Munitions Fire Fighting Course

                                                                                                                                                                                                           17 Nov 2011                     

      MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA)      

                                      ON                                              

Munitions Fire Fighting Course

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

2.  As per HQ Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency memorandum of 22 September 2010 and Management/Union meeting on 14 Sep 11, the Munitions Fire Fighting Course is mandatory training for all GS series 0081 personnel.  It made the course a prerequisite to attend the Goodfellow AFB Fire Academy’s in-residence Hazardous Materials WMD course, and set a course completion deadline of 1 January 2012.  The online course takes an estimated 16 hours to complete.  It is broken into units with periodic progress checks that yield a proficiency percentage.  75% proficiency is considered a passing score.  The employee may proceed to the next unit without a passing score; however, a final test score of at least 75% is required for successful completion.  The final test resembles a game of “Jeopardy,” where the employee is pitted against a computerized opponent answering questions for points.  The last round (“Final Jeopardy”) appears to put the whole game at stake, but the final test score is determined by percent of correct answers--not game points.  Employees may retake the final test three times to obtain a passing score.  After three unsuccessful attempts, the supervisor must “unlock” the course and the employee must retake the course in full. 

3.  To address employee impacts, Management agrees to the following:

    a. Each employee will be given up to16 hours of duty time to complete the course.

          b. Employees who fail the final test three times may be provided additional duty time, as deemed appropriate by his/her supervisor to successfully complete the course. 

          c. Upon employee request, an extension will be granted to employees who cannot meet the 1 January 2012 deadline due to work assignments, scheduled leave, or other legitimate reasons.  

 4. All 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                                             For the Union

_____/signed/_______________                    _____/signed/__________________

SMSgt Coben Scott                                            Tom Robinson

HQ AFMC/A7OX                                                   Executive Assistant, AFGE Council 214

____/signed/________________                    ____/signed/___________________

Stephanie Peterangelo                                     Kris Keeler

Labor Relations Specialist,                             Executive Assistant

HQ AFMC/A1KL                                                  AFGE Council 214