
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 12, 1992                   TAG: 9203120292
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VA UNION ASKS FEDERAL INTERVENTION AT CENTER

The national president of the American Federation of Government Employees has asked the U.S. secretary of veterans affairs to intervene in what he called an "extremely disturbing situation" at the VA Medical Center in Salem.

In a letter to Secretary Edward Derwinski, federation President John Sturdivant advised "prompt action" in "defusing a volatile situation."

Sturdivant reiterated concerns raised in recent weeks by the AFGE local at the Salem center but focused on competency tests given to nursing employees. The tests, he wrote, constitute a change in working conditions, which should have been negotiated with the union.

The competency test is being given to all nursing personnel to assess their skills. Testing could result in work reassignments for some employees as they move to a new $50 million facility next month.

The AFGE is not opposed to periodic evaluations or testing of employees' performance and in fact supports training and performance evaluation, Sturdivant wrote.

But establishing the program without negotiating with the union is "highly objectionable and doomed to failure," and constitutes an unfair labor practice, he wrote.

"Regrettably, at the local level the perception is that the management of the Medical Center has little regard for the rights and morale of the work force and no understanding of the negative impact on the department's mission, low employee morale, and high levels of employee stress," Sturdivant continued.

"I bring the above concerns to your attention because I believe that it is in the best interest of all of us to assure that patient care is provided by competent employees with positive, can-do attitudes, high morale, low stress levels and firm commitments to health care of the highest level," Sturdivant wrote.

A Veterans Affairs Department spokesman said that as a matter of policy, Derwinski's reply would be released directly to Sturdivant and not to the public. Any reply would have to come from the employees' federation, Terry Jemison said.

Pat Clark, a spokeswoman for the Medical Center, said in response to Sturdivant's letter that "management's position has not changed on any of these issues."

Of the competency tests, Clark said, "Veterans deserve the highest-quality care from the VA Medical Center. They should feel secure in the knowledge that nursing staff is competent to care for patients."

by CNB