Members Chosen for NFFE National Forum on Individuals with Disabilities; Work to Begin this Fall

(National Federation of Federal Employees)

Today, NFFE is proud to announce the 12 members of the new NFFE National Forum on Individuals with Disabilities, a working group of union representatives tasked with identifying and promoting ideas to help improve the quality of employment for disabled members of the federal workforce.

Its membership, some disabled and some not, was originally limited to ten individuals, but was later expanded to 12 due to an overwhelming number of excellent nominations. The following individuals were chosen:

Chair Linda Aase, Local 1642; Gerry Berry, Local 1340; Victoria Bouchee, Local 1450; Bryan Clonts, Local 125; David Dimond, Local 2192; Daniel Ganoza, Local 1; Randy Gonzales, Local 2197; Michael Gropman, Local 1627; Marilyn Hudson, Local 1487; Janine Juhasz, Local 1; Patricia LaSala, Local 1; and Charles Shipley, Local 1953.

Members of the new forum come from a wide variety of departments and agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Forest Service, Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, General Services Administration, National Park Service, and the Department of Commerce.

Their mission is to work with these agencies and others to discuss new ideas for improving the working conditions for disabled federal employees government-wide. Members will also promote these issues in the media and on Capitol Hill in an effort to raise awareness about the struggles disabled workers face every day.

“[T]his Forum will be instrumental in identifying barriers and coming up with innovative solutions to break those barriers,” said NFFE National President William R. Dougan in his letter to members of the Forum. “I want this forum to become a laboratory for designing best practices for reasonable accommodation in the workplace. It will be critical for this group to develop methods for sharing ideas and collaborating with federal agencies to move these best practices from ideas to reality.”

The Forum will be Chaired by Linda Aase of NFFE Local 1642, who originally requested that NFFE form an advisory group to deal with these issues. The group will likely hold its first formal meeting in September. All NFFE members are encouraged to share their ideas and concerns with her regarding the Forum’s agenda. She can be reached by phone (703) 603-0154, or email linda.aase@gsa.gov.

With your help, the NFFE National Forum on Disabilities is sure to make a difference for thousands of our fellow federal employees.

“I am excited about the work of this group and the possibilites of making real progress on behalf of employees with disabilities,” said Dougan. “I thank each of you for your dedication and willingness to step up and volunteer as a member of this forum.”