Union Leaders Meet with Acting Comptroller General 

Ron La Due Lake and Dan Meyer, chair and vice-chair of the Interim Council respectively, met with Acting Comptroller General Dodaro and other senior managers to discuss the emerging relationship between the Union and GAO management on Tuesday, July 1.  The meeting, held at the request of the Union, focused on the Union's vision for a partnership with management that allows for routine informal discussions with senior management as well as for more traditional formal communication, such as negotiations.  The Union leaders presented examples of issues where the Union has worked with management over the past months along with ideas for how the Union and management could work together more collaboratively to the benefit of GAO overall in the future.  Themes presented by the Union for discussion included being involved in projects earlier, meeting with relevant operations managers with decision making-authority where appropriate, and developing a partnership with management to achieve shared goals through regular, informal discussions.  In particular, Mr. Dodaro jumped in to discuss each particular issue raised by the Union leadership.  The discussion lasted a full 1 ½ hours and was felt to be constructive by all participants.  Also in attendance was Julie Clark, General Counsel for IFPTE; Sallyanne Harper, CFO/Chief Administrative Officer; Cynthia Heckman, Chief Human Capital Officer; and Eric Adams, Director of Workforce Relations.