The Local Line
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Jackie Engelhart – President Alan Czerwinski - News Director
December 05, 2007
Sue Carney Telecom on National
Reassessment Process for Stewards.
The APWU Human Relations Director spoke on the NRP for over four
hours and we all learned things we did not know about it. Sue said she would be
willing to do this again if her schedule permits and we have already asked her to do so either by
phone or in person. As the APWU Human Relations Director she is the national
officer most directly responsible for providing information and guidance to the
Locals on all steps we should be taking as the Postal Service prepares to
unleash "Phase 2" on
our members. Phase 2 is the part
where the limited duty and rehab employees are interviewed so that management
can tell them if they have "necessary" work available for them. The
whole point of the NRP is to designate some limited duty and rehab employees as no work available "NWA" and refer them to OWCP for "vocational
rehabilitation" to another job.
Interpretive Case on
"Necessary Work" to be arbitrated by NALC on December 19, 2007.
Sue informed us that the National
Association of Letter Carriers will be arbitrating this case and APWU has
petitioned to be included in their grievance as an intervening party. This means that APWU employees will be
covered by the decision and any remedy granted to NALC by the arbitrator . The grievance was filed because the
Postal Service has changed their position on their obligation to employees
injured on the job. Historically, it has been we can find work for you (because
we don't want to pay you to sit at home). They have complied with the ELM 546.142 which calls for the USPS
to "make every effort toward assigning the employee to limited duty
consistent with the employee’s medically
defined work limitation tolerance. "
They are now saying if we don't have necessary work we will refer you to
OWCP.
This is the case number for a
national interpretive grievance filed by the APWU in 2001. At
that time APWU had taken the position that modified assignments must be posted
for bid under Article 37, because
Letter Carriers were being given modified assignments in the Clerk craft. The
NALC and the USPS argued against APWU and they won. John Dockins argued this
case for Postal Service and he is now their Manager of Contract Administration
with APWU. The USPS stated "The
rehabilitation assignments at issue are uniquely created and would not exist
but for the obligation to reassign the injured employee. " They also said "The rehabilitation assignment was
created as a result of the injury compensation contractual requirements. The
rehabilitation assignment did not exist before the employer was injured on duty
and would not have been created by management because no Article 37 duty assignment existed."
Sue Carney said they will be creating a "shadow file" for
each employee that will be destroyed once the process is completed. She advised
us to request that file before and not after they destroy it, as we will need it for each employee grievance
we file. We have requested to be provided with these files as they are
generated. I have asked to be allowed to observe some of the employee
interviews and that has been agreed to. We have requested a list of all limited duty and rehab employees
(all crafts) in the Northern IL District. Sue told us we will get the list of
"NWA" employees before the employee themselves are notified, and she
advised us to tell them what we know. She also stated that the employees
designated as NWA are usually the last to be interviewed and these interviews
have typically been conducted on Thursday or Friday. The OIG are not in the room with the employees as
they are told there is no work available but they are in the vicinity, to be
called if the NRP team gets nervous. Sue has provided us with a wealth of new
information and we want to share it will all injured employees. We have asked
her to repeat her presentation as soon as her schedule permits.
We will continue to take whatever actions we can to defend our members against
involuntary separation for being injured on the job while working for the
Postal Service. With all that said,
are hope that the NALC grievance
on "necessary work" can stop management in its tracks. To do so they
must convince the arbitrator that USPS NRP is in violation of their obligation to injured employees under the
ELM 546.142.
I have been meeting with Senior MDO Danny Bracket to discuss the posting of Manual Flats bids as a result of the loss of the FSM-1000. Danny said Flats bids will be posted on all three tours, with 10 newly created on tour 2 at 0650 or 0700, 5 to 7 newly created on tour 3 at 1450 or 1500, 10 newly created at 1950 and 5 to 7 newly created on tour 1 at 2250 or 2300. We have met with all starting times except the 1950 and I hope to meet with them soon. The FSM-1000 bids will be abolished effective on 1-5-08 and the Flats bids will be posted in January.
I am still waiting for management to schedule meetings with the FSM-1000 and to decide what bids they intend to post to offset the loss of the FSM 1000 bids. At Carol Stream we have more injured Clerks assigned to Flats than we do at Palatine, but there are very few bids. Some Flats bids should be posted at Carol Stream. Management has also promised to bring some of the excessed AFSM Clerks back, but we are still waiting for that to happen.
Danny Bracket informed me that most of the Central Dispatch operation at Palatine is being consolidated to Carol Stream because they have Low Cost 2-4 for outgoing states. Central Dispatch bid Clerks will continue work in Low Cost #l.
Several weeks ago we were
informed that management intends to reduce the CFS complement from 36 to 30.
Palatine Postmaster Rich Stryker has agreed to meet with us to discuss any
changes in CFS and to keep any impact on employees to a minimum. As soon as we
are able to meet with him we will be meeting with the Palatine CFS Clerks.
Vice President Dave Baskin met with Labor Relations yesterday to make sure that long-delayed adjustments were made for grievance settlements he had signed off on at the Area level. Now that the adjustments have been put in, employees should be paid soon. The delay was on management's part and Dave has been trying to get this done.
We have filed two grievances with Operations Manager Shanteau Anderson concerning the failure to post an award for the 9-27-07 Clerk bids. We also met with A/Plant Manager Bryan Stewart and he said he would contact Chicago Personnel. No one seems to know how to fix this and Shared Services bidding is a fiasco at Busse.
2008 Strategic Initiatives
Senior Postal Management had a big end of fiscal year meeting to discuss their agenda for 2008. The top three ideas from the attendees at the National Executive Conference were managing sick leave, managing overtime, and maximizing use of non-career (casuals) employees. We have already been warned that these objectives will mean a nationwide attendance crackdown. Employees who have had chronic attendance problems need to understand this and not allow themselves to be caught up in this attendance crackdown.
$15 Jewel Gift Cards!
We will be giving a $15 Jewel gift cards this year to all NWIAL members
for Christmas. The gift cards will be available beginning on 12-10-07, per our
Treasurer Al Modi.