Archive
National Partnership for Reinventing Government
(formerly National Performance Review)
An Information Sheet for Federal Communicators, Managers, Workers, and Their Partners--Pass It On
Four labor-management partnerships in federal organizations have won the first awards from the National Partnership Council. President Clinton created the Council in 1993 to encourage agencies and unions to work together to reinvent government.
Vice President Gore presented the National Partnership Awards in a ceremony at the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, DC on Feb. 14. "We have seen a new era of cooperation and cost-cutting," the Vice President said. Here are the winners:
U.S. Mint/American Federation of Government Employees, Denver--Before the partnership, strife between employees and managers was legendary and severe, to the point of impeding quality customer service and costing millions of tax dollars in labor disputes. On nothing more than a handshake, labor-management accord has resulted in $10 million savings by informal resolution of more than 200 equal opportunity conflicts or labor-management disputes. In addition, the Denver Mint will produce its own coin-pressing dies by mid 1996, saving $300,000. It pressed a record 10.3 billion circulating coins and eight million collectible coins in FY95. Contact Mike Rucker at (202) 874-9300.
Red River Army Depot/National Association of Government Employees and Five Other Unions, Texarkana, TX--Partnership rescued the Red River Depot from almost certain extinction. The facility repairs light-tracked combat vehicles, recertifies missiles, and stores ammunition. Partnership evolved into new ways of doing business, saving taxpayers $15 million in FY94. Its quality program encourages teamwork, employee involvement, and continuous process improvement. One employee suggestion saved $8 million. Partnership helped negotiate a 70 percent trimming of excess management positions and decreased employee labor complaints by 80 percent. The Depot also won a 1995 Federal Quality Improvement Prototype Award. Contact Pat Pierce at (903) 334-2110.
U.S. Customs Service/National Treasury Employees Union-Customs, working with its partnership team, has successfully streamlined the agency's organizational structure and reinvested resources into enforcement and front-line operations. The result is a jointly-developed reinvestment strategy to deploy additional employees to our nation's borders to beef-up drug interdiction, inspection, and collection of duties on goods entering the country. Throughout this restructuring, the Customs Service has had no reductions-in-force among the 12,000 employees covered by the partnership. Reassignments were voluntary and frequently involved new career opportunities. Contact Ed Banks at (202) 634-2221.
Dept. of Labor/National Council of Field Labor Locals, AFGE--After years of a traditional adversarial relationship, in 1991 labor and management at this Department achieved a national collective bargaining agreement to cooperate that predates President Clinton's Executive Order 12871 calling for partnership. On beginning a reinvention effort, labor and management agreed that all reinvention activities would be a partnership endeavor. For example, a labor-management team simplified the Federal Employees Compensation claims process. Front-line workers in the Coal Mine Workers Compensation Field Office in Greensburg, PA, are serving claimants better by setting up booths in shopping malls. Otherwise, applicants must file at local Social Security office where no Black Lung specialists are available to provide special help. The Department has won seven Hammer Awards for its partnership successes. Contact Jerry Lelchook at (202) 219-6521.
Other Awards
The Department of Defense Partnership Council and seven Defense employee organizations received a special citation. Honorable mention went to Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio; the Army Letterkenny Depot, PA; Army Tobyhanna Depot, PA; and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Palo Alto; CA, Des Moines, IO; and Portland, OR.
Office of Personnel Management Jim King is chair of the NPC. For more information about the Council, contact Phyllis Foley at (202) 606-2194.
The Federal Management Institute and the Maxwell School for Advanced Public Management are sponsoring a one-day seminar on public-private competition on March 18 at the Washington National Airport Hilton. The program, "Head to Head: Winning at Competitive Government," will provide a substantive review of the policy issues and competitive skills that public managers need in the race to work better and cost less. Call (703) 683-8700 for details.
Reinvention Labs and other innovators will showcase what they are doing to create a government that works better and costs less at a conference on March 25-27 at the Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda, MD. Speakers include Vice President Gore, members of the President's Management Council, union leaders, and reengineering guru Michael Hammer.
The conference is aimed at labs, Hammer Award winners, GPRA pilots, other government innovators and anyone who would like to be a government innovator. Sponsors are NPR, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Administration, the Center for Advanced Public Management, the Council for Excellence in Government, and Government Executive Magazine. Phone: (202) 393-7022, FAX (202) 393-7027, E-mail: govexec@laszlo.smart.net.
Contact Pat Wood, National Performance Review, 750-17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 632-0223; FAX: (202) 632-0390; email: pat.wood@npr.gsa.gov. The Express is on the Internet at http://www.npr.gov.To subscribe by e-mail, send a message to: Listproc@etc.fed.gov. Put this message: SUBSCRIBE EXPRESS-L FIRSTNAME LASTNAME. (Put three spaces: after the word "SUBSCRIBE," after "EXPRESS-L," and after your FIRSTNAME.) For a fax, send fax number to Pat.