From: J. Ward Morrow

Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2015 10:43 AM

To:

I’m watching the senate hearing.

Kirkpatrick’s brother was very good.

Brandon Coleman said some rather unhelpful things…

Shea was unimpressive. His situation sounds typically horrible, but its clear he either does not

support or fails to understand the full range of things going on and how the republicans are using

this to take away union rights, which to me has been the lynchpin of pulling this all together.

Worse they will use his testimony to support the testimony of Coleman that the VA should

contract out/privatize VA care..

I am sure he thinks he feels much like Ryan Honel that he is looking at the bigger picture, but his

testimony was helpful to the bigger picture… Sad because it could have been.

Folks have gone to OSC for years, it was union folks brining it forward, tying it together for

them, and adding media pressure. They dropped the ball in the Michelle Washington case. The

complete failure, except by Kirkpatrick, to note a union role in this effort and how important this

plays completely into the hands of the republicans…

Checks and balances are vital. I was around for Scott Bloch and know even a beefed up OSC

with strong enforcement laws if leadership is not there. OIG is the same way. The media is

fickle, may they are with you until they get bored.

They have cherry picked witnesses in manner to exclude the importance of unions, MSPB rights,

arbitration, progressive discipline, due process as part of the equation.

Very sad.

I like Carolyn Learner very much, and do want more authority and personnel at OSC and OIG.

But not at the sake of Johnson/Miller’s take back of all sorts of other rights…

Too bad those who testified did not coordinate with us and are not those who understand the

need for all of these rights…