As the Executive Vice President of AFGE Local 2152, it has been my pleasure to serve the members of this local since June of 2009. Since that time, I have represented well over a hundred individuals from Title 5 to Title 38 employees on just about every issue from verbal counseling’s, to mediations, to removals and arbitrations with a high degree of success. I have 22 years with the Federal Government and most of that time spent as a Union member and representing members. I have tried extremely hard to be a responsive to the needs of the membership however, I must acknowledge that I may not have been successful in every case but I have made the ultimate sacrifice for the membership however, that has not diminished my passion to defend the good people of the Reno VA against power hungry and misinformed management officials. I also want to thank the membership for the huge outpouring of support from the local with respect to my family’s current medical crisis without which, I do not think we would have made through until now. Because of that, I feel a huge debt of gratitude to the membership and with your support I hope to continue as your Executive Vice President. I came to this local with a fair amount of knowledge and experience as a Union representative but over the last three years, the AFGE both locally and nationally have taught me a great deal about what the Union means and it is so much more than just representing people. It is a way of life that that chooses you, you don’t choose it. Our local’s motto has been and still is “This is not a hobby.” So many people get into the Union thinking it is just something they can do in their spare time – this has not been the case for the current Union administration. This is a full time plus job. We have worked days, nights, weekends, holidays, and even on Annual and Sick Leave. We work from home, and while on the road. There really is no time or place that the current administration has not worked on behalf of our members. I understand that there are those that may not be as appreciative of the efforts and sacrifices made by the leadership of this local and to that I can only say you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but we sure as hell try! This Union administration IS the most aggressive in this local’s history but that has only worked to the advantage of many many members and I hope to continue this new tradition of aggressive Union representation for many years to come.
Fraternally,
David K. DeSilva
Executive Vice President
AFGE Local 2152

“

***VA OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL ALERT***

***VA OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL ALERT*** The VAOIG is at the Reno VA this week. The AFGE advises any bargaining unit employee (member or not) that if you are asked or otherwise orderd to speak with the IG, VA Police, or any other VA management representative(s), you need to insist and/or otherwise demand to have your Union representative present BEFORE you start answering ANY questions. You have the right to Union representation before any such interogations begin. If you are forced into a room with any of these VA management officials, please call either John Copeland or myself immediately. The VAOIG will tell you that they do not have to follow the Master Agreement - THAT IS A LIE! So please do not let them intimidate you into talking about anything.

David DeSilva

Executive Vice President

AFGE Local 2152

Executive Vice President Relection

I’m running for relection as the Executive Vice President of AFGE Local 2152. You can be sure that there will be those who will twist my words because of this. But I know I have sacraficed all to help the membership. I just hope everyone remembers that come election day. It is a privilege to serve all of you and I hope you will send me back for another three years.

David K. DeSilva
Executive Vice President
AFGE Local 2152

AFGE Local 2152 Victories!

Today, I learned an employee I am representing that grieved her performance appraisal was upgraded! I represented another employee on the exact same issue last month and that employee’s appraisal was also upgraded! And still another employee that was suspended for 10 days had it overturned at aribitration in December that I argued with a great team! Even though I represented these Union members, I cannot take all the credit for helping them. We are Union and that means as a group we succeed (or fail) but in these cases, WE (the Union) won! I feel so lucky to work with such an ambitious group of Union representatives and members and with the support of the membership, I hope to be helping you for many years to come! I take great comfort whenever I help my members and this is the reason (even though the Director has fired me) I will still continue to serve the members of AFGE Local 2152!

Thank you from the DeSilva Family

On behalf of my family, I can’t thank everyone at the Reno VA who have contributed to the medical fund for my wife. It means more than any of you will ever know. And, in return, (even though I am not currently being paid by the VA), I am now working at the behest of Local 2152, and as such, I have recommitted myself to the membership of AFGE Local 2152. The outpouring of support has surpassed my wildest imagination and I feel a debt of gratitude that will last a lifetime and with all of this support, I hope to remain as the Executive Vice President for as long as the members of Local 2152 will have me!

David K. DeSilva

Executive Vice President

AFGE Local 2152

1000 Locust Street

Reno, NV. 89502

(775) 815-6573

David.DeSilva.2152@gmail.com

VAOIG Corrupt

Never in my 22 years with the Federal Government have I ever seen a more corrupt agency of the Federal Government. The methods VAOIG use to threaten and intimidate otherwise good people and how they destroy these peoples lives is nothing short of criminal. I hope the two SA’s that have attempted to destroy my life sleep good at night knowing that my two young children ages 6 and 8, may soon be out on the street and go hungry because of your demonistic (and I believe) illegal actions.

Unions slam VA plan to track employees electronically

By Bob Brewin 12/14/2011

Unions representing Veterans Affairs Department employees blasted VA plans to include hospital staff tracking functions in draft procurement documents issued earlier this week for its $550 million Real-Time Location System. VA earlier this month said it had no plans to use the system to track staff.

In the statement of work included in the documents, the department said the system will provide the “ability to track equipment, staff and patients at VA facilities (and the interactions thereof), with the objective of monitoring business and clinical activities … The goal is to improve workflow through analysis of the data provided by the RTLS.”

Josephine Schuda, a VA spokeswoman, told Nextgov on Dec. 5 that as of that date there was no official plan for staff tagging with RTLS. She said the new contract will “buy technology that will allow a wide range of capabilities for use over five years.”

VA plans to use Wi-Fi networks installed in its 152 hospitals augmented by ultrasound and infrared technology to track people and objects equipped with wireless tags with an accuracy of 1 meter. Department officials have said before they roll out the system it will have the support of unions representing the 250,000 employees in the Veterans Health Administration.

But Elaine Gerace, vice president of the Service Employees International local for the VA hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., and a member of the Veterans Affairs National Partnership Council, said none of the department’s five unions supports the use of RTLS for employee tracking.

Gerace said, “it would be more prudent to expect managers and supervisors to be responsible for knowing where their staff is rather than spending money that would be better used on veteran programs or hiring front line staff in order to better serve the veterans.”

Mary-Jean Burke, first executive vice president of the America Federation of Government Employees National Veterans Affairs Council, said she had no idea how VA came to the conclusion that it would have union support for electronic tracking of employees and the employee tracking language in the draft RTLS request for proposals conveyed “the exact opposite” of discussions the unions had with the department at the national level.

Burke also questioned the true value and the utility of RTLS. “From my limited experience with radio frequency devices, they are often nonfunctional in reality … It seems so much stuff runs interference with the system, such as walkie-talkies, other radio frequency equipment and wireless computers and phones.”

Irma Westmoreland, chairwoman of 8,000-member National Nurses United-VA union, called RTLS, which is already used in private hospitals, dehumanizing technology designed to turn hands-on nursing care into “robotic care.” Nurses “need to decide how long they need to stay with a patient to listen to their concerns or hold the hand of a dying patient or grieving family member, rather than worrying someone is tracking how long I am in this room and [wondering if] I will have to justify why I did not get to the call bell of Mr. X fast enough,” Westmoreland said.

Susan Anderson, president of National Association of Government Employees local at the Martinsburg, W. Va., Veterans Affairs hospital and a member of the National Partnership Council, equated RTLS tracking functions to systems used to monitor criminals who wear electronic ankle bracelets while under house arrest. VA “wants to do the same thing to federal employees,” she said.

The department plans to issue the final request for proposals on or before Dec. 30.

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2 WINS IN ONE DAY!!!

Today was one of the best days AFGE local 2152 has had in a long time. We won two cases. One was an arbitration where a Dr was suspended for 10 days. With a great team arguing the case, the arbitrator ordered the agency to recind the suspension!!! A huge victory! In the second case, an MSA’s performance appraisal was not done properly by management, we grieved it, and at the second step, management fixed the mistake by upgrading the employees rating of record!!! Two big wins in one day! I’m walking on sunshine! Many thanx to the people on the arbitration team and thanx to the employee who had the courage to come forward and allow the Union to represent that person to fix his performance appraisal! This is what it means to be Union and this is what it means to be an active part of the American Federation of Government Employees!

COURT ALLOWS FEDERAL MANAGER TO BE SUED AFTER FIRING EMPLOYEE