Floor Edition

September 23, 2011

Update by Jackie Engelhart

9-27-11 Rally Sites ,

The Chicago Local will join with the NALC and NPMHU in a joint rally at the State of Illinois (Thompson Building) at 100 W. Randolph St. in Chicago at 4:30 to 6 pm. This site will probably draw the biggest crowd and the most coverage from the news media. This is the site for congressional Districts 1,2,3,4,5, and 7 which are all Democratic and supporting HR 1351. The largest rally in the suburbs and the one closest to Carol Stream will be in Bloomingdale at 150 S. Bloomingdale Road, which is the office of Congressman Peter Roskam R 6th. This rally site is being coordinated by Branch 825 of the NALC and will be from 4 to 5:30. A main northwest suburban site will in Northbrook at 650 Dundee Road at the office of Randy Hultgren R 10th district, from 4 to 5:30 pm. A complete list of rally sites is available at the Union office at Palatine, Carol Stream and Busse.

Why It's Important to Show up on 9-27-11. ..

Postal employees have a lot to lose as the USPS has proposed eliminating the no layoff protection and cutting 220,000 jobs. Congressman Daryl Issa is chairman of the of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Dennis Ross is the chairman of the postal subcommittee. On 9-21-11 Issa's bill passed the House subcommittee by a vote of eight to five along party lines. HR 2309, introduced by Issa on 6-23-11 would require USPS to cut billions of dollars by closing postal facilities. Prior to the vote on 9-21, Issa amended the bill to add provisions that would allow the USPS to lay off employees and to require senior retirement eligible senior employees to be separated first. The new amendment also forbids the payment of severance pay to retirement eligible employees. It would also cut the amount of OWCP paid to injured employees from 66 to 50% as they hit retirement eligibility.

You Can Participate at Any Location...

It does not matter where you live, what office you work at, or which union you belong to. Put on a union shirt if you have one and show up on 9-27-11 to support the effort to save the USPS and your collective bargaining rights. Take two hours of your time to support the efforts being made by our unions at the national level and our friends in congress. Postal employees expect the wages and benefits we have fought for over the last 30 years but they are not guaranteed to us. We are under attack and cannot afford be passive in the face of the plans being proposed by the USPS and anti -union Republicans. Issa and Ross answer to UPS and Fed Ex and are using the financial crisis created in large part by the 2006 PAEA bill to destroy the USPS and privatize it. The PAEA required USPS to pre-fund retiree benefits for the next 75 years by making 5 billion payments for the next 10 years. If you can make it to a rally site at 4 pm on 9-27-11 at 4pm you need to be there!

National APWU Approves Dues Assessment to Support Media and Legislative Effort...

On 9-20-11 the APWU National Executive Board approved a special dues assessment to begin in pay period 21-2011 and continue through pay period 18-2012. Career members will be assessed an extra $1 per pay period and Postal Support Employees will be assessed an extra 50 cents per pay period. This assessment will go to fund an ongoing legislative and media campaign to protect APWU represented workers and defend the USPS to the American people. President Guffey said these efforts are costly but absolutely necessary and we must do everything we can to ensure the USPS survives along with our jobs. We cannot allow misguided legislators or USPS management to dismantle USPS. APWU has begun phase 2 of its television ad campaign with the National Association of Letter Carriers -NALC. Spots will air on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX news. The 30 second ad will explain the real cause of USPS financial crisis and explain the 2006 law that has imposed an unfair 5 billion annual burden on USPS that no other agency or company has to pay. The ad concludes with the simple message, "Congress created this problem, and Congress can fix it." President Guffey says "The USPS difficulties have gotten the attention of legislators and news media but, unfortunately, the cause of the problem is misunderstood. It is crucial that we tell the real story." The ad is intended to help win support for HR 1351 that would address USPS financial problems without cutting pay, reducing benefits, eliminating collective bargaining, or cutting service.

Palatine Site of DBCS Study

The Postal Service has responded to OSHA concerns regarding the DBCS by conducting a national study of these ergonomic issues. The study is called the "DBCS Ergonomics Issues Evaluation and Field Test Plan". Phase I began in Denver, CO where OSHA first became involved. Palatine P&DC is part of Phase II which includes plants in Nashville TN, Tulsa OK, Norfolk VA, Columbus OH, and Los Angeles, CA. These plants were selected in part because they generated a complaint to OSHA. The Palatine study will last three weeks with week 1 being for observation, week 2 for training, and week 3 for implementation. The study will look at five areas of the DBCS affecting employee work methods. These are:

1. Stacking full trays of mail over two high on top of the 1226 F rack.

2. Sweeping from the DBCS stacker to trays in 1126F rack

3. Feeder and sweeper rotation.

4. 1226F rack maintenance.

5. Feeder tasks such as working out of MIAL Transport Equipment and from work tables. APWU is being allowed to have an observer work with the team and the most logical person for that assignment was Johnny Love, who is a dedicated member of the Safety and Health Committee, ERRP, and tour 1 Safety Captain. Johnny has shown his dedication to the safety of all employees at Palatine by continuing to speak up for safety and ergonomics even though it is not always popular. He deserves our thanks for dedicating himself to a thankless job.

*All employees should check to make sure management has your correct Emergency Info.

Where to See the Ad

The ad will air on the stations and programs below.

CNN

• American Morning (6 a.m.-9a.m.)

• Newsroom (9 a.m. - 10 a.m.)

• Newsroom (12 p.m. - 3p.m.)

• Newsroom (3 p.m. - 4 p,m,)

• Situation Room (5 p.m. - 7p.m; 4 p.m. - 6 p.m,)

• John King (7 p.m. - 8 p.m.; 6p.m. - 7 p.m.)

• Erin Burnett (7 p.m. - 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. - 12 a.m.)

• Piers Morgan (9 p.m. - 10p.m. and 12 a.m. - 1 a.m.)

• CNN Weekend Saturday (12p.m. - 6 p.m.)

• State of the Union w/Candy Crowley (Sunday, 9 a.m. - 10a.m.)

FOX News

• FOX & Friends (6 a.m. - 9a.m.)

• Fox News Live (9 a.m. - 3p.m.)

• Studio B (3 p.m. - 4 p.m.)

• The Five (5 p.m. - 6 p.m.)

• Fox Weekends Morning (5a.m. - 10 a.m.)

• Fox Weekends Afternoon (12p.m. - 7 p.m,)

MSNBC

• Morning Joe (6 a.m. - 9a.m.)

• MSNBC live (9 a.m. - 5 p.m.)

• Hardball (5 p.m. - 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.)

• The Last Word (8 p.m. - 9p.m. and 11 p.m. - 12 a.m.)

• Rachel Maddow (9 p.m. – 10p.m. and 12 a.m. - 1 a.m. )

• Ed Show (10 p.m. - 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. - 2 a.m.)

• Weekend Daytime (6 a.m.- 6p.m.)