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Partnership council continues making strides

  • Published
  • By Darren D. Heusel
  • Tinker Air Force Base Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE --  Labor and management officials joined forces this week with a view toward making the command a more exciting, productive and rewarding place to live and work during an Air Force Materiel Command Partnership Council meeting here.
   "We've made some great strides as an organization, but we've got to continue to be vigilant," AFMC Executive Director and co-chair Barbara Westgate told council members in her opening remarks to the two-day meeting Wednesday at Tinker.
   "We still have a lot of challenges ahead, but one of the good reasons for having this partnership council is so we can discuss those challenges and learn from each other," she added.
   From its beginnings in 1999, the AFMC and American Federation of Government Employees Council 214 Partnership Council has been committed to management and unions working together as partners for the good of AFMC.
   As that relationship has matured, officials have found that working collaboratively to resolve workplace issues is far better than the traditional bargaining process.
   "It is our hope that our council will lead by example and that our commitment to the partnership process will continue to improve labor-management relations throughout the command," Mrs. Westgate said.
   "When labor-management relations are good, even if there is disagreement on select issues, we see positive outlooks in workplaces and stronger commitments to the mission," she added.
   AFGE 214 President and co-chair Jon "Scott" Blanch, who had been out of pocket for a while because of an illness, returned to the roundtable discussions this week and was eager to get back to work.
   "I'm looking forward to getting back in the groove," he said. "I'm looking forward to these meetings and what we'll accomplish."
   At the heart of these latest discussions was Tinker's recent signing of a new Voluntary Protection Program mentorship agreement for advancing worker safety and health on the job.
   The agreement was signed June 18 by Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center Commander Maj. Gen. Loren M. Reno, AFGE Local 916 President James Schmidt, International Association of Fire Fighters F-211 President Todd Lambert and Yukon Xerox Corporation plant manager Michael Le.
   Mr. Schmidt said one of the reasons he believes the partnership council chose to have this latest round of discussions at Tinker was because of the VPP signing. He pointed out that labor and management have made tremendous strides over the past 12-18 months, signing a number of agreements.
   "I think that's part of the reason the partnership council is here," he said. "I think the council is interested in learning what steps we've taken to move this partnership forward."
   Mrs. Westgate, a member of the Senior Executive Service and the highest ranking civilian within AFMC, said the VPP signing at Tinker - only the second such agreement of its kind within the command - is a perfect example of how working collaboratively benefits the individual and the AFMC mission.
   She said the best private sector VPP sites on average experience a 60 percent reduction in injuries and illnesses and a 20 percent reduction in worker's compensation costs.
   "In a command of nearly 80,000 people, 70 percent of them are civilians and they are the heart and soul of what we do to meet Air Force challenges by looking toward the future," she said. "In the end, we owe it to the American taxpayer to continue looking at ways to develop, acquire, test and sustain the systems we use to fight and win America's wars."
   OC-ALC Executive Director John Over welcomed the partnership council and relished the opportunity to show council members some of the improvements taking place across the center.
   Other items discussed at the meetings included computer access for wage grade employees, workforce engagement, Base Realignment and Closure Commission implementation and the Wellness and Safety Campaign survey by Brig. Gen. (Dr.) William Germann, AFMC Surgeon General.
   Joining Mrs. Westgate were Leif Peterson, director of Manpower, Personnel and Services, HQ AFMC; Charlie Tripis, AFGE 214 vice president; Tom Robinson, Council 214 executive assistant; Ogden ALC Executive Director Don Cazel; Tom Clark, AFGE Local 2221 president; Tom Scott, AFGE Local 987 president; Terry Ayres, AFGE Local 1406 president; Randy Shaw, secretariat; Monica Ritze, alternate secteriat; and David Taylor.
   The meetings concluded with a tabletop discussion, a review of action items and making plans for the Joint National Partnership meeting, which is set for Sept. 17 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.