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

December 12, 2005

Clerk Craft Report by: Calvin Taylor CCD 601

Christmas and New Years Holidays

What is my Christmas and New Years Holiday schedule? There still seems to be some confusion about these two upcoming holidays. Listed is your designated holiday along with certain non-scheduled days. Holiday

Non-Scheduled Holiday

Sat/Fri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sun

Sat/Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mon

Sun/Mon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sat

Sun/Tue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mon

(Sun and any other weekday) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sat/Tue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sun

(Sat and Any other Weekday) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Any two weekdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sun

(M/T, T/W, W/Th, Th/Fr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Do I have to work December 25 to get the extra Christmas holiday premium?

To get the extra holiday premium pay you must work your designated holiday and not necessarily December 25.

GIFT CERTIFICATE

This year each NWIAL member will again receive a $10.00 Jewel Gift Certificate. The certificates will be given out starting December 12, 2005 thru December 25. You may pick them up in the APWU Union room or outside the cafeteria at the employee entrance. Associate Office Director, Kathy Stokes will be coordinating the distribution of the certificates for the Associate Offices.

PEAK VOLUME

The Postal Service estimates that the busiest mailing day is expected to be Monday December 19. The busiest delivery day will be December 21, 2005.

Where is the Wheaton Unit?

As it has been written for the last few months. The Wheaton secondary unit at Carol Stream was to be abolished and the mail is to be worked at the Wheaton Post Office. The employees who held bids in the unit became unassigned (including me) and will be given assignments effective 12/10/05. The assignments will be Automation and FSM-Automation. Until the Wheaton Post Office is staffed with scheme-qualified employees, several of the employees from the Wheaton Secondary unit are on temporary details to the Wheaton Post Office.

Thrift Savings Plan

Due to the devastation of hurricane Katrina, the new Thrift Savings Plan address is:

TSP

PO Box 385021

Birmingham, AL 35238

Phone 1-877-968-3778

Fax 1-866-8 17-5023

Reminder:

Flexible Spending Account:

Deadline for FSA Open Season is December 31, 2005 at 5PM.

For more details on the advantage of the Flexible Spending Account, read the article written by NWIAL Secretary, Linda Retel's article in the Local Line Home Edition to be delivered to your home.

Reminder from 11/08/05 Local Line:

Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan: Deadline for Federal Employee Health Benefit is December 13, 2005 at 5PM.

NO PENALTY PAY

The four weeks of penalty pay exclusion will be from December 03, 2005 and will continue until December 30, 2005.

2006 LEAVE YEAR

The 2005 leave year ends on January 06, 2006. If any craft employee is in excess of 440 hours of annual leave, will lose the excess amount if not used by January 06, 2006. The new leave year begins on January 07, 2006 and regular employees can start using their new annual leave on that date.

Happy Holidays