PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – In a show of support for NAVAIR’s continuing commitment to healthy and productive labor and management partnerships, NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. David Architzel signed the official charter of the NAVAIR Labor Management Partnership Team at its monthly meeting June 14 at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.

President Obama recently expanded the role of organizational labor management teams in December 2009, with Executive Order (EO) 13522, "Creating Labor Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services". The EO directs labor-management forums be established and supported at the local level. These local forums will also have representation on national labor management teams.

NAVAIR has maintained a national labor management team since former President Bill Clinton mandated labor management teams throughout the federal government in 1993. In June 2002, President Bush rescinded the mandate for partnering, yet NAVAIR leadership decided to continue the Labor Management Partnership Team (LMPT) at NAVAIR based on the value-added service the team provides.

“It didn’t take an executive order for us to see the value in this partnership,” said Architzel. “It really affirms what we already had in place. Half of our workforce is represented, and working together collaboratively is critically important to our ability to support the Fleet – and our people.”

The newly signed LMPT charter aligns with the requirements of Obama’s EO and reflects NAVAIR’s intent to meet naval aviation mission goals and workforce needs by working collaboratively with representatives from every NAVAIR site across the nation.

Current LMPT efforts include establishing or formalizing local partnership forums at all NAVAIR locations and identifying measures and tools that will enable consistent reporting of local labor management outcomes – as required by the EO.

The LMPT will continue to serve as a command-level forum focused on identifying issues of interest or potential impact on employees, providing a means to share best practices and supporting the needs of local partnerships.

“It’s a challenging time for Naval Aviation, which can create concern in the workforce,” Architzel said, “and this team is another mechanism to communicate where we’re going as a command.”

“Never before have we had the number of programs in various stages of transition as we do today. From development to production to in-service support, we will continue to work together to maintain the impressive level of service our warfighters expect – as well as unique opportunities for the future of our Navy and our Nation.”

Gary Kurtz, NAVAIR’s director of Corporate Operations and Total Force, represents management on the team and co-chairs with Raul Hernandez, National American Federation of Government Employees president, and the team’s lead union representative.

Membership on the team also includes national representatives from all NAVAIR bargaining units¸ the Federal Manager’s Association, NAVAIR national competency leaders, and a designated representative from Echelon III and IV commands.

NAVAIR’s National Labor Management Partnership Team (LMPT) supports the mission of Naval Aviation and the needs of our workforce through an active labor-management partnership. The team works together to share information, solve problems and identify improvement opportunities with mutual respect, open communication, understanding and trust.