“Two weeks into his new job, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said he’s trying to model the behavior he wants to see from his senior leaders and employees, who are juggling the pandemic response, a vaccination effort and several ongoing modernization efforts.”
“’I’m trying to get around as much as I can to get to know the employees,’ he said Tuesday during his first wide-ranging conversation with reporters. ‘It’s obviously difficult in the context of the pandemic. It’s also difficult that I want to model to our team that it’s fully allowed and fully supported that they work from home. I’m trying to model some of that behavior myself, so I’m doing some time at home every week…'”
“AFGE, which represents 265,000 VA employees, is anxious for McDonough and his leadership team to recognize the president’s recent executive order on strengthening the federal workforce and begin taking steps to implement it.”
“McDonough acknowledged Biden’s executive order in an email he sent to employees on his first day at the department. He encouraged employees to read the EO if they hadn’t already, and pointed to a passage in the order that described career civil servants as “the backbone” of the federal workforce…”
“Biden’s order rescinded three EOs from the prior administration, which limited collective bargaining and official time. VA had implemented many provisions from the orders, even as the department and AFGE have been locked in contentious negotiations over a new bargaining agreement for more than a year…” Read the full article here.
Source: New VA secretary ‘digging in’ on agency’s collective bargaining challenges – By Nicole Ogrysko, February 24, 2021. Federal News Network.
