Manager credits communication for better labor-management relations Published Oct. 15, 2010 By Wayne Crenshaw 78 ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Jeanette McElhaney has worked at Robins for more than 30 years in a variety of jobs, and most of the time she has been active in the union. So she knows what she's talking about when she discusses the current state of labor/management relationships here. "They are much better now," she said. "They (labor and management) are working hand-in-hand." As an elected union official, a union steward and a member of the Connectors group, she has been a part of the improvement herself. She was recognized for her efforts with the Foster Leadership in People award, which is given to those on Robins who help build better labor/management relationships. She credited the improvement to better communication between the two sides. "There have been times when we didn't even go to the table," she said. "Now we do go to the table. We may not always come out in agreement but we come out civil." McElhaney started out at Robins as a groundskeeper and went on to build crates. At one time she worked in depaint, when the process required more hands-on work than it does today. "Sometimes the equipment I was wearing was heavier than I was, but I was a single parent," she said. "I had to do what I had to do." Today, she is a records manager in the 78th Air Base Wing's Information Management Branch. She is also treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Union Local 987. She was tapped by labor and management leaders as one of the original Connectors. The group is made up of half management and half labor, and it meets regularly to discuss common issues. She said it was an easy decision to become a part of the Connectors. "It was an honor in itself," she said. "For managers and union to have enough respect for you, to think you would be the kind of person to make a difference, who in their right mind would turn it down?"