Posted on Jan 25, 2016
How can servicemen and women, active duty and veterans, compete with government unions?
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Once again we are learning that there has been no improvement in care at VA facilities and little hope for any change. See http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430203/veterans-affairs-reform-needed
The problem appears to be that government employees are immune to scandal. I propose that the situation can never improve so long as they are protected by their unions. I have written on this subject in my own blog
http://jackdurish.com/jacks-blog/government-unions
The problem appears to be that government employees are immune to scandal. I propose that the situation can never improve so long as they are protected by their unions. I have written on this subject in my own blog
http://jackdurish.com/jacks-blog/government-unions
Posted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 5
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Excellent read.
I think the Union is a (compounding) symptom however, and the Bureaucracy is the underlying problem. I ABSOLUTELY agree that there "shouldn't" be a need for Government Employees to have to Unionize, however (elected) Government Officials have shown they cannot be trusted and created an environment in which requires a Union to ensure that the Civil Service survives Administration Swaps (elections). This in turn makes it impossible to "trim the fat" after our elected officials have expanded the size of their offices doing exactly what they did prior to these protections existing before hand (fire the old, replace with friends).
We have in essence replaced one bad system with another "slightly" better bad system. The problem is that neither system is good. When you add in the fact that the US Government is just not good at "Social Programs" or any Program that requires us to deal with "Individuals" (as opposed to classes or groups), we have this compounding problem. Bureaucracy which is designed to slow things down (inefficiency) combined with incompetency (inability to get rid of bad), combined with untrustworthiness creates the perfect #$%^storm.
If we were to get rid of one component of this, such as the Unions (which I agree is likely no longer necessary), this would SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the size of said storm. Less compounding issues, means a smaller stack of exponential #$%^. However, as 1SG (Join to see) said, I think quite a lot of this comes from Management (Elected/Appointed). They in turn have their hands tied by Law, which in turn have their hands tied by the People (Lobbying Power). Vicious Cycle. The question arises of how we break it.
I think the Union is a (compounding) symptom however, and the Bureaucracy is the underlying problem. I ABSOLUTELY agree that there "shouldn't" be a need for Government Employees to have to Unionize, however (elected) Government Officials have shown they cannot be trusted and created an environment in which requires a Union to ensure that the Civil Service survives Administration Swaps (elections). This in turn makes it impossible to "trim the fat" after our elected officials have expanded the size of their offices doing exactly what they did prior to these protections existing before hand (fire the old, replace with friends).
We have in essence replaced one bad system with another "slightly" better bad system. The problem is that neither system is good. When you add in the fact that the US Government is just not good at "Social Programs" or any Program that requires us to deal with "Individuals" (as opposed to classes or groups), we have this compounding problem. Bureaucracy which is designed to slow things down (inefficiency) combined with incompetency (inability to get rid of bad), combined with untrustworthiness creates the perfect #$%^storm.
If we were to get rid of one component of this, such as the Unions (which I agree is likely no longer necessary), this would SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the size of said storm. Less compounding issues, means a smaller stack of exponential #$%^. However, as 1SG (Join to see) said, I think quite a lot of this comes from Management (Elected/Appointed). They in turn have their hands tied by Law, which in turn have their hands tied by the People (Lobbying Power). Vicious Cycle. The question arises of how we break it.
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Is it the union's fault or the management?
I think it is the management.
Accountability doesn't begin and end with firings. It is the day to day business practices that brings us to where we are.
Workers processing claims get a quota of how many files they process daily. According to my sources, six. If they do more, they are wrong. If they do less, they get an action plan. It doesn't matter if the file is opened, actioned, closed favorably, or rejected. Just that the action required at the time is completed. It may be as simple as "Called Veteran, left message". Item closed for the day. It could well be BS (as we found out) if the VA rep just feels like farting off that day.
Raises all around.
Everyone gets a bonus.
I think it is the management.
Accountability doesn't begin and end with firings. It is the day to day business practices that brings us to where we are.
Workers processing claims get a quota of how many files they process daily. According to my sources, six. If they do more, they are wrong. If they do less, they get an action plan. It doesn't matter if the file is opened, actioned, closed favorably, or rejected. Just that the action required at the time is completed. It may be as simple as "Called Veteran, left message". Item closed for the day. It could well be BS (as we found out) if the VA rep just feels like farting off that day.
Raises all around.
Everyone gets a bonus.
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CPT Jack Durish
Not to put too fine a point on it but those performance standards are negotiated between management and union reps. So, yes, it is management's fault if they are not sufficient. However, is management hog tied by the fact that the union rep has a member of Congress in his hip pocket (or on speed dial - depending upon your age your reference may vary). This gives the union rep an unfair advantage in negotiating with management, doesn't it?
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1SG (Join to see)
CPT Jack Durish - I think that it is loosely tied to GS level what is expected for processing, but shedding even a little bit of light on what really happens there would go a long way towards building consensus on reform.
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SSG Karl Fowler
I retired as a mil.tech and I was the union president for 15 yrs,Not all unions are the same and my union did not have a congressman in our hip pocket.it took me around 3 yrs. to get the union contract approve under the bush admin.the lawyers in DC had to approve it before it went into effect. That contract backed up federal law. unions cannot change a federal law, Remember when a career civil service employee said that it would take an act of congress to fire me ,,,Guess what Congress acted and it is now easier to let someone go
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As you've suggested CPT Jack Durish it will take action by Congress to change the system. The way Veterans and Soldiers fight this, is by contacting their congressmen and enjoying the very freedom they've fought so hard to protect by requesting change through Congressional action.
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CPT Jack Durish
How can there be change when members of Congress are indebted to the union that protects the bureaucrats who so poorly serve us?
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