PARTNERSHIP LIFTS-OFF AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER,
OTHER AGENCIES

Washington, D.C. -- The John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida has become a launching pad for more than space shots: it is a leader in partnership activities between labor and management that have accounted for thoughtful implementation of agency reorganization plans and out placement programs for employees.

Partnership activities of the space center and other federal agencies were highlighted during the National Partnership Council's June 13 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Highlights of the meeting included "Partnership in Progress" presentations from the Kennedy Space Center and Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. Management and union representatives told the hundreds of federal employees from around the region who attended the National Partnership Council (NPC) meeting about the variety of benefits of partnership in the workplace.

Anniston Army Depot, represented by Robert Corrigan, Director of Contracting, and Charlotte Flowers, President of Local 1945 of the American Federation of Government Employees, credited their partnership with concrete cost savings to the taxpayer. Noting that cost savings associated with decreased litigation was just one by-product of partnership at the depot, the representatives pointed to savings of more than $300,000 from their partnership councils' successfully designing a plan to do necessary work in-house rather than contracting out. And, acknowledging better labor/management relations, they noted how adversarial actions at the depot have decreased from 111 filings in the previous year to just 34 in the following 12-month period of partnership.

John F. Kennedy Space Center, represented by Ken Aguilar, Deputy Chief of Personnel, and Sandra Rayner, President of Local 2498 of the American Federation of Government Employees, also emphasized the advantages of working together, pointing to reorganization planning, performance appraisal revisions and employee outplacement programs as some of the primary achievements of their partnership.

Both sets of representatives emphasized that one of the primary benefits associated with partnering at their workplace was increased employee job satisfaction and commitment to the job.

As part of their ongoing efforts to go on-site and hear partnership progress reports from workers in the field, the NPC also met with regional management and union representatives from the Social Security Administration to hear about the benefits and barriers to partnership in their agency. Highlights of the meeting included a discussion about how labor and management, in partnership, developed a successful pilot project that increased the quality of customer service provided to disability applicants. On the importance of management and labor working together in an open and frank fashion, one agency management representative emphasized "how the person doing the work knows best how to do it."

The NPC, established by President Clinton in October 1993 by Executive Order 12871, is composed of representatives from the major unions representing federal employees and representatives from federal agencies, including two from neutral agencies. The next NPC meeting, which takes place monthly, is on July 12 in Washington, D.C.

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