Gains & Growth
Brothers & Sisters of Region IV:
It’s important for us all to reflect on some gains we’ve achieved since the PASS Executive Board unanimously appointed me the Region IV Vice President, and why I want to continue serving the membership in that capacity.
Many of you have heard, and some may believe, Region IV was fractured.
I do not believe that was the case. What we were was unstructured, unfocused, and lacking a leader. It was the absence of leadership at the RVP level that drove me to put my name in the hat for consideration.
As I began my role of the RVP, I surveyed our Region IV Leaders (our RBAs, HQ Division Reps, AVS Safety Rep, & the Region IV National Assistants) seeking input on what they needed, what their concerns were, and what tools they (and the Representatives in their areas) needed to be effective and efficient to serve our members and represent all our bargaining unit employees. I was fortunate that my vision for what I believed Region IV needed aligned with the survey results. So, empowered with that information I began to outfit our Region with the necessary elements to lay the foundation for our growth.
Inclusion:
As I hope you are aware, over the past several years, we gained employees from our HQ offices into our bargaining unit. Some were unrepresented and some were previously represented by AFSCME. Frankly, these employees were in our bargaining unit, but we weren’t treating them fairly or representing them well. On day one, I invited our HQ Division Reps to join our weekly RBA call with all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of an RBA without the title. Under my watch, together, the RBAs and the HQ Division Reps, along with the AVS National Safety Rep, MIDO National Contract Rep, the Region IV National Assistants, and the RVP make up the Region IV Leadership Team. And I do believe we are a Team, even if the rhetoric of the current election cycle demonstrates otherwise.
Communications:
We increased the frequency, format, and method of communications. Firstly, to our members, we shared with you news from Region IV, made sure you had the COVID reports, and invited you to a newly established monthly call to share information and provide you an opportunity to ask us questions. We included messages to the entire bargaining unit so they too were aware of what PASS is doing and how they are benefiting from the efforts and dues of our members.
Infrastructure:
I authorized our National staff to provide new email accounts and tools to our Region IV leaders to allow us to more easily and efficiently collaborate with each other, away from the prying eyes of government furnished equipment.
I created structure to our meeting schedule and our meetings. Normally, each week we meet with the FSLB, I meet 1-on-1 with AFX-1, we meet to share relevant information with our RBA/HQ Division Reps, and that same leadership team meets separately to discuss topics that require robust conversation, debate, and decision making. For each of those meetings, we have agreed upon meeting norms, we have an agenda, clearly identifying the topic(s) and what we need from each discussion. For our FSLB meetings we have a dedicated PASS notetaker which allows us to focus on results and not rely on the Agency’s memory. This allows us to hold the Agency accountable to actions promised, decisions made, or commitments delayed. Again, for those in the back, WE HAVE A PASS MEMBER DEDICATED TO TAKING OUR NOTES AT AN AGENCY MANAGEMENT MEETING.
In our weekly RBA/HQ Division Rep meeting, I established a process so that our agenda is prepared and distributed for the meeting and we capture relevant notes for reference moving forward. Prior to me, WE NEVER HAD NOTES FROM REGION IV. I emphasize this because it’s a huge leap forward for our group to have a central point of information from the Region. I know many of our RBAs also take notes (which I expect are distributed to Representatives in their respective area of responsibility) but we never had a direct correlation between what is discussed with the FSLB (or other Agency management) transferred into a tangible product for use and reference by our PASS Leadership Team.
We have included some automation in our Article 23 process, allowing members to express their interest in participating on certain workgroups by completing and submitting a simple web form. It may sound simple, but the efficiencies gained there allow us to free up resources for other projects.
Presence:
Prior to January of this year, our meetings with the FSLB were unstructured, repetitive, or often cancelled when PASS had “nothing to discuss” or there was no quorum to meet, often by our own hand. I don’t want to dwell on the past, but it’s important our membership know precisely from where I started just seven months ago, and I want us all to learn from those circumstances. I am proud to say, that since day one, we have not cancelled any of our FSLB meetings and they take place every week, where we have the opportunity to discuss issues relevant to your needs, and where we do hold the Agency accountable.
We coordinated with the FSLB to ensure we are invited to participate in Town Halls and All-Hands meetings; beyond just what’s required in the statute or our CBA. Yes, we had a bit of a rocky start getting that process smoothed out, but we have continued to improve that process with the Agency with each successive invitation. That progress must not be lost; it’s critical that there be a face of PASS representing our membership on those calls and at those meetings.
We have more to do, more improvement to make, and continued growth is on the horizon.
I humbly ask for your vote to continue moving PASS forward as your Region IV Vice President.
In Union,
Ben Struck