The Local Line
“A PPA Award
Winning Publication”
The Official Voice Of
The
American Postal
Workers
Phone: 630-833-0088 Fax: 630-833-0248
Jackie Engelhart – President Alan Czerwinski - News Director
November 19, 2007
The "National
Reassessment" Briefing (NRP)
On November 15, 2007 representatives
from all four craft unions were invited to a briefing at the Northern IL
District on "Phase 2" of the National Reassessment Process. The
following is what employees will be told in a Stand Up Talk to be held with all
employees: "Our district is now initiating the Postal Service’s National
Reassessment Process. This process is focused on reviewing all rehabilitation
and limited duty assignments, task by task to ensure al1 assignments are
operationally necessary. As Our operations become more automated, both in the
plant and in customer services, it is becoming more difficult to provide
productive and necessary work to employees with medical restrictions. A team of management members from operations,
medical, labor relations, and injury compensation functions here in the cluster
was established to complete the process of identifying such work and placing
employees with medical restrictions in these assignments. All assignments are
based on a review of current medical restrictions; strict adherence and compliance
with Postal and Federal policy/regulations as well as the collective bargaining
agreements.
No Work Available...
In the event work within the Postal Service is not identified, employees
will be referred to the Office of Worker's Compensation Programs (OWCP) for
placement on the compensation rolls. While in this status, receiving compensation
from OWCP, an employee may be placed in the OWCP Vocational Rehabilitation Program.
However, these employees also have other options such as using sick leave
or annual leave or possibly applying for disability retirement if they are
eligible. This process is currently addressing injured-on-duty employees who
have reached maximum medical improvement (limited duty assignments).
Necessary Assignments
As our staffing needs continue
to change, we are increasingly experiencing situations where sufficient productive
or necessary assignments to accommodate injured employees are more difficult to
find. We take our responsibility to all employees very seriously and will work
with these employees to ensure they are afforded all rights under the Federal Employees
Compensation Act. " Copies
of this Talk will be available at all union offices.
Employee Interviews
We asked when the employee interviews
would begin and we were told within 2 to 6 months. The employee is entitled to have
a union steward present when they meet with the “management team” and we advise
all employees not to meet with them unless you have a steward present. There
will be at least 3 managers in the room with the employee and management is
saying the employee is allowed 1 union representative. I have asked to sit in on some of these
interviews.
What is Necessary Work?
We asked the headquarters briefer
“what is necessary work?”, and he stated :
1. It 's work not associated with a bid, und
2. Its work that is consistently available. I said all work is associated
with a bid and wanted to know what work that would leave? I said the work might
not be associated with the employee's regular bid, but it would be associated
with a bid. Since he seemed to agree with this, I still do not know what
they mean by necessary work. Suffice it to say, they are going to tell a certain
number (?) of employees that they no longer have necessary work for them within
the USPS. While they state in the Stand-Up Talk that they "take our responsibility
to all employees very seriously", it appears they mean their legal
responsibilities and not any moral or ethical responsibilities. We asked how
many injured employees were designated "No Work Available" in the San
Diego District, and he said 3 or 4 dozen out of several hundred. We will
get the numbers from San Diego.
OIG Notified.
We asked why, but we all knew the
reason. As Mr. Cowlado stated some employees will get upset (when they are told
there is no work available for them). Personnel from the Office of Inspector General
(OIG) will be present in the event an employee who is being terminated for
being injured while working at the Postal Service "gets upset". The
irony of this insult added to injury was not lost on any union official in the room.
As the “team member” tells you to turn in your badge, the OIG is there just in
case you get upset. Maybe they will fire you for getting upset about being fired.
This is the Face of Management.
They are carefully scripting and
indoctrinating the team members so that none of them slip up and say something
unscripted. A Memo to all Managers states "It is imperative that the
message from all members of management regarding this process is informative
and not inflammatory. Management is instructed not to make emotional statements
such as, "Personally, I would
like to accommodate you but ... “This
kind o f message would be confusing and misleading to the employee. The message
must be clear: the decision regarding all assignments is based on the work
capabilities of each employee and the availability of necessary work.” This instruction tells me that they realize
this "process" is so egregious that even postal managers can see it
and must be reminded not to slip up and say something human.
We continue to read, hear and see
the horror stories concerning our veterans who are in many cases forgotten when they come home physically and
emotionally damaged by service to their country in war time. A large percentage
of the homeless are veterans who cannot hold a job or fully function in society
as a result of the trauma they suffered while serving in the US military
forces. We all know our vets are being used up and then forgotten by the
system. We have unlimited funds for war but not much left for the collateral
damage. Money is being saved at what cost? The USPS has invested resources into
this process, not to find work for injured employees, they are working, but to not
find work for them. We do not know what work they will consider necessary vs.
unnecessary, but I have heard one team member say "We don 't need eight
people at the Nixie table".
Some Common Sense. . .
If you can physically do more than
your are doing now, this would be a good time to update your restrictions. I don't know how many are in this
category but the more you can do the better. For every employee who can
increase their limitations, that will leave more work for those who cannot
increase their physical limitations. We know there is currently work available for
all our injured employees but they are investing a lot of resources into
eliminating work as unnecessary. In the constant drive to lower labor costs the
USPS NPR is intended to reduce costs by getting rid of injured employees. How
many and which ones is the secret.
Request a Steward at all NRP Meetings.
They will have at least three carefully
scripted team members in the room when they interview you to determine if they
have I work available for you. Make sure you have a Steward present.
NRP Affects all Crafts
The intent of NRP is to remove injured
employees in every craft, and this should not pit one craft against another.
It's bad enough they continue to pit craft against craft by taking work from
one and giving it to the other. The impact on the Clerk craft is of no concern
to the gaining MH union. One MH union representative told the briefer to tell
headquarters there will be war on the floor between employees (if they
accommodate injured employees across craft lines). This attitude is the reason USPS
continues to successfully pit craft against craft.