Labor-management partnerships within the federal government are suffering from a lack of communication and cooperation, a panel of labor representatives told members of the National Partnership Council (NPC) on Wednesday.
However, panel members agreed that partnerships have the potential to unite warring parties if the program receives a face lift.
"The vision we first saw, the sense of urgency to get this thing moving has vanished," said David Schlein, national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees. "The partnership program seems to be adrift."
Labor-management partnerships are a key element of the Clinton administration's reinventing government effort. Their primary goal is to end the traditionally adversarial relationship between unions and management by opening communication lines and allow both sides a voice in key decisions about agency operations.
The panel cited several problems with the current partnership program, including a lack of commitment from top managers, a lack of managerial accountability and a general distrust of the idea of "co-management."
To keep the partnership program afloat, the panel suggested a quarterly review of partnership progress as well as making commitment to labor-management cooperation a part of individuals' performance standards.
Schlein implored the council to stress the importance of leadership training for both labor and management.
The Partnership Facilitation Project, a division of the NPC, is in the process of identifying agencies with problem partnerships. The project then plans to conduct telephone surveys to identify specific problems and develop methods to solve them.
"We've really started to grapple with some of the thornier issues," said NPC member John Sturdivant, president of AFGE. "This is a big step for this council."
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