President Obama Appoints National President Holway to Federal Labor-Management Relations Council
February 26, 2010
President Barack Obama on Thursday announced his appointment of National President David J. Holway to the National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations.
The Council was created in December 2009 by an executive order of the President. Its purpose is to establish a non-adversarial forum where employees, labor unions, and management can discuss ways to improve government operations and the effectiveness of government services.
"This Council will allow those who best know the workings of federal government—federal workers—the opportunity to use their experience and expertise to improve agency productivity and efficiency," said Holway. "With meaningful participation by union members and management, we are closer to achieving our joint mission of delivering consistently superior services to the public."
The Council is expected to advise the President on labor-management relations in the executive branch and to develop innovative ways to improve the federal government’s delivery of services to the public while cutting costs.
The executive order also requires federal agencies and departments to submit written plans to the Council describing how they will implement labor-management forums and how they will measure and monitor improvements in areas such as labor-management relations, productivity gains, and cost savings. A small subcommittee consisting of President Holway, AFGE President John Gage, and two management representatives was appointed and tasked with providing the first review of these implementation plans. The subcommittee will make recommendations to the full Council regarding certification of the plans.
The first meeting of the Council takes place today in Washington, D.C.