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
August 16, 2005
Report from National Craft Conferences by: Jackie Engelhart
National Clerk Craft Officers Report.
National Clerk
Craft Director Jim McCarthy and several other national clerk officers reported on
issues affecting APWU members. Director McCarthy sounded many of the same
themes as President Burrus.
McCarthy Speaks
McCarthy stated
some-thing is missing in labor today. No anger. We should be angry about what
is happening to workers. Ask workers at the coffee shop, grocery store, etc. if
they would trade jobs. Our members have no appreciation for what we have or
what it will take to keep it. We must anticipate change and prepare for it. He
predicts change will be incremental, as new P&D’s (Philadelphia) are built and
older ones are retrofitted. The future of the Postal Service is good and APWU
members have a good future. We buy insurance on everything what about our jobs
and our pension. Are we stupid
or naive? Support labor. In the early days of labor people died for collective
bargaining. The American Dream is slipping away and we are letting it happen. Members
think all they need to do is pay dues. The 75,000 scabs don’t even have the integrity
to pay dues out of that paycheck they cash. The Union has nothing to be ashamed
of. We are a bastion for working people. Protect it and don’t worry about the
small stuff. Get involved and contribute to COPA. Think about what it would be
like with no collective bargaining. Wake-up. Educate our members. We have to share
the burden. We believe in what is right, good pensions, health care, public
education, etc.
USPS Revenue
Share
McCarthy stated that out of a 900 billion dollar a year
mailing industry the Postal Service captures only 70 billion, less than 10%.
The Postal Service is trying to reclaim some of the business we have lost to competition by improving service.
Unit
Clarifications
Assistant Clerk
Director Pat Williams reported that APWU is appealing national level unit
clarification grievances on Address Management System, Mail Flow Coordinator and
Business Mail Entry Analyst jobs. These jobs are currently EAS but APWU
contends they are clerk craft work.
TACS Grievances
TACS grievances
have been filed in offices where management has reassigned TACS work from
clerks to supervisors. Palatine lost three TACS clerk’s jobs when management
abolished their jobs and assigned the work to supervisors. The Palatine
grievance is pending arbitration. The work was historically clerk work in this
office, as timekeeping was staffed by clerks before those jobs were abolished and
replaced by TACS clerks.
Preserving Our
Work
APWU must continue
both nationally and locally to preserve clerk work when management decides to
give it to supervisors or another craft.
Personnel Offices to Close
APWU has raised
concerns at the national level about the Postal Service plan to close personnel
offices nationwide and centralize operations to Greenville, North Carolina. The
goal is for all personnel actions to be done online, either on Postal EASE or
on the postal network known as LiteBlue. All 80 Performance Clusters are
scheduled to switch to online personnel service beginning in January of 2006,
with completion in 2007. Palatine’s personnel office will close before the end of
the year and Era will be going to Carol Stream. Carol Stream will be closing
next year. Issues of concern for APWU include job bidding, unassigned process,
bid histories, information requests, and LMOU compliance. Retirement packages
will be mailed and retirement counseling will be done by phone. United Airlines
was allowed to dump their pension responsibility. A 57 year old airline employee’s
pension was unilaterally reduced from $2700.00 to $900.00 per month. The same federal
government that allowed this could do it to us. Only the Union stands in the
way: Non-members need to know this.
Associate Office Issues
Postal Express
stores at Albertson’s are staffed with APWU members, Walmart said no because they
do not want Union in their stores. Management intends to roll out 2500
Automated Postal Centers (APC’s) in Post Office lobbies. This will eliminate
jobs but any work involved with these APC’s is clerk work. Management loves the
Mystery Shopper but have agreed it will not result discipline. It does and, we continue
to fight this discipline.
RI-399 Report
Mike Gallager is
APWU’s national RI-399 representative and he reported on national disputes. He reported
that hearings have recently concluded on a challenge by the National Postal
Mailhandlers Union (NPMHU) on the LEM-LEM. This work has been assigned to
clerks as it is a machine used to keep mail in the automated mail stream. While
very few jobs will be affected by this dispute, the decision could indirectly affect
other jobs.
APPS Dispute
The Automated
Package Processing System (APPS) dispute is one of two major national level
disputes currently awaiting national level arbitration. The Postal Service assigned
all APPS work to the mailhandlers and the APWU is challenging this. While the
distribution is performed by the machine, the function of the operation is
still distribution. The distribution of parcels has always been clerk work,
whether it was performed manually or mechanically. The Postal Service has now
automated the work and we believe clerks must follow the work. We know jobs
have been eliminated in the SPBS and LIPS and clerks have been excessed to the
mailhandler craft in some offices as a result of management’s decision to
assign this work to mailhandlers.
Containerization Dispute
NPMHU has filed
& dispute at the national level on containerization. When tubs, trays, and etc
are distributed into containers, we call that work distribution: The NPMHU is
calling it containerization and claiming it should be performed by mailhandlers.
The outcome of this dispute will also affect many jobs nationwide. I spoke with
Mike about the Palatine Low Cost dispute as well.
We Want Bids
Posted
Bids are once
again being posted at Palatine as management is reposting vacancies since the
implementation of the Labor Scheduler. Management is still understaffed in some
units and that is partly the result of bids held by injured employees. We have
asked that management review bids being held by employees whose limitations are
permanent. These employees should be given assignments consistent with their
limitations and the job should be posted for bid. We have discussed this with A/Plant
Manager Melvin Dean and he has agreed that management will review long-term
injured holding bids to determine if they are permanent. We have made the same
request at Carol Stream with A/plant Manager Ron Woodall and he has also agreed
to review these bids.
Casuals in Lieu
of at C.S.
Casuals are being
worked at Carol Stream in lieu of full-time employees because management is
working them to replace long-term or permanently injured employees. Casuals may
only be used as a short-term supplemental work force. At Carol Stream
management has been working casuals for over one year on a continuing basis and
this has been grieved on tours 1 and 3. Working casuals to replace permanent or
long-term injured employees is a violation of the contract.
Chicago Metro Surface
Hub
Management at CMSH
has given the Union a revised estimate of the number of clerks called for by
the Labor Scheduler. Number of full-time was reduced from 117 to 104 and PTF’s reduced
from 29 to 26. No clerks will be excessed out of the facility or out of the
craft.. Volunteers may transfer to the mailhandler craft as management plans to
hire approximately 70.