by AUD Staff
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 62 represents federal employees based in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania metropolitan area and has recently held an election that has left some members questioning whether their democratic rights have been violated. The election in question was conducted last November (2025), with the incumbent leadership being challenged by a reform caucus known as “Reformers AFGE Local 62”. The Reformers fielded candidates for President, Executive Vice President, and Trustee (a position on the union’s executive board) and announced their intentions thusly on their website;
“Our movement was born out of frustration with the way our union has been run — too often, decisions are made without transparency, accountability, or true member input. We believe our local can and should do better.
We’re not paid staff or insiders. We’re everyday members who care deeply about the future of our union. We know that when elections are fair, leadership is accountable, and members’ voices are respected, our union becomes stronger and more effective for everyone. By organizing together, we aim to build a stronger, more democratic AFGE Local 62 that puts members first.”
Reform caucus supporter Linh Nguyen emphasized further “A core group of workers who had been talking about these issues realized that we weren’t going to get the internal accountability that we had hoped for, so we decided that our only chance was to form a slate of reform-minded candidates. We organized a group of rank-and-file members committed to transparency and restoring trust in the union. They were longtime federal employees who believed the union should function as it was intended: democratically, lawfully, and in service of its members.”
By their own account, the supporters of the Reform caucus candidates have faced numerous roadblocks in the course of the campaign. According to Linh, they “became aware that the election itself was being conducted improperly. Nominations were held months earlier than permitted under the bylaws, and the election committee had been improperly informed of this change. These were not minor procedural errors; they were foundational violations that directly affected members’ rights and the integrity of the process…Despite the active protests and unresolved complaints, Local 62 proceeded with the election and continued to commit additional serious violations. The election committee failed to notify all candidates prior to mailing out the ballots. Ballots were then returned to the Local Union post office box without any safeguards to ensure ballot custody or prevent improper access.”
As a result, “…multiple members filed protests with both District and National leadership. Despite the numerous complaints and a petition demanding a fair election that garnered more than 250 signatures, which included nearly 50 Local 62 members,” the national union leadership was unresponsive. As of December 2nd, ten election complaints have been filed by AFGE Local 62 members against their union. The petition in question also accused the union of failing to elect an election committee as specified by the union’s bylaws prior to the election campaign proper and severely hampering the ability of candidates to disseminate their literature to the membership i.e. the voters during the election itself.
The incumbent leadership won reelection handily with an approximately 50% membership turnout rate, according to the administration at AFGE local 62. The Reformers, however, are continuing with their election complaints and currently challenging the results. According to the aforementioned ally of the AFGE reformers, the struggle continues, further “A union that suppresses participation, retaliates against its own members, and misleads them is not merely ineffective; it undermines the very purpose of democratic unionism…Local 62’s story is not unique. Across the labor movement, unions are struggling with declining membership, disengagement, and distrust. But the solution is not more control or less transparency. It is more democracy, more accountability, and more courage from those willing to question the status quo….The members of Local 62 deserve a union that belongs to them, not one that governs through fear and silence.”
