News

Mediation process a success

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Labor and management representatives in the 402nd Maintenance Wing agree a program created last year to head off costly formal grievance procedures is having a positive impact.

An agreement approved in July gives labor and management an additional avenue to resolve disputes informally. Through the Informal Grievance Procedure, or IGP, bargaining unit employees can now elect to meet with their squadron commander or director first.

This communication opportunity is in addition to the option to elect mediation, the most common form of alternative dispute resolution. Mediation offers the employee and management a chance to talk out the problem with a neutral third party mediator, without representatives from the union or management in the room.

Each formal grievance can cost many man hours, lost productivity and more than $5,000 with the cost split between the union and the base. Grievance mediation costs virtually nothing, except for the time of the people involved.

Elaine Varnadoe, vice president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 987, said the program is effective.

"At first, I didn't think it would work," she said. "But the more I got involved in it, the more I saw the benefits. It gives the employee the opportunity to express his or her concerns."

One problem with a formal grievance procedure, she said, is it discourages management from talking with the employee about the issue once the grievance is filed. It eliminates an important goal or efforts to improve labor/management relations through better communication.

The IGP is voluntary and employees can still file a formal grievance. They can also choose the formal procedure if they are dissatisfied with the outcome of mediation.

As a designated management official in the 402nd Aircraft Maintenance Group, Mary Ann Montano's job is to help arrange for the IGP meetings. Of the 14 IGP cases in the 402nd AMXSS this fiscal year, 12 have been settled or withdrawn. One is still pending and only one has gone through the formal grievance procedure.

"For us it works pretty well," she said. "It's a good way for the person to be heard by the squadron director. They don't hold much back when they go in there."