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

Floor Edition

November 15, 2006

Local Update by Jackie Engelhart

Contract Update

"After offering a blunt assessment of the first two months of negotiations, APWU President William Burrus presented the USPS with economic proposals on Nov. 6, calling for raises and upgrades that are commensurate with union members performance over the six years of the contract that expires Nov. 20. I have been disappointed in the progress of the talks. We a1l know the difference between bargaining and bull--. I don't want to waste any more of my members' time on a charade of bargaining. Deriding management's seemingly endless procession of formal presentations on USPS marketing plans and financial conditions, Burrus said that these displays, would have no effect on the union’s demands or its members’ expectations. If management’s posture in these negotiations is just a prelude to arbitration, so be it. It’s our believe that a voluntary agreement is preferable for both parties.

APWU Proposals

Burrus then made the following economic proposals for a contract of three years duration:

1) Basic annual salary increases of 4 percent, effective Nov. 25, 2006, Nov. 24, 2007, and Nov. 22, 2008,

2) Semi-annual COLA increases, using the current formula with a base month of October 2006, based on the change in the CPI-W Index points for January 2007, July 2007, January 2008, July 2008, January 2009, and July 2009,

3) Upgrades

4) Return of Night Differential to 10 percent of the basic hourly straight-time rate,

5) Continuation of the bi-weekly Employer contribution for Federal Employees Health Benefits Program seIf-only and self-and-family plans at 85 percent of the weighted averaged bi-weekly premiums, and

6) Conversion of the current uniform and work-clothes allowances to a centralized system for

required on-the-job clothing. APWU Negotiations Hotline toll free #is 800-992-APWU.

USPS Proposals "Dead on Arrival" per APWU

In a Nov. 3 Burrus Update, the APWU president expressed outrage at USPS proposals made at the bargaining table. We held guarded expectation that a final agreement could be reached on or before Nov. 20, when the current contract expires. Unfortunately, our hopes came crashing down at the negotiating session on October 31, when management presented a series of proposals, that if adopted, would drastically demean postal employment. The subjects included elimination of no layoff protection, increased use of casuals, expansion of part-time, employment, elimination of local negotiations, modification of holiday, scheduling and pay, and. expansion of work and/or time standards. The union’s response per President Burrus: These proposals are dead on arrival. The employees we represent are entitled to share in the progress commensurate with their contributions. Real bargaining & not bull----.

Health Benefits Open Season

Open season for changing health plans begins on November 13 and ends on December 12, 2006 at 5pm Central Time. The Health Benefits Fair will be on November15 at Palatine P&DC from 6am to12 pm and 3 to 8 pm. Carol Stream's Health Fair will be on December 9, and the hours will be the same. Stop by the APWU Health Plan table and talk with Arlene Thomas-Benford, our Health Plan Representative, and she will be glad to explain the benefits of the plan to you.

USPS Northern Illinois District Retirement Seminar on December 3, 2006

The group retirement seminar will be held at the Carol Stream Holiday Inn at 150 S. Gary. The Civil Service presentation will be from 8am to 12pm and FERS will be from 1 to 5 pm. Attendance is off the clock and the registration deadline is November 15. Forms are available at the Employee Help Desk at both Carol Stream and Palatine P&DC.

Annual Leave Exchange

Open season is from November 15 thru December 15, 2006. You must have a minimum of 440 hours of annual leave at the close of business on January 5, 2007, and you must not have used more than 75 hours of sick leave from January 7, 2006 through January 5, 2007. You are allowed to exchange a minimum of 8 hours and up to a maximum of 40 hours in whole hour increments. The lump sum will be included in your paycheck dated January 26, 2007.Letters were mailed to employees from Human Resources with PostalEASE instruction enclosed no form will be distributed as this must be done on-line.

Chicago Metro Surface Hub

Clerks at Chicago Metro Surface Hub have been led to believe that all Clerk jobs will be eliminated soon, and are asking APWU for advice. The advice we are is to do nothing. At our Labor-Management meeting on November 9, 2006 Plant Manager Anderson stated he does not know if a third APPS will fit into Busse. He said the Palatine P&DC APPS will definitely not fit, but they have not made a final determination as to whether the APPS from Cardiss Collins will fit into Busse. He stated that if that one does not fit, the Carol Stream and Palatine Priority will probably go to IPR. Senior Management of the USPS has decided that Busse and IPR will be Regional Distribution Centers with the mail processed by several APPS machines and staffed by Mail Handlers. As Postal Management continues to assign Clerk work to the Mail Handler craft, they continue to excess Clerks within the affected installation into the MH craft. Where Postal Management has shifted work from Clerks to MH’s, they have excessed the impacted Clerks to the MH craft in the same installation. When this occurs, the impacted clerk remains full-time, retains saved grade, but are placed at the bottom of the MH seniority list in the installation. They will be automatically returned to the Clerk Craft when any residual Clerk vacancies are filled in the installation This applies only to clerks who are moved by Postal Management to the MH craft. If a full-time Clerk volunteers to become a MH, they will become a PTF, will not have saved grade and will not return to the Clerk craft. Protections apply only to the excessed.

Busse Maintenance Grievances

In the last floor letter, Dave Baskin reported that custodial staffing grievances filed from 1997 were not appealed to step 3, and are dead. We were trying to do the right thing and inform the affected employees of the truth, without placing blame. Some of the affected employees are blaming the current Maintenance Craft Director and long-time Busse Chief Steward, Chuck Olson. Chuck did his job with these grievances, but others did not. Dave Baskin would like to set the record straight on this issue: "It is unfortunate that some members have decided to lay blame on the shoulders of Maintenance Craft Director Chuck Olson. Mr. Olson was not at fault. It was others. Look into who Chuck turned the grievances over to for them to mailto step 3. Look into who was in the responsible position(s) in 1997,1998, and 2000. It wasn't one person and it certainly wasn't Chuck. I understand you are upset and I don't blame you. I would be upset too. In fact, I am upset and embarrassed that those responsible lied and misled you all these years into thinking they pursued these grievances. These individuals are no longer officers of this Local while we cannot change the outcome of what happened with these grievance, we will be honest and forthright with the members. I believe we have been, and we have tried to do better by our members in al1 crafts and in all offices."

Michael Welsh

Longtime member and former union steward Mike Welsh passed away on November 3, 2006. He will be missed by many of us old timers in the 30-year club. Mike attended many union meetings with his wife and fellow APWU member, Anna Welsh and we miss his presence.