About Local 3197
AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 600,000 federal and D.C. government workers across the nation and overseas.
The headquarters of AFGE is located in Washington, D.C. AFGE is divided into 12 districts, Local 3197 is in District 11 and the National President is John Gage.
Local 3197's office is located at the Seattle Division of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System.
VA Regional Office (VARO) is located at 915 2nd Avenue Room 1050, Seattle, WA 98174 220-6718 x2781 (fax 220-6240)
Highlights from VA News Briefing for June 21, 2010
Shinseki Agrees To Lend VA's Expertise To Arlington National Cemetery. In
continuing coverage, the second item in the "Veterans Journal" column
for the
Providence (RI) Journal (6/21, Reilly) notes, "The top two officials
in charge of Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC, were
disciplined after an Army investigation found the cemetery's management
to be 'dysfunctional,' Army Secretary John McHugh announced on June 10
at a Pentagon news conference." However, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric
Shinseki has "agreed to lend his department's expertise in cemetery
operations. Patrick K. Hallinan, director of the Office of Field
Programs for the VA, will be temporarily reassigned as Arlington's
superintendent. Hallinan currently oversees 130 national cemeteries."
Impact:
Arlington Cemetery administration
guidance from VA
VA Research Cited In Article On Protecting Against Prostate Cancer. Food
Consumer (6/21, Liu) said that Sunday was Father's Day and while it
"may be too late to send your dad a gift," it is "never too late to send
a message to him to remind him that a healthy lifiestyle...can help
protect against prostate cancer." The website goes on to note that "Dr.
Stephen J. Freedland and a team of his colleagues of the Duke University
Prostate Center" and the Veterans Affairs hospital "in Durham, North
Carolina reported in the November 2009 issue of Journal of Urology that
prostate cancer was less likely to be diagnosed in men who got exercise
regularly than those who led a sedentary lifestyle."
Impact:
Prostate health promotion
Help
For Another Generation Of American Veterans. An
editorial in the
Seattle Times (6/21, 225K).
Impact:
Op-ed on Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America