Summary:
A Message from the Executive Director of the National Labor and Employee Relations Office
Like so many Americans, I was raised by an immigrant; my father, Carlos, was born and grew up in Cuba before he left permanently for the United States. As a child I heard stories about Cuba, the political tensions, the inability of people to express individual opinions or religious beliefs publicly, and economic and human atrocities that resulted from communism. As a teenager in the Washington, DC area, it always brought me immense pride to see First Amendment protests, knowing that the United States gave Americans the ability to express our opinions peacefully when so many others across the world, like the Cuban people, would never be willingly allowed to express their opinion about the government, their religion, their living conditions, and so much more.
I became a lawyer to be a voice for my clients. When I had an opportunity to negotiate collective bargaining agreements and working conditions for employees, I knew I found my calling. The process gave all sides – employees and management – the chance to discuss challenges and collaborate on a future that accomplished the agency mission, while also recognizing employees’ interests and rights. Over the years, I have found there are few issues for which all parties cannot come to an amicable agreement.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has an amazing mission to improve the health and welfare of everyone in America. I am here to make HHS a better place to work. My team, the National Labor and Employee Relations Office (NLERO) and I foster relationships between unions, management, and employees to collaborate on behalf of our workforce, so they better serve the American people. Differences of opinion do not need to be adversarial. Conflict should not be avoided. My father’s stories of Cuba taught me that at a young age. I believe we can build an organizational culture that allows everyone to express their diverse opinions respectfully and fosters inclusivity; we can manage our conflict while also ensuring maximum effort for our mission and the American people.
When I came to HHS two years ago, my team and I began to transform HHS labor-management relations, as well as to fundamentally change HHS’s relationship with its largest union, the National Treasury Employees Union. In alignment with Executive Order on the White House Taskforce on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, we fostered this change by negotiating the new 2023 HHS-National Treasury Employees Union National Agreement and resolving years of prior conflict, grievances, and litigation. We engaged all HHS unions in one-on-one discussions, which was the first time HHS had reached out to many of the local unions.
“Differences of opinion do not need to be adversarial. Conflict should not be avoided. My father’s stories of Cuba taught me that at a young age.”
Furthermore, we created a new HHS All Employee intranet site with links to websites for all of our unions to provide all HHS employees with labor awareness and the ability to reach out to the appropriate union. My team and the unions worked collaboratively on a “Know Your Rights” document for all HHS employees. Most recently, my team and I launched joint NTEU-HHS training on the National Agreement.
Change does not happen overnight. We are growing to become better together and build an inclusive workforce to best serve America.
I believe in our American democracy and the privileges it has given us; privileges that so many others do not have. HHS is the heart for the American people and ensuring HHS’s workforce thrives as a best place to work is my mission –so we can all support and strengthen our democracy.
Christina V. Ballance
Executive Director, National Labor and
Employee Relations Office
Department of Health and Human Services
The DEIA journey is a continuous process of learning and improvement. Committing to DEIA is not just the right thing to do—it is the smart thing to do. It makes HHS a stronger federal agency, a more effective leader and partner in advancing the health of the nation, and an attractive home for the nation’s best and brightest talent.
Leadership change stories will evolve as we collaborate across HHS and make shared progress. We will move forward with a focus on continuous improvement and addressing existing and emerging leadership needs.
For questions, resources, or additional information, please email DEIAStrategicPlan@hhs.gov.
