Union and management confer at Kirtland AFB Published April 13, 2006 By Mara Minwegen 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Air Force Materiel Command senior executive service officials and command level American Federation of Government Employees Council 214 representatives met for a Partnership Council meeting here April 6 and 7. The regularly scheduled meeting addressed issues of concern relating to the Partnership Agreement between AFMC and AFGE. The meeting was preceded by two days of training on the Mindset of Leadership . Kirtland AFGE Local 2263 and Kirtland management officials participated in this training, along with Labor Relations Officers and union officials from across the command. The focus of the training was improving communication in order to improve the working relationships between union and management at all levels. “Management and union know there’s a different point of view and try to listen to each other. For the longest time we didn’t have a partnership on the base, no communication except the grievance process,” Local 2263 president Francisco Smalls said. “What we’re trying to do now is to bring alternative dispute resolution back on line. The training has validated everything we’re already doing.” Barbara A. Westgate, AFMC executive director and Scott Blanch, AFGE Council 214 president briefly met with participants of the training April 5. “There are lots of new people who come – you need to create an environment of collaboration and communication. Elections provide a perfect opportunity to get people off on the right foot,” Mrs. Westgate said, referring to newly elected representatives. The training is intended to reach all levels of union and management relations. “The Partnership council has a good relationship at the senior levels – we wanted to push this down to individual bases… to have a smoother working relationship,” Mr. Blanch said. The leadership agreed that the importance of the talks extends beyond individual issues and into enhancing the ability of the command and the Air Force to attend to the mission. “It’s not a labor and management issue, it’s an Air Force issue,” said Mrs. Westgate. Agenda issues for the talks were those of command-wide significance. One highly visible issue, particularly after the recent decision by U.S. District Court Judge Emmett G. Sullivan, was the National Security Personnel System . Both sides will try to understand each other’s position and work their way through to implementation, said Mrs. Westgate. Another key action item was the availability of information technology, said Mr. Blanch. As career information and what used to be necessary paper work is increasingly accessed on-line, it has become apparent that many employees have neither access to nor the skills necessary to handle these items via computer. Civilian wellness concerns, such as the availability of facilities and time to use them commensurate with that of military members and the Civilian Orientation course, an orientation to the military for civilian employees, were on the agenda. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Volunteer Protection Program, designed to reduce on the job injuries and claims, was also slated to be discussed. The leaders agreed that while the concept of partnership is not perhaps the buzzword it once was, the real job of making it work has begun in earnest. “We’ve managed to stick together and we’re having successes. We’re in partnership because it’s a good way to do business,” Mrs. Westgate said.