AFGE Local 1239 has signed a collective bargaining agreement covering nurses who transferred to the newly created Defense Health Agency (DHA).
This first contract for this unit currently covers 350 registered nurses who are bargaining unit employees at Tripler Army Medical Center and Desmond T. Doss Health Clinic. These employees voted for AFGE representation during the pandemic while still employed by the Army. While bargaining began with the Army before the RNs’ transfer to DHA, the bargaining was not completed unit after the employees transferred to DHA. The contract has articles covering important things like details and reassignments, use of facilities and communications, official time, new employee orientation, grievance procedure, and arbitration.
Commemorative signing ceremony.
AFGE anticipates a larger agreement for these employees and others transferred to DHA once we finish the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) cases in which we’re seeking to continue representation of employees transferring to DHA.
“Also, we anticipate having all professionals in the Indo-Pacific Region represented by AFGE once we finish the FLRA litigation, so this was what we called an interim agreement,” said AFGE Deputy General Counsel Cathie McQuiston who headed the AFGE negotiation team.
“The interim CBA is a monumental achievement for all civilian registered nurses at Tripler Army Medical Center and Desmond Doss Health Clinic,” said AFGE LOCAL 1239 President Leilani Ganir. “The interim CBA as National President Kelley put it as "a diamond in the rough" that will become the foundation of a bigger and comprehensive master agreement in the future for Local 1239 and others in DHA.”
Ganir said the local now has an AFGE office in both facilities at Tripler Army Medical Center and Desmond Doss Health Clinic where bargaining unit employees can come and talk to stewards in private.
“As local president, I am so honored and humbled to be working with dedicated, loyal, professional, and selfless nurses who provide the best quality care to our service members and their dependents,” she added. “Our Local 1239 Ohana is dedicated to ensuring our workers’ rights are preserved and keeping our safety on the job a priority. We are Local 1239 strong!”
Group photo at the contract signing ceremony.
The DHA employees at the two facilities in Hawaii are part of the 40,000 civilian bargaining unit employees who will be transferred to DHA. AFGE and other unions are petitioning the FLRA for certification to represent these employees in 20 so-called “direct markets” and a group of small markets and stand-alone facilities in 85 locations.
Until recently, DHA was a relatively new, relatively small agency of only a few thousand civilian health care workers at military hospitals in the D.C. metro region who worked for the Department of Defense, but DoD is transferring health care workers from different components to DHA.
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