Floor Edition

June 28, 2010

Update by Jackie Engelhart

20 Clerk Casuals to be Hired at Carol Stream!

A/Plant Manager Chuck Sciurba called me-on 6-18-10 to inform me that he would be hiring 20 Clerk Casuals-at CS and would not be returning 12 Clerks from the Mail Handler Craft. I said this action would be a slap in the face to CS Clerks and the Palatine employees being excessed to other-states. In response to my anger he said it's not personal but I said it is personal to the Clerk Craft. I asked him who made this decision and he said" I agree with it". So it was either him, Greg Johnson or Ms. Feindt. They all think the way to "save the company" is to keep throwing the employees overboard. On 6-10-10 we met the new A/Plant Manager for a meet and greet and he said two things, he would be retreating the Clerks back from the MH Craft ASAP, and he would like to get the CS job permanently. As for who made the decision, I hear it was Mr. Sciurba.

CS Labor-Management Scheduled-for 6-29-10

We had scheduled this meeting before being told Clerk Casuals will be hired and this will be the number 1 issue discussed. Mr. Sciurba gave me a 1ong explanation of his reason for hiring Casuals which started out with CS have 36 DPS runs of less than four hours and then on to the doom and gloom of the company’s current financial pictures. I think I would get the Same spiel from anyone In senior management as Potter puts out. Congress was skeptical of his testimony projecting a 238 billion deficit over the next ten years if no changes are made. The recitation by Mr. Sciuba was so thorough that I hardly got a word in and was admonished for interrupting when I did. The AMP plan called for 37 more Clerks at CS and they reduced that number by 26 with their BPI impact, but the 12 Clerks should be back by now. Is this change in plan a career move for him?

This is Management

For a long time I blamed Palatine's problems on Ron Woodall and Danny Bracket. I thought if we had anyone-but Woodall things would improve at Palatine but I was wrong. Greg Johnson was seen as the "nice guy" but there are very few nice guys in senior management. When he first came-from South Suburban 2005 he did not have time for the Union and we are back where we started from. I spoke to President Malone at South Suburban and he has the same opinion as I. When Bob Hart replaced Lynn Smith he seemed to be a "nice guy" and said he wanted the employees treated like gold. That was too good to be true-. The reality is that these guys are tasked with the implementing the USPS plans to push employees out of their jobs as the only way to save the Postal Service or what they call "the company". Tonight management will be meeting with Palatine Clerks and Mail Handlers to talk about relocation expenses for those being excessed out of state.

The Collateral Damage

As management continues to excess out of Palatine and move Clerks into the Carrier Craft, many impacted employees have been put through the wringer. One-Clerk who failed the window test has now-been fired and the Union in the new office is fighting the removal. On 6-18-10 a former palatine Clerk called to tell us she got dizzy carrying mail all day in the 90 degree heat and the Supervisor told her maybe she shouldn't have passed her physical. Another Clerk who went to the Carrier Craft was told in her new office that her job would be abolished two weeks after she got there. Bob Hart told the Carrier Union Presidents at the District Labor Meeting that he knew they were filing grievances for their PTF Carriers, but they should still welcome the new employees. It appears that some of the new Carriers are not-being welcomed in their new offices but hopefully these cases are the exception. Some of the new Carriers were told "Carriers don't use FMLA”. We just received the list of the placements for 20 Clerks who cannot become Carriers due to disqualification on the physical or pre-qualification tests. Many of these employees are off work due to NRP and will not be moved out of state if they cannot physically perform the core duties of the job. Those not under NRP will have to move to Wisconsin, Michigan or Indiana to keep their postal job, but four lucky seniors will be go to CS as level 5 Mail Handlers. I quote newly elected Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, "Now comes the hard part-dealing with these people who want to destroy us."

Making Palatine Hum & Sing?

At the District Labor Meeting on 6-15-10 Johnson and Sciurba gave an upbeat report on the AMP. Mr. Johnson responded to Carrier complaints about mail coming out of Palatine that was not in DPS order by stating now that the AMP was completed he was going to work on Palatine. He promised to make Palatine ''hum'' and "sing". Nobody is singing at Palatine so he means he plans to crack down on those who are left to get more out of them, which will be the job of A/Senior MDO Ralph Ramion, At this meeting the HR Manager reported the Northern Illinois District is down 674 employees from 2009 and 998 from 2008. They also reported that the NID is 4% or 23 million dollars over plan for 2010. How can this be the way they are dumping employees via the NRP and constant impacts. With all of the employees being thrown overheard you’d at least think they would make budget. How does all the Carol Stream overtime affect budget? The same people gutting Palatine have been calling overtime in both crafts for months at CS rather than increase the number of craft employees as called for in the AMP Study. They would rather call overtime than allow injured Clerks put out under NRP as no work available to work straight-time min letters. Instead of bringing the Clerks back from the MH Craft, they plan to hire Clerk Casuals. For every Clerk not brought back, a Palatine MH loses a "landing spot" at CS Just as they did at the NDC, Palatine is moving MH’s out of the facility and out of state. They know they will need them for the FSS in early 2011, but they're excessing them out anyway!

Chicago Metro Surface Hub

Management is moving equipment in and out quickly but has yet to share a new staffing plan with us. Part of the reason is that A/Plant Manager Alvarado wanted to meet with the Unions on RI-399 issues as there is no Inventory for Busse. RI-399 was agreed to in 1987 by The USPS, APWU and NPMHU regarding craft work in the plants. This document assigns distribution to the Clerk Craft and assigns transporting, culling, and prepping to the MH Craft. We have been filing grievances at CMSH since 2005 for assigning distribution of tubs and trays in the segments unit to Mail Handlers: Since 2000 the USPS has consistently assigned most new work to the MH Craft· even when the work is distribution or mail processing. One way they do it is by changing the word distribution to something else like sortation or containerization. Sortation is separation by mail type (flats, letters, parcels, etc.). Containerization is placing mail for one destination in a container. In the case of the segment unit the mail is distributed by zip and is not all for one destination until it is broken down by zip code to the right destination container. The work is not throwing tubs or trays into a container but distributing them by zip to the right container. When the three parties met to work on a facility inventory, Mr. Alvarado assigned the Low Cost Tray Sorter to the MH Craft in his proposed Inventory, but we said the procedures for new work must be followed. He agreed and after both Unions gave position papers he then assigned all work on the LCTS to the MH Craft. A dispute will be filed by APWU on the LCTS within 30 days.