Management, labor cement ties, renew 3 partnership agreements Published July 23, 2009 By Maj. David Belton 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Two important memorandums of agreement were signed Tuesday by base and union leadership that will help strengthen relationships and improve management-labor relations. Maj. Gen. Polly A. Peyer, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center commander, and Tom Scott, American Federation of Government Employees Local 987 president, signed the Unfair Labor Practices Dispute Resolution Process and a Grievance Mediation MOA at the Air Force Materiel Command and AFGE Council 214 partnership council meeting here. "We're building an even stronger relationship between senior level management and the union," said General Peyer. "We're focused on commitment, collaboration, teamwork and trust." The two also renewed a Voluntary Protection Program agreement with Russell "Rusty" Adams, president of International Association of Firefighters Union F107. "Updating these agreements reinforces the fact that not only senior leadership but the local workforce is committed to VPP and partnership principles," Mr. Scott said. Mr. Adams said he was fully on board with VPP. "How can you be against your workforce going home safe?" General Peyer confided to the group that when she first read about VPP she was "skeptical that it was just another program." But after she came to Robins and saw the plan in action, she changed her mind. "We've really taken off with VPP," she said. General Peyer also told the council about the Center's focus on people, process, performance and infrastructure, or P3I. "Our focus on those areas, which includes a determined effort to improve management-labor relations - is helping us build on our successes," she said. The partnership council is designed to create strategic plans to build better collaboration between the two groups. Council 214, which is made up of an equal number of managers and union officers at the three air logistics centers, meets three times a year at various AFMC bases. This year's council is headed by Dr. Steven Butler, executive director of AFMC, and Scott Blanch, president of AFGE Council 214.