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President’s Report
February 2013
by Shelly Lucido

On May 1 we celebrate 50 years as a

Local. It is a good time to reflect on how

far we have come and where we are going.

Many people have made sacrifices and

fought for the wages, hours and working

conditions we enjoy. In a struggling

economy we are fortunate to have a

no-layoff clause and to have negotiated

Wages and benefits so we can provide for

ourselves and our families. Yet we

sometimes forget the individuals who

fought before us so we could enjoy these

wages and benefits. A union is about

solidarity, upholding the contract and

fighting not just for ourselves but also for

those who will come after us, just as our

predecessors did. A union is only as strong

as its members.


Article 1.6A states:

Supervisors are prohibited from

performing bargaining unit work ... except:

1) in an emergency;

2) for the purpose of training or instruction

 of employees;

3) to assure the proper operation of

 equipment;

4) to protect the safety of employees; or

5) to protect the property of the USPS

If management is performing your work -

touching the mail, moving equipment,

delivering express, lobby sweeps etc. - you

should be requesting a steward. Do not

continue to allow them to do our work and

eliminate jobs.


LMOU Item 21 F.

“... the successful bidder shall work the

duty assignment as posted and shall not be

displaced by a junior employee.”

Youbid the job and youshould be

working the job as posted. There is no

provision for you to be working at other

stations if it is not posted on your bid

assignment. To do so is to assist

management in eliminating jobs. Of course

you must do what you are instructed to do

but you should be requesting to see your

union steward.


DUO = Destruction of Unit Operations.

I can respect the Postal Service goal to

eliminate costs but I cannot agree to it at

the expense of customer service and the

causing of unsafe working conditions.

Employees working at Hoffman Heights

have been experiencing hazardous

working conditions that the

Postal Service caused when they moved

carriers, clerks and mail from Fletcher to

Hoffman Heights. In December, OSHA

performed an inspection and we are

awaiting their official findings. In the

meantime District Safety - present during

the OSHA Inspection - is well aware of

their findings - called unmanaged egress

aisles. A 28” egress aisle must be kept at

all times, but due to the inadequate space

at Hoffman it is impossible to achieve.

Management’s response is to search for

another location for the carriers and

distribution or reconstruct Hoffman.

Whatever station you are working at least a

clear 28” aisle must be maintained in your

work area, around carrier cases, etc. If it is

not you should be filling out a Form 1767

or requesting a steward.

Fletcher and Altura have experienced the

effects of the so called DUO’s. Missing

mail, insufficient time to do second

notices, return packages etc.

Management’s response is to further make

customer service worse by eliminating jobs

at these two stations. A job at Fletcher has

already been eliminated and, per MCS

Donna Flaherty, the elimination of a job at

Altura is forthcoming.


It doesn’t matter what station you are at, if

mail is being delayed - second notices,

forwards, return to senders etc. - you

should be reporting it to the OIG or

requesting a steward.


Wos, CSV and Flash reports.

Every time there is a reversion or an

abolishment of a job, these are the reports

management utilizes to justify it. These

reports are driven by some things you

either do or don't do. I cannot stress

enoughthe importance of assuring you are

making moves on the clock depending on

what duties you are performing. I cannot

stress enoughhow important it is to

account for every customer visit by

recording it in the POS machine. I cannot

stress enoughthe importance of assuring

that you are accurately recording mail

volume. Help us save your jobs by doing

your part.


Scheme Training, Travel time and

Mileage.

It is management’s responsibility

to provide and schedule training and your

responsibility to go. If you incur additional

mileage due to traveling to the AMPO, you

should be paid mileage. Ask your

supervisor or Manager for assistance in

requesting reimbursement for mileage.


Senior Bidders.

You have a right to do your scheme training immediately before or after your regular tour or on the clock with the use of annual. If you are being mandated for overtime and it interferes with your training, request a steward. Clerks under certain circumstances such as abolishment of your job or reposting of your job you may be entitled to conduct your scheme training on the clock. Remember: if you are traveling on or off the clock you are entitled to be paid for mileage. In addition, if you are traveling

off the clock you are entitled to travel time.

Recently I became aware that Clerks for

some time have not been paid for their

travel time or mileage. This means

management has not been paying you

correctly. This means they have purposely

been robbing you of your pay. Andy

Weaver has provided me with training

records for the last 6 years and I believe I

have identified the clerks that were robbed

of their pay. At this time Mr. Weaver

wants to argue that it is untimely to get you

paid now. I am currently working on a

response or solution, whether it is

notifying the OIG, Dept. of Labor,

contacting your Congressional

Representatives or perhaps filing a

grievance on your behalf. I promise you

this, there will be a response. Robbing

employees of their pay will not go without

a response. In speaking to employees it

appears it was not a problem prior to Mr.

Weaver and in speaking to others they

were unaware they were not paid correctly.

JCIM Art. 37, page 5, Question# 22.

In early 2012 I sent a letter to Postmaster

Cook outlining my position on the above

mentioned provision and that any violation

of my position would be grieved. It was

grieved and has recently been resolved.

It is now agreed among the parties that

when overtime is needed for scheme

distribution: 1) the employees on the

OTDL who are scheme qualified must be

maximized first; 2) then the clerks on the

OTDL not possessing the skill must be

utilized to perform mail distribution via

alpha-numeric; 3) then mandating

non-OTDL clerks. This was a very expensive

lesson for management, but a provision of

the contract they were well aware of prior

to the violation.


These are just a few of the provisions of

our CBA that must be enforced. Do not

allow your contract to be violated without

saying something. We cannot sacrifice our

fellow employees and future APWU

members, or turn our backs on those who

have sacrificed and fought for the wages,

hours and working conditions we enjoy

today. Get involved in the day-to-day

fight. In addition, get involved in the

legislative issues that affect workers all

over this great country including Postal

Workers.


As long as local management chooses to

disrespect the Collective Bargaining

Agreement (CBA) - which the Postal

Service agreed to and signed - we will

continue to file the same grievances. As

long as certain Managers and Supervisors

are not held accountable for the thousands

of dollars paid out in grievances every

year, we will continue to file the same

grievances. As long as local management

shows no integrity in honoring the

agreement the Postal Service signed, we

will continue to file the same grievances.

We must not give up and allow

management to violate our contract. We

must not play “Let’s Make A Deal” with

the contract to benefit just ourselves. The

outcome of such deals is the destruction of

what being a union is all about and the

elimination of current and future jobs.


Blame Postal Management, not your

union. Remember your union has your

interest at heart. Your Officers and

Stewards took an oath to uphold and

enforce the contract and will do so to the

best of their ability. Remember the APWU

is nottrying to destroy the USPS by filing

a grievance, as management sometimes

claims. We areenforcing a contract that

both parties agreed to and it is

management that chooses to violate the

Contract.


God bless and Best Wishes to our retirees.

I ask you all to stay involved and remain a

member of this local or become a member

of the retiree department. In 2013 and

forward we must continue to stand with

one another, pray for one another and be

there for one another as the fight and

struggles continue.


Shelly

President’s Report ARCHIVES

July 2009

April 2008

August 2007

February 2007

October 2006

July 2006

May 2006

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