CLARK V. SAVIDGE SENTINEL Serving The Letter Carriers of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Shelton, WA since 1892 VOLUME 39, ISSUE 7 JULY 2015 Upcoming NALC / Branch 351 Dates National Rap Session (Houston, TX) July 17-19, 2015 Branch Picnic (Columbus Park) August 2, 2015 Regional Assembly (Stevenson, WA) October 25-30, 2015 Branch Retiree / Year End Banquet (VFW Lacey) December 12, 2015 Basic Shop Steward College (Camp Huston Gold Bar, WA) February 21-25, 2016 State Wide Training (Wenatchee) March 18-20, 2016 Regional Shop Steward College (Camp Huston Gold Bar, WA) April 17-21, 2016 WSALC State Convention (Seattle) May 20-22, 2016 NALC Convention (Los Angeles, CA) August 15-19, 2016 WSALC State Convention (Pasco) 2017 WSALC State Convention (Walla Walla) 2018 WSALC State Convention (Yakima) 2019 Minutes From the June Meeting: There was no Quorum, and no meeting was held. Proposed By-law Change, Article V, Section 8a Current Language: For their expenses, except as authorized under Article V, Sections 4, 5, and 6, the following officers shall be reimbursed for their expenses the following sums per year at the end of the year: President $1,300, Vice-President $700, Secretary-Treasurer $1,000, Recording-Secretary $600, Editor $800, Webmaster $600, Sergeant at Arms $250 and each Trustee $250. These changes would be effective in calendar year 2010. Proposed Language: For their expenses, except as authorized under Article V, Sections 4, 5, and 6, the following officers shall be reimbursed for their expenses the following sums per year at the end of the year: President $1,300, Vice-President $700, Secretary-Treasurer $1,000, Recording-Secretary $600, Editor $800, Webmaster $600, Sergeant at Arms $250, Director of Retirees $250, and each Trustee $250. These changes would be effective in calendar year 2015.
PAGE 2 Newsletter Articles Submissions of Articles for the Branch 351 Newsletter will be accepted from any members desiring to submit an article. Articles should be E-mailed to webmaster@nalc351.comcastbiz.net. The articles should be submitted in either MS Word or Powerpoint, and submitted not later than the 15th of the month prior (i.e. articles should be submitted by 15 July to make the August Newsletter). John Mauk Editor Steward s Report By Al Floyd Grievances 5 grievances resolved at Informal Step A for a carrier not working the hours of his bid. Grievance for successful bidders assuming their bids late was partially resolved. Management agreed to pay the carriers, but did not agree to being placed on notice that future violations will result in the Union seeking a corrective remedy. That portion was appealed to Formal A. Grievance for management not properly scheduling carriers who have been awarded OPTs, appealed to Formal Step A. Grievance for management contracting out our work was resolved. The work is being returned to the carrier craft. Grievance for CCA not being paid or given the opportunity to take lunch was resolved. Grievance for CCA s doing Sunday deliveries to be given an opportunity for a rest break, appealed to Formal Step A. Grievance for CCA s having to utilized their personal devices (cell-phones, GPS) in the performance of their duties, appealed to Formal A. State Convention Thank you to the membership for allowing me to attend the 115 th Annual State Convention, held here in our city, Olympia. Each Convention has something commemorative or something special to offer. Last year our very own branch hosted the Convention and the last time that took place was in 1992. This year Branch 130, Tacoma, hosted the Convention, and one of the things that made it interesting was that on the front cover of the program was a picture of their first LMOU signing in 1961and one the people in the picture was at the Convention and still actively involved in the Union, Robert Muntz, 65 years an active member. There were 7 Resolutions that the Body voted on and were passed to encourage our National Officers to attempt to negotiate into our next contract for our good. If they get the language in the next contract, it was help to improve working
PAGE 3 conditions for us all. There were breakout classes, and one of the classes I attended was lead by Our RAA Debbie Dixon, was Workload Estimations. The class was given to inform everyone that first, it s not a commitment but rather an estimate of your day. You can t know if you don t know. If you don t have all your mail, you can t give a good estimate. Management telling you what your day is to be, because DOIS says so, means nothing. IT S WHAT YOU ESTIMATE YOUR DAY TO BE. If management doesn t agree with what you say, don t sweat it, just ask for a Form 3996, fill out what you estimate it will take to complete your day, now it s management s decision to either approve or disapprove your request. Postal Handbook M-41, tell us that it is our responsibility to inform management when we are of the opinion that we cannot complete our assignment within our 8 hour tour. The decision of working into overtime is management s, not ours. Other classes provided, dealt with OWCP and retirement. There was a lot of emphasis placed on legislation. We must all work together to stop TPP and Fast Track. TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, would ship more jobs overseas and compromise our food safety standards. It would give corporate interests the power to sue our local governments if we enforce environmental, labor and other laws. Fast Track allows the White House to negotiate trade deals without any oversight. Lawmakers can t change the deal, even if it s bad for Americans. Fast Track destroys our system of checks and balances. These two are absolutely bad for America and needs to stopped. So we are urging everyone to these numbers to the Senate and the House, encouraging all of our Congressional people to put a stop to TPP and Fast Track. The numbers are; Senate - 1-855-790-8815 House - 1-855-712-8441 The Main Office went through route adjustments recently and from the adjustments people are talking, complaining, about their routes being adjusted to well less than 8 hours. To that, I have to say a few things; the 1 st being that the team used the data from what we did on our routes. That means when we didn t take our lunches, the data doesn t reflect it. If we didn t take our breaks, the data didn t reflect it. Illegally driving on sidewalks, the data didn t reflect it. Let s not forget the other things we are supposed to be doing; route maintenance, that means keeping up with the Red-book, identifying deficiencies and getting management to adjudicate or abate them. Just something I read: The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object Thomas Jefferson: Letter to Benjamin Waring, March 1801
PAGE 4 NALC Branch 351 Annual Picnic -Items Are Needed for Raffle August 2, 2015 Noon till??????? Columbus Park 5700 Black Lake Blvd SW Olympia, Wa 98512 360-786-9460 -Donated items for raffle are needed no later than the 30 th of July 2015 -Points of Contact for Donated Items: Vince Corsi (Lacey) Al Floyd (Downtown) George Vocke (Shelton) -Branch will provide everything for the picnic except some side dishes -Families are asked to bring a dish to pass
PAGE 5 Want Ads Submitted By Vincent Corsi The Branch is looking for a few members to fill some vacant positions from within the branch. Curious minds should contact one of your Office Steward (s), Branch Officer (s) and/or Branch President. MBA Representative NALC Constitution Sec. 7. The MBA Representative shall perform such duties as the Constitution and Laws of the MBA require. He/she shall, whenever requested by the President, and at the end of his/her term, deliver any MBA moneys in his/her possession, books or other papers to his/her successor in office, when qualified; and to insure the faithful performance of his/her duties, he/she shall be required to furnish a bond in such sum as the Branch may direct. HBR Representative NALC Constitution Sec. 8. The Health Benefits Representative shall perform such duties as the Constitution and Laws of the National Association of Letter Carriers Health Benefit Plan require. He/she shall, whenever requested by the President, and at the end of his/her term, make a report showing his/ her receipts, disbursements and amount of money on hand; deliver his/her books, papers and money to his/her successor in office, when installed; and to insure the faithful performance of his/her duties, he/ she shall be required to furnish a bond in such sum as the Branch may direct. Director of Retirees NALC Branch 351 By-Laws Section 5. The duties of the Director of Retired Members shall be to coordinate all activities of the Retired Members in the Branch. The Director of Retired members shall be under the direct supervision of the President, and shall perform such duties as may be assigned from time to time by the President. The Director of Retired Members shall be the legislative advocate and the Congressional Liaison for the retired members of the branch. Sergeant at Arms NALC Constitution Sec. 6. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall preserve order in the meeting under the Instruction of the President. It shall be his/her duty to see that none but members are present at the meetings unless directed by the President or a vote of the Branch. Page 76 Legislation Committee NALC Branch 351 By-Laws Section 6. The President shall appoint a Legislation Committee of six (6) members. It shall be the duty of this committee to study legislation affecting letter carriers and report the progress of such legislation at the regular meetings. The committee members shall also be responsible for keeping the membership in their respective offices informed as to legislation affecting Letter Carriers. OWCP Advisor NALC Branch 351 By-Laws Section 7. The duty of the OWCP Advisor is to be knowledgeable on current OWCP laws and assist members of the branch in the basic workings of these laws, and/or recommend or refer these members to the proper resources.
Summer is Here Get out and enjoy the weather NALC Branch 351 P.O. BOX 7715 OLYMPIA, WA 98507-7715 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID Olympia, WA PERMIT NO. 298 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED President - Vincent Corsi 493-1622 Vice President - Al Floyd Secretary/Treasurer - Al Floyd 628-3319 Recording Secretary - Ralph Hitchcock Editor - John Mauk Director of Retirees - Vacant MBA Representative - Vacant HBR Representative - Vacant Sergeant at Arms - Vacant WebMaster - John Mauk BRANCH OFFICERS Trustees - Yolanda Delacruz (15-16) Vacant (15-16) Juli Greenhalge (14-15) 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 Stewards / Alternates and Phone # s Chief Shop Steward - Vincent Corsi 888-3354 Main Office Shop Steward - Al Floyd Main Office Shop Steward - Dannie Smith Main Office Alt. Shop Steward - Juli Greenhalge Main Office Alt. Shop Steward -Vacant Lacey Station Shop Steward - Vincent Corsi Lacey Station Shop Steward - Yolanda Delacruz Lacey Station Alt. Steward - Vacant Lacey Station Alt. Steward - Vacant Shelton Office Shop Steward - George Vocke 426-5928 Branch web page is: www.nalc351.comcastbiz.net 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