Yesterday, July 23, 2007, was the first day of negotiations at the VISN 20 Office in Vancouver, Washington. We discussed Article 25, “Parking and Transportation yesterday and today, with no resolution.

VA seems to believe that Union officials should not have reserved parking spaces, and that this issue should be negotiated locally in hopes that there will be no reserved spots for Union parking.

Our next Article for discussion is Article 9, “Classification”.

Observers yesterday were Leonard Fearn, President, and Cherri Wagner, Vice President-Professionals, of AFGE Local 2157, Portland, Oregon. “Bill” Hainsey, President of AFGE Local 2583, Vancouver Division, was an observer today.

We hope you wore your red yesterday. Keep up the team support!

Another update tomorrow…………