The Local Line
“A
PPA Award Winning Publication”
The Official Voice Of The
American Postal
Workers
Phone: 630-833-0088 Fax: 630-833-0248
Jackie Engelhart – President Dave Baskin – Vice President
Alan Czerwinski - News Director
February 25, 2010
Marcy Appointed 600 Clerk Craft Director
Marcia Lloyd was appointed and unanimously approved as the 600 Clerk Craft Director by the Executive Board and the members present at the meeting on 2-21. 600 CCD Alan Czerwinski resigned on 2-14-10 due to health and personal reasons. His contractual knowledge and negotiating skills have been a tremendous asset to the Local and we hope he will remain a Steward so the members can continue to benefit from his vast expertise. As the new CCD Marcy has her work cut out for her and she has pledged honor the trust placed in her at this difficult time in our history. For those who do not know her, Marcy was the tour 3 Chief Steward at Palatine and the Assistant 600 CCD. She is also a tour 3 Automation Clerk who understands the problems endured by Clerks on tours 3 and 1. She has already met with management to give input on staffing.
83 Attend 2-21-10 Membership Meeting
The larger than usual turnout was due primarily to the concern over the impacts for mass Clerk excessing out of Palatine. A surprise guest was Congressman Danny K. Davis who served for many years as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Postal Affairs. He spoke briefly and in general on his long history with postal issues but said there is no money and the Postal Service has to make changes to stay afloat. After voting to approve the new 600 CCD we responded to questions and comments from the members on the AMP and problem at Palatine for over an hour. We then went to the second reading of two constitutional changes to reduced the compensation of the President and Vice President in effect since 1996 in regards to the Local paying the employee portion of their benefits. These changes did not pass the second reading and another change was withdrawn.
AMP Injunction ... ?
Employees were urged to come to the meeting to save their jobs by voting to hire a lawyer to stop the Palatine to Carol Stream AMP. They were told that another Local stopped an AMP by taking the USPS to court to obtain an injunction but this is not the case. The national APWU and the Local Union did file suit against the USPS to stop closure of the Philadelphia Logistics and Distribution Center as USPS was attempting to close this leased facility. The lawsuit was fled because USPS failed to perform an AMP Study to determine if the action would be consistent with the public interest and the National Agreement. The union contends in the suit that the National Agreement very clearly requires that an Area Mail Processing study be conducted before such a mow is made. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to halt any movement until a study is done. The judge did not issue and injunction but advised to parties to arbitrate the grievance on this issue immediately.
APWU Consolidation Lawsuit Filed in 2006"Went Nowhere"
I spoke with a senior staffer in the APWU Industrial Relations Department to find out if they were aware of any Local Union being successful in obtain an injunction in court to stop an AMP. He said a Local in Connecticut was not able to get an injunction and the Philadelphia Local went to court seeking an injunction but no injunctive relief has been granted. The reason the national union filed suit for Philadelphia is due to no AMP study being conducted. In 2006 the national union filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the USPS born implementing its Evolutionary Network Development (END) which was another plan for consolidating and closing postal facilities at that time. I was told the lawsuit filed on 4-21-06 "went nowhere" and the national was not aware of any Local Union stopping an AMP by taking the USPS to court. Many of our members are asking us to get a lawyer to stop the Palatine AMP, and that is why we are researching the issue. The lawyer who came to the membership meeting said he was doing research on R1-399 and said nothing about filing a lawsuit on the AMP. No motion was made to hire a lawyer to stop the AMP at the meeting, but we have contacted a lawyer to get a legal opinion on whether to file a lawsuit. He asked us if there was a procedure to be followed for an AMP and if management followed the procedure. He also asked what contract language we have for consolidations. Management did follow their own AMP procedures and the contract does address how employees arc to be moved under a consolidation.
Number Should be Reduced
We will be meeting with Palatine management on 2-26-10 but have had informal conversations regarding reduction of the number to be excessed out of Palatine. We pointed out that at least four Clerks have retired since the BPI impact was issued on 12-21-09. We also discussed the fact that the BPI impact should be redone in light of the AMP consolidation and were told that there should be a reduction based on the overlap of the impacts. We also discussed the fact that management usually backfills for any Injured-on-Duty (IOD) Clerks who are not working in their bid. These three factors should reduce the overall impact of the BPI and AMP impacts. We will continue to look for ways to reduce the final number of Clerks to be excessed out of the facility. If we cannot stop it we can try to reduce it as much as possible. Most Clerks do not want to become Carriers and some are not physically able to carry mail but there are few non-Carrier residual vacancies within the local commuting area. Management must place each IOD Clerk into a job within their restrictions but states those jobs will be farther away.
Carol Stream AMP
News
12 Carol Stream Clerks remain excess to the Mail Handler Craft and we believe they should all come back to the Clerk Craft as a result of the AMP. The staffing plan calls for an increase from 572 to 609 able-bodied Clerks at CS. The Clerks do not have a choice as the contract requires them to be retreated to the Clerk Craft. Four new jobs will be posted in Automation and two for Priority. All will be at 1900 with S/S off according to our information.
Part-time Vice President for Next Term. ..
The consensus is that the VP must be changed to part-time for the next term in May of 2011. The Constitution Committee submitted such a change at the November meeting but it was voted down on the first reading. One member who spoke and voted against it turned around and got signatures to change the VP to part-time immediately, but then withdrew the change. A big problem is that the VP is a tour 1 Clerk and we have no Steward vacancies on tour 1 at Palatine, so the VP would not be a Steward would not be released for union business. At the start of the next term the VP can be appointed as a Steward within the first 30 days. The current VP was elected as full-time and should be allowed to serve out the remaining year of his term. For these reasons the change should be made to be effective in May of 2011. The VP change will leave the Local with one full-time officer who will have to assume more responsibility and a greater workload, so the full-time officer compensation should not be reduced. The savings on full-time officers will be from the VP change.
Advice for Impacted Clerks
Tour 1 Steward Karen Salmond asked me to include the following tips for impacted Clerks in the next floor letter, so here they are:
1. Remember to download your Form 50 to compare it with your new Form 50.
2. Know your rights and get a copy of the contract and the Local Memorandum of Understanding for your new craft.
3. Join the local union.
4. Keep copies of your approved vacation slips.