Acquisition Coding of Engineering Technicians

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA)

ON

Acquisition Coding of Engineering Technicians

1. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 214 and the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), hereafter referred to as the Union and Management, hereby enter into this Memorandum of Agreement regarding career field realignment as it applies to bargaining unit employees (BUEs) covered by the Master Labor Agreement (MLA) between the parties.

2. AFMC realigned engineering technicians from the logistics caree1 field to the Science and Engineering (S&E) career field. The affected engineering technician occupational series are 0802, 0856, and 0895. This change allows technicians a greater opportunity to pursue a technical career path and increase engineering involvement in the technician's professional development. The S&E career field policy has been changed to allow technicians greater opportunity to pursue Tuition Assistance (TA) for undergraduate degrees. AFMC has also initiated a position review of all Science and Engineering career fie(d technicians to determine if the technician duties meet the Position Category Description (PCD) duties for Acquisition Professional Development Program (APOP) coding. The Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC) is the first center to accomplish this review. This MOA implements the realignment of engineering technicia11s and APDP coding, subject to the provisions outlined below,

3. Immediate Supervisors of AFSC technicians will determine if their employees should be acquisition coded, .using SAF/AQH "Step-by-Step Process for Designating and Coding AF Acquisition Positions" (see attached slide). To assist the AFSC Supervisors, AFSC/BN developed an "AFSC/EN technician APDP coding matrix" to use along with the Engineering and Production, Quality and Manufacturing Position Category Descriptions (PCD), issued by the Defense Acquisition University (DAU). AFSC/EN will provide a technician coding spreadsheet to the impacted organizations listing all technician positions to be reviewed. The supervisors will conduct an assessment of the employees' duties, using the PCDs and the AFSC/EN technician APDP coding matrix to annotate acquisition category and level on the technician coding spreadsheet. In accordance with AFMCI 36-2613, supervisors will notify the technicians of coding category and certification due date, once coding actions are completed. In addition, the AFSC Center APDP manager will notify the technicians of position coding using the "APDP Notice Newly Coded" mail merge process found in the Command Human Resource Intelligence System (CHRIS). To accommodate these impacts:

a. Management will provide employees access to all APDP training required to attain certification.

b. Management will request an extension of at least one year to accommodate employees who do not obtain certification in the 24 months due to lack. of availability tralning.

c. Management will provide individual mentoring, on request. to individuals having difficulty meeting certification requirements.

4. All AFSC technicians assigned to positions that are being reviewed for potential APDP coding, will receive notification of the review upon commencement of the supervisors review. They will also receive notification of the coding decision upon completion of the Supervisors assessment. The notification will explain that the coding decision was bused on the documented duties in the employee's position description and that coding may be appealed on the basis ofactu.al percentage of time spent on acquisition/non-acquisition workload. Upon request, the supervisor will meet with the employee and/or the employee's representative to discuss the coding decision and reasons for reconsideration. If agreement is not reached, the grievance procedure may be invoked.

5. When the coding review is complete the Union will be provided a spreadsheet showing the positions where acquisition coding was added. The spreadsheet will show the installation and office symbol of the position and, if encumbered, the name of the employee.

6. AH remedies available under the MLA or 5 U.S.C. 71 will remain available to the parties if concerns cannot be cooperatively resolved.

For Management/Date                                          For the Union/Date



//signed//                                                   //signed//
__________________________________                           ________________________________
DOMINICK TUCOILLO                                            TROY TINGEY
HQ AFMC/ENR                                                  President
                                                             AFGE Council 214



//signed//                                                   //signed//
___________________________________                          _________________________________
ROBERT GOOD                                                  TOM ROBINSON
Labor Relations Specialist                                   Executive Assistant
HQ AFMC/A1KL                                                 AFGE Council 214