The Local Line
“A PPA Award
Winning Publication”
The Official Voice Of
The Northwest Illinois Area Local
American Postal
Workers Union, AFL-CIO
194 W. Lake Street
Elmhurst IL 60126
Phone: 630-833-0088
Fax: 630-833-0248
Jackie Engelhart – President
Alan Czerwinski - News Director
Floor
Edition
June 12, 2007
Local Update by Jackie Engelhart
Five Busse PTF's Converted on
6-9-07!
Five Part-Time Flexible Clerks were converted to full-time
effective 6-9-07. These conversions were the result of two separate APWU
grievances, one of which was filed in 2005. Plant Manager Anderson and Labor
Specialist Teresa Thadison agreed to resolve the
grievances and convert these PTF's. We have asked
Plant Manager Anderson to convert the few remaining PTF's
and he said he will consider it. Per the new contract, all PTF Clerks in 200
Man Year offices will be converted by December of 2007.
SPBS Bids to be Posted, Flat Sorter to go . . .
Melvin stated he wants to keep the SPBS, but the Flat
Sorter will go. We will be meeting with Melvin on June 15th to review
our information as to who retains retreat rights to the tour 3 section, where approximately 10 SPBS Clerk bids will be
posted. Melvin stated he would like to post the bids in July. It will run daily
except Sunday.
The Chicago District
As we have heard on the news and in the papers; the
Chicago District is #80 out of 80 Districts. Postmaster General John Potter
attended hearings in Chicago
recently, and he promised improvements within 6 months. Headquarters and Area management
are making decisions in the Chicago District, and operational changes, such as
keeping the SPBS and/or removing a Flat Sorter will be decided at their level.
Jerry Kubick as ISC
Jerry was abruptly replaced as A/Senior Plant Manager for
the Chicago District on May 2, 2007, and replaced by Todd Hawkins, the Senior Plant
Manager from Milwaukee.
I spoke to Chicago Union officials, who told me Jerry
refused to take down a problem supervisor after numerous Union complaints.
Jerry remains in Chicago
as he is the new Plant Manager at the International Service Center (ISC). For
many years he served as the Plant Manager for AMC O'Hare & Busse.
Irving
Park Road (IPR) Back to Chicago?!
Rumors are flying, and the Chicago Local Union tells me
that Irving Park Road
will go back to the Chicago District effective October 1, 2007. The Main Post
Office was replaced by Cardiss Collins (downtown) and Irving Park Road (near O'Hare). As
Chicago President Sam Anderson told me, the North Side Stations had to get
their mail from Cardiss Collins downtown, which
was delaying Chicago
mail. Before the loss of IPR, Cardiss was the SCF for the South Side and IPR
for the North Side. With the abrupt change to the Regional Distribution Center
(RDC) system, based on the deployment of the APPS, the decision was made to make
IPR the RDC for the Northern Illinois District (NID). The plan was to move all
other mail processing equipment out of IPR and move (squeeze) it into Cardiss,
and excess Clerks to Mail Handler. We now hear IPR will not be getting a third
APPS and it will go to the BMC.
Northern IL & Chicago
Effective October 1, 2006, the Irving Park Road Facility
was "given" to the NID as their Regional Distribution
Center. Can you imagine
"giving" Carol Stream to Chicago and
pushing all their mail into Palatine?! That's what
they did to Chicago
when they took IPR and tried to send IPR mail (and machines and Clerks) to
Cardiss Collins. Postmaster General Potter has promised to fix Chicago's service, and that may involve
giving them back their plant. While the rumors are flying, the only thing
management confirms is that it is possible IPR will go back to Chicago. If it happens, IPR will probably be
a P&DC with two APPS. This will leave the NID without an
APPS,
as Palatine's
APPS is scheduled to move to Busse by the end of 2007. These changes would
require less competition and more cooperation between districts, as the NID
will be dependent on Chicago
for their APPS mail. While the PMG and the Great Lakes Area focus on improving Chicago's service, we have
our own service problems in the NID. We continue to hear the numbers are down,
and we will find out at the District Meeting scheduled for June 13th.
Carol Stream LMM
Goes Well
We had a productive Labor-Management Meeting with Plant Manager
Gregory Johnson and his staff on June 7, 2007. The main issues were the
continued use of Clerk casuals after the excessing, the use of abolished FSM
Clerks on the FSM, and the failure of management to act on APWU requests to
schedule meetings to update the CS RI-399 Inventory, never updated from 1992
when the facility first opened.
Palatine is Another
Story ...
We requested Labor-Management meetings at all three plants
on May 21st, with meetings already held at Carol
Stream and Busse. We are still waiting for Palatine
to give us a date, and this is where we have most of our problems. We continue
to experience Senior Management's refusal to honor written and verbal
agreements at Palatine. We see continuing
pressure on automation Clerks to work harder and faster, but not smarter under
the Standardization and Certification Programs. We know these programs are
being used nationally and locally as a method to affect work and time standards
for Clerks. In-Plant Support Manager Esther Smith reports “Palatine
did not achieve the June 1st deadline for DBCS certification which
is very disappointing”. Operations is advised to “Please
review and take action as appropriate”. In-Plant Support staff
are meeting with the automation Clerks, armed with "DBCS
Performance Indicators & Targets" and "DBCS Standardization Operator
Checklists." These Clerks are being given a two page checklist and a
target of 39,500 pieces per hour. It seems every week there are more
responsibilities placed on the automation Clerks, but the craft's input is not even
considered in the process. There should be no threats of discipline for working
safely, as employees are not machines. Palatine Clerks are upset at the
treatment of two of their co-workers. Danny Bracket & Ron Woodall say there was no agreement on Upper & Lower,
but I spoke with Tim Anderson on June 4th and he said there was an agreement
for moving employees by juniority.
FMLA Problems
We continue to see many problems with FMLA approval. Cora
Krause states 95% of all FMLA forms submitted are "incomplete". I find
this hard to believe, but I suggested to Cora and Shirley Taylor that they provide
a sample FMLA form like the APWU has done, to help the employees avoid this
problem. You would think they would want to help reduce their workload, but
Shirley Taylor and her new boss Gilbert Lopez were not receptive to our
suggestion. They said the letters they send out serve the same purpose, but I
disagree. If they want to help avoid sending out these letters then they should
be willing to provide a sample form for employees to take to their doctor. Why
are they so resistant to helping the employees, and yet complain that 95% of
the FMLA forms submitted are incomplete?! The FMLA Coordinators work for the
USPS, and they scrutinize these forms for any reason to require the employee to
resubmit the certification. We have agreed to meet with the FMLA staff on this
issue, and to reduce the constant FMLA backlog. If you have an FMLA problem at
any office, see your area steward.
Legislative
Committee Event
The Legislative Committee is sponsoring a night of Fun & Games
on Friday, June 29th from 6 pm to? There will be Bid Whist, Spades and Domino
Tournaments, as well as food for a $10 ticket admission, with the proceeds to
COPA.
Great America Outing in July
Carol Stream & Palatine
are selling tickets for this annual Social &
Rec. event. For information contact Vera Wilkerson at
Palatine and/or Delora Hawkins at Carol
Stream at 630-260-5666. The ticket price is $27 and/or $32
for the Picnic Day.