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Command/Union Partnership Council assesses initiatives

  • Published
  • By Kathleen A.K. Lopez
  • Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Leading his first annual Joint National Labor-Management Meeting, Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander, Air Force Materiel Command, made clear in his opening remarks the value he places on the command's relationship with the American Federation of Government Employees Council 214.

"This is a command of nearly 80,000 people," he said. "Seventy percent of them are civilians. Many of them are members of your organization. You are the heart and soul of what we do in this command - to develop, acquire, test and sustain the systems we use to fight and win America's wars."

General Carlson, along with John Gage, AFGE AFL-CIO national president, met with AFMC headquarters directors, senior representatives of command centers and wings, AFGE local presidents and AFGE Council 214 officers July 26 at AFMC headquarters.

Co-chaired by Barbara A. Westgate, AFMC executive director, and Scott Blanch, AFGE Council 214 president, the Partnership Council includes four additional members of both management and labor, respectively.

The purpose for the annual meeting is two-fold, Mr. Blanch said. First, is to provide a status report on the council's activities and initiatives. Second, is to solicit input and approval to implement them.

Five subjects were briefed: The AFMC Orientation Course, the command's Wellness and Safety Campaign, the Voluntary Protection Program, alternative dispute resolution and program budget decisions.

Orientation Course
The AFMC Orientation Course is a computer-based training program created a year ago to get command civilians on par with their military colleagues as to knowledge of the command and the Air Force.

"We realized when we were developing command strategy based on command goals that one of the areas we had to focus on was competency development," said Leif Peterson, AFMC Manpower Personnel and Services director. "Unlike their military counterparts, when civilians begin their Air Force careers, many have little if any understanding of the command's or Air Force's mission, structure, heritage, core values, customs, courtesies, etc."

Spiral one of the course deployed March 3. It is composed of five modules. To date, there have been 3,000 course completions, Mr. Peterson said. The curriculum is in the process of being adopted Air Force-wide. Spiral two of the course is expected to deploy this fall.

Wellness and Safety Campaign
Brig. Gen. (Dr.) William Germann, AFMC command surgeon, briefed attendees on the status of the WASC, which debuted May 8. Specifically, he addressed results of the campaign's initial wellness survey, introduced during the command's second-quarter Wingman Week in May.

While the percentage of respondents was low (10 percent), the average wellness score on a scale of 1 to 25 was 20, he said. In addition to increasing that percentage to better represent the command, Dr. Germann hopes to increase civilian awareness of services available to them, as well as increase use of the AFMC Wellness home page, http://www.afmcwellness.com . The survey will next be made available during the command's fourth-quarter Wingman Week in November.

"The only asset in the Air Force that appreciates over time is people," General Carlson said. "When someone walks out the door unscheduled, I can't replace or find a substitute with the same level of experience."

Voluntary Protection Program
The VPP is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's official recognition of organizations that promote more effective workplaces by making them safer and healthier, thereby reducing lost work time and increasing quality of life. Chuck Pyron, AFMC Safety Directorate, updated the council.

"It's a working, cooperative relationship between management, labor and OSHA," Mr. Pyron said. "It's not a safety program, but rather a change in mindset where management, labor and employees actively take ownership of their work processes.

"We're in the process of assessing gap analyses, which measure where we are versus where we need to be in terms of improving workplace efficiency."

AFMC's involvement in the Secretary of Defense-directed participation in VPP was initiated in March. Of the 43 Defense Department installations selected, nine of them are Air Force. Five of the nine are AFMC installations.

Alternative Dispute Resolution
The continuing success of the Command ADR Program has allowed parties involved in a workplace dispute to voluntarily come together with a neutral third party, such as a mediator, to work to a mutually agreeable resolution, Mr. Peterson said. The process has proven effective in reducing the time associated with processing disputes.

"For example, the average time it takes to seek resolution of a formal EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) complaint had been 391 days," he said. "It can be disruptive and demoralizing to both the complainant and the organization when you have to wait that long."

Mr. Peterson shared how the command has reduced resolution time for all complaints and has exceeded the Air Force's goal of 45 days.

"The average process time for EEO complaints has dropped to 35 days; non-EEO complaints 26 days," he said. "Customer satisfaction surveys from people who have completed the dispute process have reported 94 percent 'very satisfied' or 'satisfied' with the ADR process, exceeding the Air Force goal of 80 percent."

Program Budget Decisions
Col. Dan Badger, AFMC Manpower and Personnel Directorate, gave updates and perspectives on PBDs. Colonel Badger discussed the Defense Department's budget shortfall, and the need to modernize and recapitalize assets, to include both Air Force programs and people. Cuts and reductions in systems, active-duty and Reserve members, government civilians and contractors are necessary to compensate for the budget shortfall.

"Things are still pre-decisional at this point," he said.

Emphasizing respect and trust
During the meeting, Mrs. Westgate and Mr. Blanch presented the AFMC-AFGE Local Partnership Council Best Practice Award. The award, which emphasizes teamwork, respect and trust, recognizes achievements of labor-management partnership councils at the local level within the command and covered by AFGE Council 214. Robins Air Force Base (Ga.)-Local AFGE 987 Partnership Council was this year's winner.