Bulletin #9 - July 1, 2008
July 1, 2008
Dear Union Members,
I am very proud to announce Vice President Chris Howe and I have been selected by President Burrus to serve on committees for the National Convention. Chris has been appointed to the Labor/Management Committee and I am serving on the Constitution Committee. It is an honor to represent the Manchester Area Local at the National level, a tradition this Local has maintained for many years. The Constitution Committee met in Washington the week of June 16th and will meet there again the week of July 14th as well as attending the National Convention four days early on August 12th. The Labor/Management Committee begins their work at the National Convention on August 14th. This administration will be working together to be sure no issues are left unattended for the membership in our absence. We will also be in close contact with the Stewards left in each facility while the Executive Board is in attendance at the Convention, August 15th through August 24th and a national extension on grievances and appeals to arbitration will be in effect August 11th through August 29th.
I am also pleased to report both the NH/APWU President John Shappy and Vice President Dale Metzler have been assigned to committees, Formal Resolutions and Organizing Committees, respectively. We have very dedicated and talented Union Officials in NH and it is nice to see this fact has not gone unnoticed by our National Union.
While I was in Washington I received notification Management had initiated a notice of excessing of eight level 6 Clerks out of the Manchester installation. Contractually Management is not allowed to discuss any out of installation excessing at the local level until the meeting at the Area level has been held. I knew the attrition Manchester is experiencing would eliminate any need for excessing out of the installation. As I understand copies of this notice were distributed causing some anxiety. At this point Management is in agreement this notice should be rescinded at the Area meeting to be held on July 16th.
Out of section excessing continues in the Manchester installation. A meeting is scheduled for July 8th to discuss again excessing out of the Tour Two Mailing Section. Management had put this on hold due to the Function Four on the Post Office side which includes Tour Two Mailing Section positions. An initial meeting was held with Postmaster Rowland to discuss the Function Four although he indicated he did not expect any impact until the fall therefore again with attrition the original impact numbers will change.
The National President’s Conference was held in Indianapolis the weekend of June 20th which I attended. The following is a report on the many items that were discussed much of what we are experiencing.
• Excessing: Because of the Function Fours and low mail volumes in the Plants many offices in all parts of the country are excessing, out of sections and out of installations. Southern Florida, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are now excessing 500 miles from the installations. Voluntary Early Retirements will be offered but to only targeted installations where there is a significant excessing of more than 50 employees.
• Standby Rooms: Some installations have resorted to employees being placed in a standby room waiting for work presenting an opportunity to explore a four day work week.
• FSS Machines, Flat Sequence Sorters: Currently the deployment schedule calls for 100 machines in late 2008 early 2009 with two to be installed in Northwest Boston. This is the most automated piece of equipment we have seen. It will feed, sweep and containerize itself to include loading a dolly truck. It will run 18,000 pieces per hour with a read rate of 98%. The phase one impact will include FSM 100 operations in the P&DC’s. In addition the Letter Carrier Craft is expected to be reduced by 23% due to the impact from this machine with the Northeast Area excessing 1787 Letter Carriers up to 200 miles from their installations. Although the current flat volume does not justify the expense of this machine and its installation the USPS believes the elimination of work hours and bid positions will more than justify the equipment. Initially the USPS planned to purchase 200 APPS machines but with only 100 in inventory they have stopped due to the fact the FSS is expected to pull 40% of volume from the APPS. Maintenance staffing will increase with the FSS because of the need for up to 15 ET’s per machine.
• Abolishment of Level 7 Express Mail Technicians Nationwide: This work is not going away but the USPS plans to shift the work to other employees. Grievances will need to be filed at the local level. Any of the work Management shifts to non-bargaining unit employees will be an Article 1.6 grievance. The 017-10 Exam is a requirement for the Express Mail Technician position therefore any work shifted to other bargaining unit employees will be grieved as they would not be minimally qualified to perform the work without that exam. For example the Complaints and Inquiries Clerk position requires the 017-20 exam and would not be considered minimally qualified to perform any duties of the Express Mail Technician.
• Shifting work from Maintenance Operations Support Clerks to ET’s: An Article 7.2 grievance will need to be filed at the local level due to the crossing of occupational groups. This is the transfer of work from one position to another.
• We are awaiting a decision on a National RI399 case involving the SPBS. The APWU argued that all duties involved in operating mail processing machinery within the immediate vicinity of the machinery have historically been assigned to the clerk craft. The parties completed the case before Arbitrator Sharnoff on February 19, 2008.
• A national arbitration case was heard on March 12th and 13th, 2008 before Arbitrator Das on the prohibition against casuals working between 5:00 AM and Noon which is still pending a decision.
• A national dispute on EAS employees performing data collection work is scheduled to be heard on September 18th and 19th, 2008.
President Burrus spoke to the Conference expounding on the many achievements of the APWU over the years. Even in this economy we are in the enviable position of a no-layoff protection, salary increases, COLA’s and affordable healthcare although he did recognize the negatives we face everyday cloud the achievements we have made. He also discussed plans for the National Convention, his attendance at the NALC Convention and the invitation he extended to NALC President Young to attend our convention.
All of the National Officers spoke on the importance of the elections, voting for candidates who support working families’ issues. NH will again be a battleground state in this election. If any member is interested in helping with our legislative agenda and working with the AFL-CIO on the Labor 2008 program please do not hesitate to contact me. The Manchester Area Local will also be purchasing tickets to the annual NH AFL-CIO Labor Day Breakfast to be held on Monday, September 1st. If you are interested in attending please contact me prior to August 8th.
In Solidarity,
Pat Ahern, President
Dear Union Members,
I am very proud to announce Vice President Chris Howe and I have been selected by President Burrus to serve on committees for the National Convention. Chris has been appointed to the Labor/Management Committee and I am serving on the Constitution Committee. It is an honor to represent the Manchester Area Local at the National level, a tradition this Local has maintained for many years. The Constitution Committee met in Washington the week of June 16th and will meet there again the week of July 14th as well as attending the National Convention four days early on August 12th. The Labor/Management Committee begins their work at the National Convention on August 14th. This administration will be working together to be sure no issues are left unattended for the membership in our absence. We will also be in close contact with the Stewards left in each facility while the Executive Board is in attendance at the Convention, August 15th through August 24th and a national extension on grievances and appeals to arbitration will be in effect August 11th through August 29th.
I am also pleased to report both the NH/APWU President John Shappy and Vice President Dale Metzler have been assigned to committees, Formal Resolutions and Organizing Committees, respectively. We have very dedicated and talented Union Officials in NH and it is nice to see this fact has not gone unnoticed by our National Union.
While I was in Washington I received notification Management had initiated a notice of excessing of eight level 6 Clerks out of the Manchester installation. Contractually Management is not allowed to discuss any out of installation excessing at the local level until the meeting at the Area level has been held. I knew the attrition Manchester is experiencing would eliminate any need for excessing out of the installation. As I understand copies of this notice were distributed causing some anxiety. At this point Management is in agreement this notice should be rescinded at the Area meeting to be held on July 16th.
Out of section excessing continues in the Manchester installation. A meeting is scheduled for July 8th to discuss again excessing out of the Tour Two Mailing Section. Management had put this on hold due to the Function Four on the Post Office side which includes Tour Two Mailing Section positions. An initial meeting was held with Postmaster Rowland to discuss the Function Four although he indicated he did not expect any impact until the fall therefore again with attrition the original impact numbers will change.
The National President’s Conference was held in Indianapolis the weekend of June 20th which I attended. The following is a report on the many items that were discussed much of what we are experiencing.
• Excessing: Because of the Function Fours and low mail volumes in the Plants many offices in all parts of the country are excessing, out of sections and out of installations. Southern Florida, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are now excessing 500 miles from the installations. Voluntary Early Retirements will be offered but to only targeted installations where there is a significant excessing of more than 50 employees.
• Standby Rooms: Some installations have resorted to employees being placed in a standby room waiting for work presenting an opportunity to explore a four day work week.
• FSS Machines, Flat Sequence Sorters: Currently the deployment schedule calls for 100 machines in late 2008 early 2009 with two to be installed in Northwest Boston. This is the most automated piece of equipment we have seen. It will feed, sweep and containerize itself to include loading a dolly truck. It will run 18,000 pieces per hour with a read rate of 98%. The phase one impact will include FSM 100 operations in the P&DC’s. In addition the Letter Carrier Craft is expected to be reduced by 23% due to the impact from this machine with the Northeast Area excessing 1787 Letter Carriers up to 200 miles from their installations. Although the current flat volume does not justify the expense of this machine and its installation the USPS believes the elimination of work hours and bid positions will more than justify the equipment. Initially the USPS planned to purchase 200 APPS machines but with only 100 in inventory they have stopped due to the fact the FSS is expected to pull 40% of volume from the APPS. Maintenance staffing will increase with the FSS because of the need for up to 15 ET’s per machine.
• Abolishment of Level 7 Express Mail Technicians Nationwide: This work is not going away but the USPS plans to shift the work to other employees. Grievances will need to be filed at the local level. Any of the work Management shifts to non-bargaining unit employees will be an Article 1.6 grievance. The 017-10 Exam is a requirement for the Express Mail Technician position therefore any work shifted to other bargaining unit employees will be grieved as they would not be minimally qualified to perform the work without that exam. For example the Complaints and Inquiries Clerk position requires the 017-20 exam and would not be considered minimally qualified to perform any duties of the Express Mail Technician.
• Shifting work from Maintenance Operations Support Clerks to ET’s: An Article 7.2 grievance will need to be filed at the local level due to the crossing of occupational groups. This is the transfer of work from one position to another.
• We are awaiting a decision on a National RI399 case involving the SPBS. The APWU argued that all duties involved in operating mail processing machinery within the immediate vicinity of the machinery have historically been assigned to the clerk craft. The parties completed the case before Arbitrator Sharnoff on February 19, 2008.
• A national arbitration case was heard on March 12th and 13th, 2008 before Arbitrator Das on the prohibition against casuals working between 5:00 AM and Noon which is still pending a decision.
• A national dispute on EAS employees performing data collection work is scheduled to be heard on September 18th and 19th, 2008.
President Burrus spoke to the Conference expounding on the many achievements of the APWU over the years. Even in this economy we are in the enviable position of a no-layoff protection, salary increases, COLA’s and affordable healthcare although he did recognize the negatives we face everyday cloud the achievements we have made. He also discussed plans for the National Convention, his attendance at the NALC Convention and the invitation he extended to NALC President Young to attend our convention.
All of the National Officers spoke on the importance of the elections, voting for candidates who support working families’ issues. NH will again be a battleground state in this election. If any member is interested in helping with our legislative agenda and working with the AFL-CIO on the Labor 2008 program please do not hesitate to contact me. The Manchester Area Local will also be purchasing tickets to the annual NH AFL-CIO Labor Day Breakfast to be held on Monday, September 1st. If you are interested in attending please contact me prior to August 8th.
In Solidarity,
Pat Ahern, President