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 Alan Czerwinski - News Director
May 05, 2008
Palatine Snow
Removal Settlement Pay Out
Palatine Maintenance Steward Bob LaFoe signed a settlement on April 5, 2008 for five grievances filed this year on management subcontracting snow removal at the facility. The settlement pays $615.00 to each Palatine Custodian on the ODL and the total is the equivalent of what management paid the contractor to perform work that should have been performed by the custodial craft. This is another example of management paying twice for a violation of Article 32.
Reassignments
Complement Coordinator Bertha McGee is processing reassignments for Clerks previously denied reassignment to Custodian at Carol Stream. Management is in the process of reviewing the 7 Clerks and 1 Mail Handler on the list for reassignment to Laborer Custodial at Palatine, and Steward Bob LaFoe wants to remind all Clerks of these reassignment opportunities.
Palatine
Central Dispatch &
Multi-Line.
We were informed on May 1st that Clerks with bids in these units are being told they no longer have bids and instructed to report to other units. There is absolutely no basis for this action but once again management is taking orders from the Mail Handler Union at the expense of the Clerk craft. We're told that Danny Bracket signed off on some money grievances with the Mail Handler Union and he has given the instruction to remove Clerks from Multi-Line and Central Dispatch. We attempted to contact Mr. Bracket (off this week) and Ron Woodall(?). Due to the emergency nature of this unprecedented violation we contacted Labor Relations at the Area level and faxed the facility RI-399 documents and were assured they will abide by the signed agreements. Once again we have signed agreements that mean nothing when two of the three parties agree to ignore them.
Carol Stream RI-399
The "MTEL Placard System" dispute has been referred to the National Dispute Resolution Committee by the Regional Dispute Resolution Committee. APWU filed this dispute because management is assigning this work outside the Clerk craft in units staffed by Mail Handlers when the work performed is tagging for the purpose of identifying and expediting the mail. This function comes under the job description of a General Expediter.
Priority Dispute at CS
Priority mail was taken from the plants years ago to be worked at Chicago Metro Surface Hub, but for approximately four weeks during Christmas, the plants set up a Priority unit. At Palatine this unit was staffed by Clerks, but at Carol Stream management assigned Mail Handlers. Priority distribution is assigned to Clerks per the RI-399 and we filed a dispute for the violation at Carol Stream. It has been remanded from the Regional to the Local level for possible resolution.
Denied Light Duty Palatine
A/Senior MDO Bracket continues to deny light duty to Clerks and put them out of work. Management has not shown there is no work available. Light duty is being denied to Clerks who are working in their bids in manual letters because "they cannot dispatch ". The LMOU states "The first option for injured employee assignments shall be in their bid assignment, if possible, with reasonable accommodation, referred to as regular duty with restrictions. " He is sending manual letters bid Clerks home who are performing the "core of duties" for the bid. He has ignored the core of duties relied upon since the North Suburban split in 1991, which states "lift 5 pounds & distribute entire case " for manual letters. He has replaced the core of duties with the physical requirements used for hiring purposes for a mail processing clerk. "Applicants must be physically able to efficiently perform the duties of the position, which requires arduous exertion involving prolonged standing, walking, bending, and reaching, and may involve the handling of heavy containers of mail and parcels weighing up to 70 pounds." This is what he considers the "core of duties." There is a big difference between the core of duties the parties have agreed to and the physical requirements for being hired. Management gave no forewarning to the affected light duty clerks or to the Union with the exception of a generic letter dated March 17th, stating "some future requests for light duty may be disapproved. " Employees denied light duty may file an EEO complaint for discrimination.
Clerk Casuals at
"Facing Table"
While light duty Clerks are being sent home management is sending five Clerk Casuals to a "facing table" when the machines are full in automation. There is light duty work available for Clerk casuals but not for career Clerks.
Mail Changes on Hold at Busse
Management has again put the changes on hold for originating mail going to IPR and O'Hare and Busse to process only the destinating Priority. A/Plant Manager Ruby Branch notified us on Friday, March 25th that the changes are on hold until further notice. Senior Management of the Chicago District is very busy trying to make these mail changes work as directed by Postal Headquarters and Area management.
Associate Office
Excessing
Management notified APWU Regional Coordinator Sharyn Stone of excessing in several offices in the Northern IL District. The NWIAL
offices impacted are Glenview with 1 PTF to be excessed, Mount Prospect with 1 Regular to be excessed, and Northbrook with four Regulars to be excessed. Management states this excessing is based on "Function 4 Reviews, workload decline, and the removal of and FSM 1000."Non-NWIAL offices impacted are Villa Park and Skokie. Vice President Dave Baskin is working on the excessing grievances for the impacted NWIAL offices. I met with the Northbrook OIC on grievances filed in that office for failure to convert the PTF, failure to post a residual vacancy, and failure to post a newly created duty assignment. Quite often the staffing numbers from district number crunchers do not match the reality of the actual operation because jobs are being cut based on illegal work and/or time standards.
APWU Step 4 Grievance Filed
Article 34 states "The principle of a fair day's work for a fair day’s pay is recognized by all parties to this Agreement." The APWU filed Step 4 grievance on December 12, 2007, which states "The USPS has violated Article 34 by instituting work measurement systems that are not fair, reasonable or equitable. These systems include the Customer Service Analysis Model (CSAM), Customer Service Evaluation Program (CSEP), Window Opportunity Survey (WOS), Automated Workforce Projection System (AWPS) and the Small Office Variance Report. These work measurement systems were initiated and have been implemented unilaterally, without compliance with the procedures outlined in Article 34. Further, these work measurement systems are being utilized in the field to make changes in post offices that adversely affect wages, hours and working conditions in a way that is not fair, reasonable or equitable. "Management of the Northern IL District has admitted as follows "The time standards that are being used to determine the complement and staffing for each office is consistent with the Headquarters based model that is being utilized nationally for staffing purposes. They are ROVER and AWPS based models that are driven by standardized productivity indicators that have been established in Headquarters, Washington D.C. The retail based portion is derived from the WOS summary report that is generated individually by office, based upon their sales history."