L-M TRAINING — Debbie Egel, PEF labor-management chair at the state Office of Alcohol & Substance Abuse Services, speaks to members of new local L-M committees at the agency during their recent training in Albany. Local L-M brings new tool to OASAS members By DENYCE DUNCAN LACY The state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) Joint Labor-Management Committee has a good track record for dealing with members’ issues. The joint committee has even worked on a proposal for the design and delivery of a workplace-violence training program that is being funded by the contract Article 15 Work Force Initiatives Program. But, according to Debbie Egel, PEF chair of the committee, increasingly issues that could be resolved at the local level began appearing on the statewide agenda. “With 11 addiction-treatment centers (ATCs) not holding local L-M meetings, there was no place else for the issues to be addressed,” Egel said. “Both the statewide labor and management representatives agreed it’s important for local L-M meetings to begin at the ATCs.” Under the leadership of Egel and PEF Vice President Pat Baker, PEF’s L-M coordinator, by November 2001, local L-M teams were established at the ATCs. And, on January 11, these new reps came to Albany for intensive training. “The training covered such issues as ground rules for effective team operations, roles and responsibilities of committee members, the importance of an L-M agreement, the pre-meeting planning session, agenda building and strategizing for the meeting with management,” said PEF Director of Education and Mobilization Cliff Merchant. PEF leaders also addressed the OASAS leaders, to underscore the importance of using L-M forums as a tool to achieve the union’s goals. “Issues need to be addressed in L-M meetings at the local level to resolve conflicts and produce positive changes to facility-specific issues,” Baker said. Secretary-Treasurer Jane Hallum described local L-Ms as “mini” contract-negotiation sessions. “Labor-management meetings play a critical role in addressing a multitude of issues in all state agencies that, because of the volume and uniqueness of each agency, could never be addressed in contract negotiations with the state,” Hallum said. “The training was excellent,” Egel said. “This is a great first step on the way to increasing what we can achieve for our members.”