The Honorable Eric Shinseki, newly appointed Secretary of Veterans Affairs, came to AFGE headquarters for our Joint Semi Annual Labor Management Relations Meeting in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 11, 2009.  Secretary Shinseki, upon entering the conference room, personally shook hands with everyone in the room and had a word with each of them.  After being introduced by President Alma Lee, he spoke movingly of his background, and of the debt he owed not only to the soldiers who had gone before him, but the soldiers he led in combat and those that he sent into combat when Chief of Staff of the Army.  He noted that President Obama charged him with changing the Department of Veterans Affairs into a model department for the 21st Century, and stated his vision to accomplish this goal was to change the Department into one which was people centric, results oriented and forward looking. 

In so transforming the Department, Secretary Shinseki noted that veterans were important, but so was the workforce.  He noted that a good organization was not measured by its promises, but rather by its results, and wanted the Department to be so measured.  While the Secretary stated that he was only on the job for seven weeks, he said that he would be tempered, forged and shaped by the experiences of those in the room.  As AFGE was by far the largest VA employee representative, he charged the AFGE/NVAC to be a role model for the other employee organizations, and acknowledged the importance of input from labor unions as partners. 

The beginning of a new administration has brought many changes in the government, not the least of which is within the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Secretary Shinseki indicated that he looks forward to working with us, and we graciously accept that invitation.