In order to further improve the lines of communication and to respond to the concerns between the National VA Council and you our members, I have established a National VA Council Briefing. This NVAC Briefing will bring you the latest news and developments within DVA and provide you with the current status of issues this Council is currently addressing. I believe that this NVAC Briefing will greatly enhance the way in which we communicate and the way in which we share new information, keeping you better informed.

President

National Veterans Affairs Council, #53

American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO

There have been some concerns from the field regarding the MOU on the Performance Appraisal system that states, in part, that Local parties shall not be permitted to negotiate further on the implementation of Article 26 and the 5-Tier Performance Appraisal or on the close-out of the Pass-Fail Performance Plan.

That statement is in the MOU because we wanted all employees to stop the Pass-Fail system on the same date and begin the new system on a coinciding date. We did not want Locals negotiating different dates for the end of the Pass-Fail Performance system and the beginning of the 5-Tier Performance Appraisal system.

The Performance Plan has always been negotiated Nationally.

The Performance Standards are non-negotiable, however the Union has every right to have input to make the standards fair and objective as required by Article 26, in the past and currently.

Once you have reviewed the standards, forward your concerns to Management. If the concerns are not addressed to your satisfaction and you feel that they are not fair and objective, then you have the right to “Grieve”.

A conference call is scheduled for Friday, February 10, 2006, to hopefully finalize, or at least get the training started on Article 26 - Performance Appraisal. We will keep you updated on this issue.