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
January 12, 2006
Vacation Selections and Surveys
by: President Jackie Engelhart and
Al Z, News Director
Vacation
Submissions
It’s that time of
year again. Time for employees to submit their applications for their
vacations.
If you are in an
associate office, please see your area union steward for information regarding
vacation selections. If necessary, you can always contact the Associate Office
Director, Kathy Stokes by calling the Union Building at (630) 833-0088.
Bargaining unit
employees at Carol Stream, Palatine and the Chicago Metro Surface Hub have
until January 31st at midnight to submit their requests.
If you have less
than 3 years of combined postal and military service (you earn 13 days of
annual leave each year), you can apply for two options:
OPTION A:
A single option of
up to 10 working days (2 consecutive workweeks)
OPTION B:
2 selections of 5
days each (1 workweek each).
If you have 3 or
more years of service (you earn 20 or 26 days of annual leave) you have 3
options:
OPTION A:
2 selections-one
of 5 working days and one of 10 working days.
OPTION B:
2 selections of 5
working days each (1 work week).
OPTION C:
One selection of
up to 15 working days (3 consecutive weeks).
The choice
vacation period at Carol Stream and Palatine is from March 1 thru November 30
and from December 25 thru January 2.
The choice
vacation period at CMSH is from February 18 thru November 30. Submissions for
vacations are done on PS Form 3971 and PS Form 1547, in triplicate. Once you
submit your request(s) mgt must immediately timestamp and return the 3rd copy
to you. Mgt must post the vacation results, and return the signed, approved
copies of the PS forms 3971 to each employee by Feb 15 at the CMSH and by Feb
21 at Palatine and Carol Stream.
Incidental
Annual Leave
You can put in for
annual leave (for days during the vacation period), once the vacation schedule
is posted. Please remember though that vacation selections take priority over
incidental leave requests. For incidental leave requests outside the choice
vacation period, you can now submit those requests 45 days in advance as
opposed to only 30 days in advance. This was a recent change made during local
negotiations.
If you have any
questions regarding leave submissions, you can always see your area union
steward.
Surveys on top
of Surveys!
On Monday, January
9, 2006 I received a call from Palatine tour 2 Chief Steward Al Czerwinski,
informing me that surveys were being conducted at Palatine P&DC. Two
“Climate Place Analysts” came to the
union office to inform us that they would be conducting surveys this week at Palatine,
next week at Carol Stream, and then at Rockford. The survey is titled
“Climate Assessment Questions” and it
contains 14 questions related to the workplace environment. I asked of the EAS
personnel conducting the surveys who they were working for and was directed to
the District Human Resources Manager, Phyllis Lingenfelser. I spoke with
Phyllis and she informed me that the “VOE scores were down”. VOE stands for
Voice of the Employee. She said senior management is concerned about this and
wants to find out what going on. I told her that we (the union) have been in
regular communication with management at all levels concerning the problems on
the work room floor and that nothing is being done. I told her we have had
problems with tour 1 at Palatine for years, with favoritism in machine
assignments, & supervisor treatment of employees. Employees constantly
pushed harder, inability to get leave, and drafting on holidays are problems on
all three tours. With employees constantly being pushed harder, a day of leave
or a holiday off are important to them. Senior employees were drafted for New
Year’s Day and then in some cases issued Letters of Warning for not coming in.
Productivity and efficiency are eliminating any consideration for the
employees.
Problems in the AO’s
In the Associate
Offices management at the Northern Illinois District has decided to excess 67
clerks. Many AO’s are already understaffed with overtime necessary to staff
later window hours. How do you I extend hours and cut staffing? If you walk
into a Post Office these days, you will invariably see long lines and one
window clerk, or two if you’re lucky. In some AO’s clerks are being forced to
bid on the window. Window clerks are subject to “Mystery Shops” where a postal
manager poses as a customer and if the clerk fails to ask all scripted
questions, they are subject to discipline. Postmasters are evaluated, in part
on their scores for Mystery Shop. Most window clerks take pride in their job
and understand customer service is important. They understand that
understaffing leads to long lines and unhappy customers, even if management
does not. The constant stress created by understaffing and scripted questions
is taking a toll on window clerks. VOE is not helping them!
Only the Scores Matter
VOE response
levels are factors in the performance evaluation of plant managers &their
yearly bonus. No one seems interested in the actual substance of the surveys,
only on the number of surveys returned. While we continue to pursue every a avenue
of communication management continues to ignore the problems of the employees.
We file grievances, we discuss them at Labor-Management meetings, we talk to
the Plant Managers, Labor Relations, etc. Now that the VOE scores are down
management is “concerned”. We have been telling management what the problems
are but they are not being addressed.
Union’s Position
The concept of
listening to your employees has become a tool to reward plant managers. We
remember when management used these surveys in contract negotiations to claim
the employees indicated they were adequately paid and therefore did not need a
raise. The APWU is opposed to all forms of USPS Surveys. The purpose of
labor-management meetings is that employees speak in a united voice, so their message
cannot be manipulated contrary to the interests of the membership and APWU.
Surveys conducted by an employer are designed to circumvent bargaining with the
unions and are used in management’s effort to reduce wages, hours, and
benefits. This has been our experience with the Postal Service. Because the
Postal Service is aware that participation in employee opinion surveys is
voluntary, they can be very creative. There is only one way to ensure that you
do not contribute to surveys that may adversely affect your livelihood and that
is simply refuse to participate.
Just Say “No”.
The VOE Survey was
started by former Postmaster Marvin Runyon who was no friend to craft or EAS.
What improvements have you seen over the years as a result of these surveys? If
anything, things are getting worse. These surveys are improving management’s
bonuses, not the employees working conditions.
Get Your Gift Certificate Now
Any NWIAL member
who has yet to get their ten dollar Jewel Xmas gift certificate please go to
your union office and get one. We would like to make sure every member gets
one.
50-50 ends
on l-31-06
The 50-50
Organizing Drive ends on 1-31-06. Anyone considering joining should sign up
before it ends.