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NASCOE Pre-negotiation Session
January 16 – 18, 2009
Charlotte, NC
Embassy Suites Hotel
The NASCOE Officers, Executive Committee, Alternate Exec’s, Program Chairs and the Negotiation consultants met in Charlotte, NC from January 16 -18 for the pre-negotiation session. The group met to go over the items submitted by members to take to Washington, DC in the spring to either negotiate or consult with management. This year we considered approximately 50 items that had been submitted.
I did not arrive until about noon on Saturday, January 17, because my flight out of St. Louis was cancelled. However, Kevin Dale and Lesalee Miles were there to cover things for the SWA. I am continually impressed by the caliber of people we have in the SWA. Sharon Curtis, from Texas, was the consultant the past two years and had done an excellent job for us. I believe in the same way Lesalee Miles, from California, will do us an excellent job as she brings a whole different expertise to negotiation table. Kevin’s experience allows him to hit the ground running with any project he is given. Thanks for filling in for me Saturday morning Kevin and Lesalee.
The items we covered ranged from the need for more staffing, training, procedure, performance plans, payment centralization, etc. Some of the topics are very straightforward, some we can’t do anything about, some are referred to the legislative or benefits committee, some we determine we need to negotiate, and some we decide to consult with management. Many items result in considerable discussion, some of the items are pretty straightforward in what we will do and some will require more leg work by the execs, alternates and negotiation consultants.
In some instances we contact FSA management about a problem that we feel we can or should be addressed right away. We can get several problems solved in this way. NASCOE has a very good relationship with the career folks in DC and this helps us get a lot of things resolved through an open line of communication with them.
Expect to see some surveys in a few weeks as we look to gain more information needed to finish gathering information we need for some negotiation items. There will also be a couple of questionnaires that we will send out to gain information we need for other items.
The National Chairs also gave reports to the group. Membership at the National level is higher than it was a year ago at this time. Membership in the SWA is higher at the current time than it was at the end of the last dues year. Way To Go SWA!
The deadlines for the publicity contest ends soon and so does the scholarship application period. There are some changes being looked at to benefits that are available from JM Marketing and there will also be changes coming to the NASCOE Store.
The legislative committee also reported on the legislative organizational meeting they held on January 15 – 16, 2009 at Charlotte. There are four new area legislative committee chairs so they had to do a lot of ground to cover in the two days they were there. The NASCOE Legislative Conference will be held March 17 & 18, 2009. Tuesday afternoon will be spent in training and listening to a speaker from Capitol Hill. We will make visits to the on Wednesday only. There will be a reception Wednesday night and it will be by invitation only. Reimbursement to the states will be $900.00 for one person. Participants not going to the reception may leave Wednesday evening if they desire to.
Keith Whiteneck
SWA Exec
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