First I've Heard About This. How About You? Unions Are Choking Reform Efforts At The VA Says The Committee Chairman.

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 20:14:10 -0400

Unions have a “stranglehold” on the Department of Veterans affairs, Republican Rep. Jeff Miller said Wednesday, preventing meaningful reform of the agency that’s been under scrutiny since a 2014 scandal that left dozens dead.

Delays in care and questionable treatment practices that were found to have left veterans dead resulted in public outrage and a federal investigation. But Miller, chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, warns VA employees are not being held accountable because of union influence.

“There are a quarter of a million union members that work for the Department of Veterans Affairs,” he told The Washington Free Beacon. “They have a stranglehold not only on the agency but the leadership there as well.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/22/unions-are-choking-reform-efforts-at-the-va-says-committee-chairman/#ixzz3q0NkliSx

Unions Are Choking Reform Efforts At The VA, Says Committee Chairman

Unions have a

Response by 1SG Joseph Yorski, MHS made Oct 29 at 2015 8:16 PM

1SG Joseph Yorski, MHS — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 20:16:14 -0400

Oh yeah. I work there and VA's terrified of the unions for some reason. Oxygen thieves...

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Oct 29 at 2015 8:27 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 20:27:09 -0400

Unions have that effect pretty much everywhere. It's all about the union as an entity and not about its members or the organizations it works for.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Oct 29 at 2015 8:34 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 20:34:35 -0400

Unions have a grand history in some American industries. Many became tainted with success. However, I can find no evidence of public service unions or teachers unions providing any discernible benefit to their members or anyone else. Indeed, their ability to influence the elections of the very people with whom them negotiate their contracts seems to amount to a prima facia case of conflict of interest. Thus, I can well imagine them having an adverse effect on reforms at the VA...

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made Oct 29 at 2015 8:39 PM

Sgt David G Duchesneau — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 20:39:32 -0400

Fu-king Unions screw everything up all the time! Bastards! They have no business in being involved in Government Agencies. What's wrong with these people anyways? What a cluster! They all need a good "throat punch!" No wonder they can't find Hoffa!

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Oct 29 at 2015 11:31 PM

CSM Charles Hayden — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 23:31:45 -0400

SGT Private RallyPoint Member We should consider the 'unions' as a branch of the fourth estate. Their only interest is in what they can get for themselves. The teacher's unions in particular; distress me! Contrary to the mission of teachers, improvements to the education system in America are antithema to teacher unions!

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Oct 30 at 2015 2:15 AM

Capt Seid Waddell — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 02:15:30 -0400

It is the primary function of unions to choke any system that they infest.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 30 at 2015 7:24 AM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 07:24:21 -0400

Union has its purpose ... but the over empowering the union is the problem, not the concept of union.

Response by SGT David T. made Oct 30 at 2015 8:36 AM

SGT David T. — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 08:36:04 -0400

Federal unions have very little real power. If management is afraid of them that is on them. So the unions aren't really the problem.

Response by Sgt Spencer Sikder made Oct 30 at 2015 9:00 AM

Sgt Spencer Sikder — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 09:00:18 -0400

Atlas, finally some recognition of the problems which impact the beleaguered VA. But let's not stop there. It's also the Federal Labor Relations Authority which has interpret cases against government agencies which hinder reasonable and rational decisions. The FLRA which is staffed if not completely, by majority of labor (union) attorneys.

Response by Sgt Jay Jones made Oct 30 at 2015 8:22 PM

Sgt Jay Jones — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 20:22:28 -0400

I spent 31 years working for the FAA. I worked in Air Route Traffic Control Center, Air Traffic Control Towers, Flight Service Stations, and Automated Flight Service Stations. Twenty of those years was as a Manager/Supervisor. Eleven years as a Controller/Specialist.

I have a mixed opinion about the need of Unions. The FAA is a mission oriented agency. The mission comes before anything else. This created a climate in the 70's where personnel were being forced into horrible work schedules. Sometimes a person would get off at Midnight and was expected to back to work at 5 am. These kind of personnel practices were normal. This led to a formation of a union called PATCO. PATCO negotiated a contract with the FAA that gave personnel a more reasonable life away from the FAA. Quick turnarounds were limited to a minimum of eight hours between shifts. Also, breaks were sporatic and inconstant. The PATCO Union helped alieviate many of these draconian management practices. The contract became the guideline for how the FAA would manage it's workforce nationwide. When contacts were renegotiated the FAA made one HUGE mistake. They agreed that the Union could file a grievance on anything that was not specifically not addressed in the contract. In other words this opened the door for all kinds of frivolous grievances. Needless to say these grievances would be used as bargaining chips by the union to address more pressing personnel issues that usually dealt with disciplinary issues.

I saw grievances filed on things that even the FAA had no control over, i.e. the toilet paper in the restrooms at the airports that were used by the controllers was too harsh. To resolve the grievence it was expected for the FAA to provide softer toilet paper. This is an example of the frivolousness of some of these grievances.

The only thing a Union has to sell to get members to join is a record of how they are fighting for them. If you don't have any grievances that are being negotiated and resolved by the union with management, many union members would say "what am I paying dues for?"

So, the union has to create conflict so it can resolve conflict just to prove to their membership they are indeed needed and that they need their dues to continue the fight.

So, back to your original question. Yes, unions are necessary to keep management from instituting draconian personnel practices. However, unions need to stop using frivolous grievances just to bottle up managements ability to function and meet their mission.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 31 at 2015 11:42 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 23:42:43 -0400

I don't believe Rep. Miller for one second. I guess politicians always need a scapegoat. Why not the Union?

Response by LTC Christopher Sands made Nov 1 at 2015 11:51 AM

LTC Christopher Sands — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 11:51:22 -0500

You better believe it!