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
June 21, 2005
Casuals In Lieu Of Grievances by: Jackie Engelhart
Casuals in Lieu
of Grievances
Carol Stream
clerks have been waiting patiently for money from the years of violations at
Carol Stream P&DC where management worked casuals year round dating back to
the opening of the facility. Numerous grievances were filed on this issue and
there was talk of a possible million-dollar settlement (right before the
election). Just prior to and right after the election I was informed by Labor Relations
that there was one high liability casual in lieu of grievance that they wanted
to settle.
$150,000.00
Settlement Signed on May 25,2005
After the election
I had made several requests to Labor Relations for a list of the open casuals in
lieu of grievances for Carol Stream. After several weeks with no response, I spoke
with Labor Relations to ask why I had not received the list and why there had
been no more discussion on settling the “million dollar grievance”. I was told
on June 12th that the case had been settled in a Pre-Arbitration Settlement
dated May 25, 2005. I had received a copy of this Pre-Arbitration settlement signed
by APWU National Advocate (and former Palatine steward Rod Thompson) after it
was signed. The settlement resolved ten grievances for a total of $150, 000.00.
I did not know what the cases were for when I received the settlement and Rod
did not speak to me or (Vice President) Dave Baskin before he signed it.
No Settlement
Offer Made to Current Administration
One of the
grievances resolved in this settlement was the one management considered the
only remaining high liability casual in lieu of grievance. Labor Relations told
me this was the same grievance they had told me about right before and after
the election. While management had informed me that there was a possible million-dollar
case still open they did not (either before or after the election) make any
kind of settlement offer to me. After I was informed that the possible big case
had been settled I located the grievance file to determine what it was worth.
The grievance (Local # CS29800101) was filed on April 29, 1998 by tour 2
steward Stanley Slupik. In his remedy he requested overtime and out of schedule
pay for the violated clerks going back to November 2,1993.
Millions
Unlikely for Incomplete Grievance File
The Union cannot
request a remedy going back to 1993 if the grievance was not filed until 1998.
For casuals in lieu of, PTF conversions, and newly created duty assignments, the
grievance is filed for the preceding six month period, not the previous four
years. The liability on this grievant would start on April 15,1998 (14 days
prior to the step one date of April 29, 1998) and extend until the grievance is
settled. The grievance file I have is incomplete as it contains only the PTF
and casual work schedules from 1997 and 1998. It does not contain any clock
rings or any information requests from the Union for clock rings. I have asked
601 CCD Taylor to look in his office to see if he has any more documentation for
this grievance. From the incomplete file I have looked at for this grievance I cannot
criticize the settlement made by Rod Thompson. Based on the grievance file I
believe this grievance would have probably been withdrawn by our National Business
Agents (NBA’s).
Some Casual
Grievances were not Appealed
On June 6,2005 I
sent a list of ten Carol Stream casuals in lieu of grievances to our NBA office
to find out if these cases were live. I received a fax back the next day
stating “No Record”. I did not believe these grievances had been appealed to
step 3 because they had nothing in the file from the BA office to show they had
been received. These case numbers do not appear on management’s list either.
All of these grievances were filed on tour 2 in the year 2000. At that time we were
in the “Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedure” (ADRP) entered into by then
President Slupik. Under the ADRP, grievances were not appealed per normal
contractual time limits, but were held at step 2 until the President met with
the Plant Manager. The ADRP agreement was ended by then President Miles after he
took office, with Palatine ending on June 8,2002. Hundreds of grievances filed
in 2001), 2001, and 2002 had to be discussed at step 2 and then appealed per
contractual time limits. Most of the grievances filed during this period at all
three plants were not discussed and had to be appealed under the Miles
administration. I know we discussed and appealed this backlog
for approximately
one year at Palatine. It appears that some of these ADRP grievances from Carol
Stream were not
discussed and appealed once ADRP ended. 601 Clerk Craft Director Gerry Giddens
became seriously ill shortly after taking office and her duties were assigned
to Calvin Taylor by Vice President Lindsey Jefferson.
No More Casuals
in Lieu of Grievances Left
I sent a letter to
Carol Dellutri (Labor Relations Manager for the Northern Illinois District) on
June 10th, requesting a list of all casual in lieu of grievances management was
discussing with the previous administration. On June 15th I received a letter
back in which she stated “None of the cases remain live and there are no open
cases.”
$150,000.00
Settlement to be Paid to Tour 2 ODL
All but one of the
ten grievances settled in the $150,000.00 settlement were tour 2 grievances.
The main casual in lieu of grievance and the one rumored to be worth a million dollars,
was also a tour 2 grievance. The requested remedy was to post bids with out of
scheduled pay, and to pay the violated ODL. As no bids were posted as a result
of this settlement, the remedy is to pay the violated (tour 2) ODL. I have
asked 601 CCD Taylor to meet with me and Vice President Baskin so that we can determine
the ODL employees to be paid and the amounts to be paid to each individual.
Members Right
to be Informed
The members have a
right to be informed. They should not have to rely on rumors or hearsay. Carol
Stream employees most definitely will not be happy to receive this information,
but they certainly have the right to know. It took some time to get the
grievance files and to determine (to the best of my ability) what happened. I
do not know what happened to the rest of the file for the “big money” grievance
CS29800101. I do not know why the ten casual in lieu of grievances filed in
2000 were not appealed to step 3. This information is not for the purpose of
placing blame. I am
sorry that some
former Union leaders have raised expectations of millions of dollars in free
money right before the election, If one of these former leaders continues to
talk to you about millions of dollars, ask them what happened.
Current Casual
Staffing in Clerk Craft
I have talked to
Carol Stream management (Melvin Dean, Todd Hawkins) about the current casual
staffing at Carol Stream. Both of these managers have been reassigned and I have
therefore requested a Labor-Management meeting with current Plant Manager Ron
Woodall. He informed me he will be able to meet with us in early July. I have
been told that casuals and T.E.‘s were hired in the clerk craft in anticipation
of the APPS. I have also been told that plans have changed and Carol Stream is
not getting an APPS. I have also been told that casuals are working in place of
light and limited duty clerks. Management at Carol Stream needs to address the
issue of casuals in the clerk craft sooner rather than later. Casuals are to be
used as a limited term supplemental workforce. Casuals and T.E.‘s in the clerk
craft will be the first issue discussed at the July Labor-Management meeting at
Carol Stream. There is no reason that management at Carol Stream should
continue to violate the contract on casuals in lieu of.
Our Deepest
Sympathies
The Local would
like to extend our deepest sympathies to the Clark Family. National Business
Agent John Clark and his wife, Tour 2 Palatine employee Rose Clark recently
suffered two losses in their family. John’s father passed away on June 14th. On
June 14th, John and Rosie’s youngest son Peter also passed away. Our
condolences to the family.