VA
GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES LOCAL 498
PREAMBLE
The Partnership Council enters into this Agreement in the
spirit of Labor Management Partnerships and the Master Agreement between the
Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Federation of Government
Employees.
The Partners are committed to improving patient care and
service delivery through Labor-Management collaboration, which reflects
partnership principles.
The purpose of the Department of Veterans Affairs Puget
Sound Health Care System and American Federation of Government Employees Local
498 Partnership Council is to design, implement and maintain a cooperative,
working relationship between labor and management to achieve common goals. To that end, the partners will make the
investment necessary to establish an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust in
accomplishing the Department's mission.
This includes open and honest communication with a view toward
recognizing and addressing the interests of the partners.
In order to achieve this purpose, the partners agree to the
following objectives:
1.
Establish an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust
creating a positive environment for patients and staff.
2.
To identify and address appropriate issues in a
timely manner, striving for mutually beneficial resolutions.
3.
To provide pre-decisional involvement regarding:
4.
Monitoring the partnership process to foster such
pre-decisional involvement by the partners.
5.
The partners agree to share responsibility and
accountability for partnership decisions.
6.
To develop and forward consensus based
recommendations to the deciding official.
7.
To identify and address joint training needs to
accomplish partnership’s objectives.
8.
To develop and use alternative methods of resolving
disputes.
1.
The Council will consist of seven (7) members
appointed by the VA Puget Sound Health Care System Director and seven (7)
members appointed by the President, AFGE Local 498.
2.
Rotation of Council members will be at the discretion
of appointing officials.
3.
The number of Council members may be changed by
mutual agreement as long as partners have an equal number.
4.
Council meetings will be held monthly at a time and
place to be determined. Meetings may
also be held at the call of the Co-Chairpersons.
5.
Eight members will constitute a quorum
6.
Council members will not have substitutes at
meetings.
7.
The Council will be co-chaired by the Deputy Director
and Union President. At least one of the
Co-Chairs shall be present to lead Council meetings.
8.
Agenda items will be presented in writing to the
Co-Chairs as far in advance as reasonably possible. (Non-agenda items may be considered by mutual
agreement.) The Co-Chair responsible for
chairing the meeting will ensure that an agenda is distributed sufficiently in
advance for member preparation.
9.
Issues submitted to the Council should be in the
following format:
10. A recorder
agreed upon by the Partners will take minutes.
A draft of the minutes will be presented to the Co-Chairs within two
weeks for their review prior to approval and dissemination.
11. The
Council may select a group facilitator to be utilized as needed.
1.
Partnership requires the partners to make good faith
efforts to reach mutually agreeable solutions.
The partners agree to place no blame for failed initiatives, but instead
will seek new or alternative resolutions.
2.
Interest-based problem solving and alternative
dispute resolution techniques will be utilized for a more cooperative
relationship in the paramount interest of patients, and to substantially reduce
the number of formal disputes and need for third party interventions.
3.
Partnership Council recommendations will be made
using consensus approach that integrates the interests of the partners.
4.
An issue that cannot be resolved by consensus will
revert to its proper place in the labor-management relationship. The parties are, however, committed to the
proposition that the need to resolve some matters through more traditional
processes will not be allowed to interfere with their progress in developing
partnership.
5.
Council meetings are a forum for open and
constructive communication. To encourage
such communication, all council members will maintain the confidentiality of information
discussed or presented unless the Council agrees by consensus to release the
information. The confidentiality
requirement is also applicable to facilitators, technical advisors, and
observers.
6.
The Council will not discuss issues which are specific
to an individual or active grievance.
7.
Statements during Council meetings or in minutes will
not be used by either Partner in a grievance hearing or a legal procedure.
8.
The Council will establish and maintain an open line
of communication with all employees to foster a harmonious atmosphere of
information sharing and trust. (e.g.
distribution of meeting minutes, bulletins and newsletters etc.)
9.
Employees are encouraged to participate in
partnership activities. Participation in
partnership activities will have no adverse impact on an employee.
10. Council
members will be in a duty status while participating in partnership
activities. Participation beyond or
outside normal duty hours of those involved will be considered as official duty
and compensated in accordance with the law.
11. Joint
partnership training will be provided.
Such training may include:
·
Examples of successful partnership experiences
elsewhere
·
Interest-based bargaining (IBB) techniques
·
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods
·
Communication and cooperation skills
·
Consensus decision making
·
Other topics identified by the partners
To the maximum extent possible,
the Partners will draw upon the resources of the Federal Labor Relations
Authority (FLRA), the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), the
Department of Labor (DOL), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and VA
resources such as the Employee Education System (EES), unions and
teleconference/video capabilities.
12. The
parties recognize that this partnership must evolve to meet present and future
needs. The partners recognize the
inevitability of change in the work place, and are committed to dealing with
change constructively to enhance the lives of our veteran customers and staff.
13. The
Council will assess its internal effectiveness on a biannual basis and strive
to continually improve.
The Council will establish and maintain an open line of
communication with all employees to foster a harmonious atmosphere of
information sharing and trust. (e.g.
distribution of meeting minutes, bulletins and newsletters etc.)
Interest-based problem solving and alternative dispute
resolution techniques will be utilized for a more cooperative relationship in
the paramount interest of patients, and to substantially reduce the number of
formal disputes and need for third party interventions.
This agreement will be effective on the date the VA Puget
Sound Health Care System Director and the Union President have both endorsed
it. This Agreement will remain in effect
for two years and will be automatically renewed at biannual intervals unless
either Partner requests revision of the Agreement within 30 days before the
anniversary date.
Proposed changes to this Agreement may be initiated by
mutual agreement of the Partners at any other time.
Revision of the Agreement will be accomplished by consensus
through interest-based bargaining.
Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): A variety of techniques used to resolve
issues that may otherwise have been pursed through grievances, appeals, legal
proceedings and so forth. A common
distinguishing feature of ADR techniques is emphasis on creation of mutually
satisfactory resolutions by the parties directly involved.
Common Objectives:
The Partners recognize that their overall relationship is grounded in
common objectives and interests and that they will have different interests in
some cases. Guided by public interest
principles, the parties are committed to joint development of a common
strategy, which is based on helping each other succeed by cooperation whenever
that is possible.
Consensus:
A group reaches consensus when all members agree upon a single
alternative and each group member can honestly say:
I believe that you understand my
point of view and that I understand yours.
Whether or not I prefer this
decision, I support it because
it was reached fairly and openly,
and
it is the best solution for us at
this time
Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB): A non-adversarial approach to negotiations
and problem-solving based on a set or principles, assumptions, steps, and
techniques used to achieve more productive results. The basic principles are:
Focus on issues not personalities
Focus on interests not positions
Satisfy mutual interests
Use standards to judge options
Labor-Management
Partnership: Labor and Management working together with a
common goal of discussing and resolving mutual problems and improving their
relationship in the best interests of patients and staff.
Staff: All
employees including supervisors and managers.
Trust: While the
Partners may disagree on given issues, both will act in good faith. Disagreements will be resolved on the merits
of the matter without resort to personal attacks, coercion, or other non-merit
tactics.
AMENDED
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
AMERICAN
Dated
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Betty Withrow Co-Chair |
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Sandy J. Nielsen Co-Chair |
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Goody Calugas Member |
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Vernie Dunham Member |
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Don Fiedler Member |
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Dianne Fowler Member |
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Susan Goss Member |
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Jerry Knudson Member |
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Timothy Kruschek Member |
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Deidra McLauchlan Member |
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Candace Reed Member |
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Vicki Ward Member |
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Taylene Watson Member |
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Michael Weatherly Member |
Approval:
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Timothy B. Williams Director |
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