU’s survey also found 61 percent of front-line FCC employees said they would like to telework full time after the health crisis is over, Bridgham said. She said the agency is considering an NTEU proposal on compensating employees for office supplies they purchased for use during the pandemic.
FCC employees, speaking on background, said they have been pleased with the agency’s handling of a complicated relocation during the pandemic, and are especially happy with Berry. They compared the commission’s COVID-19 response favorably with those of other federal agencies. For example, the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238 on Oct. 5 cast a vote of no-confidence in the Environmental Protection Agency's leadership over its handling of COVID-19 and teleworking for its employees.
Attorneys who regularly deal with the FCC told us they haven’t seen much change in its performance since shifting to telework. Many had been dealing more often with agency staff via email before the pandemic, an attorney said. During the Radio Show panel, Kaplan said the FCC’s telework status means it's no longer possible to speak with a wide range of staff during a visit to the building, but COVID-19 travel restrictions meant FCC commissioners and their staffs are more available for meetings. Bureau staffers have become more communicative with the pandemic ongoing, he said. “I’ve probably talked to them way more over this six months as opposed to the [previous] six months,” said Kaplan. Berry ended his email to say that he took a tour of the new FCC headquarters and was impressed: “In my humble opinion, it is a much nicer and more modern building than our Portals headquarters.”