Branch 351, Serving The Letter Carriers of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Shelton, WA since 1892 CLARK V. SAVIDGE SENTINEL VOLUME 33, ISSUE 11 NOVEMBER 2009 Presidents Corner: Oct. 09 By Al Floyd The Union It fascinates me sometimes when I here members ask why is the Union filing this or that grievance and that all it is going to do cause problems. To that I ask, what do you want us to do? Management smiles in your face then violates the contract behind your back. In fact some of the violations are being done right in front of you. Management just feel that you will not say anything about it. It is up to the Union to make sure that management follows the contract even if by doing so makes a carrier upset because they cannot have what they want. If the Union sat idle or made deals this would erode the integrity of the Union. With the current condition of the Postal Service, we, meaning all of us, need to be more mindful of our jobs. Collections is Letter Carrier work. Make it known if you see anyone other than a letter carrier doing the work. Making changes to your Red Book is your job. You make the changes, then submit it to management. Form 3996. You request it, you fill it out, you submit it to management and they either approve or disapprove your estimate of how much time, if over 8 hours, you feel you will need to complete your route. A Little History For years the Union has fought for letter carriers to have the rights that we now take for granted. Did you know that letter carriers were supposed to work everyday. 365 days of the year. It was with the help of a Congressman by the name of Samuel Sunset Cox, a Democrat from Ohio, in 1884, that letter carriers first received a 15 day vacation with pay. Also it was Congressman Cox who in 1879 persuaded congress to establish a regular pay scale for letter carriers. Until then letter carrier pay was set by each postmaster in each city. Can you just imagine the mess. Also with the help of Congressman Cox, carriers got an 8 hour bill passed. Until that time carriers were working 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. With this victory letter carriers realized the importance and strength of unity. The Union is still using that important asset today. H.R. 22 would provide short term financial relief for the Postal Service to pay into the health benefits plan on a more reasonable and affordable schedule. Which has been one of the major causes of the Postal Services financial crisis. Also, reading what was sent through the NALC E-Activist Network, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee marked up S. 1507, a bill that would call for the restructuring of the congressionally-mandated payments for future retirees. In this bill there were 11 amendments, including one that would require a move to 5-day delivery and the elimination of more than 20,000 city carrier jobs. Through e-activist, the NALC was able to defeat that amendment as well as 6 others. Through the e- Activist the Union is able to get information out quickly. Through the e-activist the Union is able to call its members into action quickly. That is why signing up for e-activist is so important.
PAGE 2 CLARK V. SAVIDGE SENTINEL Labor / Management During the meeting we discussed street observations, form 4584, and that the Union feels that if management observes a carrier in the performance of their duty, then they should receive a 4584. The Postmaster feels that management does not have to give the carrier a 4584, unless they are out doing 4584 observations. If you see management watching you, in the performance of your duties on the street and you do not get a 4584 after returning to the office, inform your steward. Give your steward a written statement of what happened and when. Also brought up was bike racks for those who ride to work. Management said there was a bike rack in front of the post office and they were going to see about it being moved to the employee side of the fence for employee use. The item which took a large portion of time was the morning commitment process. The Postmaster, Ryan Moody, told his managers that they were not to say DOIS says when making their rounds. If they do not agree, then they ask for a justifiable reason and you should give them one. We are trying to stop the confrontations over commitments. Management saying that is unacceptable because of what is on their piece of paper and the carriers having to say it takes what it takes. This discussion went right into the route adjustments and that the Postmaster seems to think that the carriers are not working and not applying themselves. He believes that the routes have been adjusted and that the carriers are not making their standards of 18 & 8. The adjustment team used a mathematical formula to make adjustments, where it is not understood how they could apply it from this route to that one. Or the that with their formula, no time was given. An example given was of a business that received 1 or 2 buckets of mail and on time was given in the office and 1 minute was given for street time. If the Postmaster understood what was being told, I could not tell, because he kept saying that every carrier was adjusted to 100% to standard. Every carrier right now needs to keep track of what they do in the office and on the street. When the IRAP team comes back in October, you need to be able to show them why your route needs the amount of office time it demands as well as the amount of street time that needed. And that goes either way. If your route is overburdened or you re tired of pivoting to get an 8 hour day. Brain Teasers: Nov. 09 When PTF carriers do not get 40 hours a week, they should be used in the clerk craft before a T-E is used in that capacity. A. True B. False 2. Personal comfort stops are deducted from total street time during route examinations. A. True B. False 3. Management may discipline a carrier for failure to meet the 18 and 8 casing standard. A. true B. False 4. A letter may be turned, as a reminder, for a parcel when? A. On office time B. On street time C. When management says it is OK 5. The form 1571 is used for what? A. A time wasting practice B. Your record of undelivered mail at your case C. Your protection if management wants to question why mail left at your case was not delivered.
SERVING THE LETTER CARRIERS Minutes of Meeting: October 1st, 2009 PAGE 3 No Quorum! Stewards Report: Oct. 09 By Al Floyd No Meeting! Submitted by Mean Dean Peterson Grievances filed involving the Reserve positions are slowly being resolved. Thus far Reserve positions #23, #12 and #7 have been reinstated. Reserves #23 and #12 have been withheld by management per Article 12. Reserve #7 must be posted for bid and the successful bidder to receive a lump sum award of $430.00. But if there is no successful bidder, the position will be placed in withholding. Reserve positions #22 and #4 are currently at the Informal Step A. 9 grievances filed and resolved at the Informal Step A for Rural carriers or more correctly, non-letter carriers, doing collections. Violations have occurred so often that the remedy has been increased from an additional 50% to an additional 100% of the amount of time worked in violation. And if management continues to violate the contract, we will seek to increase the additional corrective remedy, to 200%. This corrective remedy is strictly to get management to abide by the contract. Numerous grievances filed and so far, resolved at the Informal Step A, for successful bidders being placed in their positions late. Management is saying that there is nothing they can do about Shared Services. But as I said, if the Dispute Team make a decision, Shared Services has to abide by it. So that means someone in management has the authority to tell Shared Services to do their job and stop violating the contract. Grievance filed and finally resolved, for management not doing their job concerning loose dogs. If you inform management about a dog problem and management gives the Dog Letter to you to deliver to the customer, if you are uncomfortable delivering it, tell them that you would prefer that they deliver the Dog Letter instead. Which they should be doing anyway. 4 grievances filed and resolved at the Informal Step for carriers being delayed meeting with their shop stewards. Grievance filed at Informal Step A and appealed to Formal Step A for management hindering an official Investigation. Grievance filed at Informal Step A and appealed to Formal Step A for disparate treatment. 4 grievances filed and resolved on behalf of one PTF; Not getting the hours of his OPT. Worked over 60 hour limit. Form 1571 not supplied after being requested. Denied and delayed time to meet with shop steward. 10 grievances filed and resolved at the Informal Step A for PTF s not working the hours of their OPTs.
PAGE 4 CLARK V. SAVIDGE SENTINEL Fifth Contract COLA: 0% There was no projected accumulation toward the sixth cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for letter carriers, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) October 15 release of September Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures. The next COLA, under the terms of the 2006-2011 National Agreement, will be based on any increase in CPI from July 2009 to January 2010. There are eight COLAs included in the Agreement. OFFICIAL NOTICE NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND DELEGATES BRANCH 351 OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON This is an official notice to the membership of Branch 351 that nominations for the positions listed below are open. Nominations for officers of Branch 351 will be held at the regular Branch meetings of October 1, 2009, and November 5, 2009, 7:00 PM, at 119 ½ Capitol Way N, Olympia, WA 98501. All Branch 351 members are eligible for nomination, with the exception of those in supervisory positions or within two years following termination of supervisory status. Nominees must attend six of the twelve meetings before the convention to be eligible as expenses-paid Convention Delegates. Nominations will be received from the floor or may be submitted in writing. Nominees must be present to accept or may indicate their acceptance in writing. Written nominations must be in the possession of the Recording Secretary no later than 8:00 PM, November 5, 2009. The election will be conducted by secret mail ballot. The ballots will be mailed to all eligible members at least 20 days before the election. The election will be held on December 3, 2009. Ballots must be received no later than 7:00 PM, December 3, 2009. Write-in ballots will not be counted for any position, but will not cause the entire ballot to be invalidated. Nominations will be held for the following Branch Offices: MBA Representative One (1) Trustee Health Benefit Representative *The term of office will be for two (2) years beginning January 1, 2010.
SERVING THE LETTER CARRIERS PAGE 5 House passes bill to allow FERS carriers to apply unused sick leave toward retirement On October 7, the House approved a conference committee's report for a provision which would allow government workers under the Federal Employees Retirement System including letter carriers to apply their unused sick leave toward retirement. The bill still needs Senate approval where it might face some budgetary objections-before it can be sent to President Obama for his signature. The provision is part of the 2010 Defense authorization bill, which a House-Senate conference committee has already agreed upon. The bill, if approved, would let FERS employees get half credit for unused sick leave through 2013. Full FERS sick leave credit would take effect in 2014. The compromise bill also includes a provision to gradually move federal employees who live and work outside the continental United States away from COLA-based pay raises and into a system based instead on locality pay. USPS receives financial relief from Congress On Wednesday night, the Senate approved a continuing resolution that included the postal financial relief language from H.R. 22. With the passage, the Postal Service will be able to defer $4 billion in payments to a fund for its future retirees' health benefits, giving USPS some flexibility for dealing with the current recession. "I want to thank all of the NALC activists who worked so hard for this passage," President Fred Rolando said at a legislative function Wednesday night. "Tonight we can celebrate, but tomorrow we must start all over to get a long-term solution."
Enclosed is your 2010 Color-Days Off Calendar NALC Branch 351 P.O. BOX 7715 OLYMPIA, WA 98507-7715 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID Olympia, WA PERMIT NO. 298 BRANCH OFFICERS President - Al Floyd 628-3319 Vice President - Sam Samuels 849-4492 Secretary/Treasurer - Vincent Corsi 493-1622 Recording Secretary - Dean Peterson 491-2468 Editor - Stephen Ambeau 870-7807 Assistant Editor - Schauntel Ambeau 870-7807 Director of Retirees - Sam Samuels 352-2912 MBA Representative - Vacant HBR Representative - Vacant Sergeant at Arms - John Mauk WebMaster - John Mauk Trustees - Ryan Troy (08-09) Lisa Wooden (09-10) George Vocke 431-6599 (09-10) Branch 351 holds its union meetings on the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm unless otherwise noted, at 119 1/2 Capitol Way, Olympia, WA (360)754-8600 Stewards / Alternates and Phone # s Chief Shop Steward - Debbie Dixon Cell # 628-3320 Alt. Chief Steward - Al Floyd Cell # 628-3319 Main Office Shop Steward - Al Floyd Main Office Alt. Steward - Ryan Troy 581-8549 Lacey Station Shop Steward - Debbie Dixon 923-9197 Lacey Station Alt. Steward - Vincent Corsi 493-1622 Shelton Office Shop Steward - George Vocke 426-5928 All items published in the Clark V. Savidge Sentinel are the property of Branch 351. Reprint permission is granted to trade union and labor publications, providing appropriate credit is given. Material submitted for publication must be received by the Editor no later than the 15th of the month. This is a monthly newsletter. Opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of NALC Branch 351 or it s editor