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1992.06.24 :  Total Quality Management at SSA

Contact:  Phil Gambino (202) 245-2359 (410) 965-8904
June 24, 1992

       After extensive discussions lasting for over a year, 
Gwendolyn S. King, commissioner of Social Security, and John
N. Sturdivant, president of the American Federation of
Government Employees, announced agreement had been reached
which will establish a total quality initiative in the
SSA/AFGE bargaining unit.
       The Memorandum of Understanding sets the groundwork
for the agency and the union to move forward with the
initiatives by creating a national quality council to charter
activities which are national in scope--including the
development of a joint national training program and the
beginning of full-scale implementation of total quality
efforts at SSA Headquarters in Baltimore, Md., and in the
Philadelphia region.
       "I'm excited about the formation of our new national
quality council and the prospects of incorporating total
quality management principles to improve the service SSA can
provide to the people in this country who are most vulnerable
and have the greatest needs--the elderly and disabled,"
Commissioner King said.  "Working in partnership with AFGE, I
know SSA and its 65,000 dedicated civil servants will be
recognized as an institution in which quality reigns and new
standards of excellence are regularly set and surpassed."
       The agreement incorporates provisions which AFGE and
SSA believed essential, such as protecting employees from
layoffs or reduction in grade or pay solely because of
quality improvements, and establishes both SSA's and AFGE's
intent to find a better way to deliver quality service using
total quality processes.
       "This agreement proves that true cooporation between
labor and management will result in grains for all involved,
including the beneficiaries who depend most on the important
work done at SSA," stated Sturdivant.  "Providing a
significant role for employees from day one will certainly
result in total quality initiatives throughout government."  


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