Calling the APWU “a proud sponsor of the 2004 Combined Federal Campaign,” President William Burrus has encouraged all postal workers to participate during the upcoming CFC season.

“Whether you give to the Postal Employees’ Relief Fund CFC #9891, or to one or several of your other favorite charities,” Burrus wrote in a letter to union members July 28, “we request that you support the campaign when it begins in your area.”

Posted by John Durben @ 05:32 PM CST

Preliminary findings from a study conducted by the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) find that most incidents of
bullying in the workplace appear to be perpetuated by employees against
one another, and nearly one-quarter of respondents reported some type
of bullying incident in the past year.

The findings suggest that efforts to make changes at the organizational
level to prevent bullying in the workplace should include steps to
improve relationships among co-workers, and should not strictly focus
on improving supervisor-employee and customer-employee relationships,
the researchers said in reporting the preliminary results.

More

Posted by John Durben @ 05:56 PM CST

USPS Ad Campaign to Spotlight Workforce
[more]
Posted by John Durben @ 06:08 PM CST

“Of course, APWU members are free to follow their conscience on this matter,” said union President William Burrus. “But I believe this election will be a referendum on the Bush Administration, which has been a disaster for the middle class and for working people.”

Delegates to the APWU National Convention will have an opportunity to vote on the endorsement at the union’s biennial meeting in August.

Presidential Candidate John F. Kerry talks to Veterans at a Town Hall Meeting at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI. recently. Kerry, a Veteran himself, listened to the concerns of our area "Vets". (Note NEWAL APWU member Tom Sharp in bottom front row in brown suit.)

June 18, 2004

Requests for APWU Members’ Involvement in Postal Reform

As postal reform enters the final stages of the legislative process, the respective entities within the postal community – including labor unions, management associations, and postal management – have developed strategies for transmitting messages of support or opposition to members of Congress. I advise APWU members to refrain from participating in postal reform programs or campaigns organized by other organizations.

At this time, the House and Senate committees have voted in favor of postal reform legislation and will be reporting bills to the full House and Senate in late June or July. Discussions are transpiring on issues of interest to mailers, the Postal Service, postal unions, and management associations. Each of these entities has special interests that may or may not be consistent with the interests of the APWU. Where our interests are the same or similar, the union’s national Legislative Department will transmit the APWU position, while reserving the opportunity to advance a different agenda.

As we proceed, APWU members will be called upon as necessary to join in a collective APWU effort to advance reform that protects workers and service to the American public.

William Burrus
President
Posted by John Durben @ 06:24 PM CST

General and Departments

Executive Vice President
Cliff “C.J.” Guffey (I),

Legislative Director
Myke Reid,

Assistant Legislative Director
Stephen A. Albanese,

Research and Education Director
Joyce B. Robinson (I),

Human Relations Director
Susan M. “Sue” Carney (I)

Regional Coordinators

Central Region
Sharyn M. Stone (I)

Northeast Region
Elizabeth “Liz” Powell (I)

Clerk Division

Director
James P. “Jim” McCarthy (I)

Assistant Director “A”
Patricia “Pat” Williams (I)

Assistant Director “B”
Mike Morris (I)

Assistant Director “C”
Rob Strunk (I)

Clerk Division National Business Agents, Central Region

Chicago Region, “A”
Percy Harrison Jr. (I)

Chicago Region, “B”
John Clark (I)

Cincinnati Region, “A”
Russell P. “Russ” Bugary (I)

Cincinnati Region, “B”
Paul Hern (I)

Cincinnati Region, “C”
Shirley McLennan (I)

Minneapolis Region, “A”
William “Willie” Mellen (I),

Minneapolis Region, “B”
Lyle H. Krueth (I)

St. Louis Region, “A”
Robert D. Kessler (I)

Wichita Region, “A”
Tom Maier,

Wichita Region, “B”
Dale “Leon” Tatum (I)

Clerk Division National Business Agents, Eastern Region

Philadelphia Region, “A”
Eric Wilson (I)

Philadelphia Region, “B”
Mike Gallagher (I)

Washington DC Region, “A”
Lamont A. Brooks (I)

Washington DC Region, “B”
Pamela Richardson (I)

Washington DC Region, “C”
Nancy E. Olumekor (I)

Clerk Division National Business Agents, Northeast Region

New England Region, “B”
Stephen Lukosus (I)

New England Region, “C”
Tom O’Brien (I)

New York Region, “A”
Peter “Pete” Coradi (I)

New York Region, “B”
Frank Giordano (I)

Clerk Division National Business Agents, Southern Region
Atlanta Region, “A”
Robert M. Bloomer Jr. (I)

Dallas Region, “A”
Peter O. Vogel (I)

Dallas Region, “C”
Sam Lisenbe (I)

Memphis Region, “B”
Ron Nesmith (I)

Clerk Division National Business Agents, Western Region

Denver Region, “A”
Marilyn “Mo” Merow (I)

Denver Region, “B”
Steve Zamanakos (I)

San Francisco Region, “A”
Leonard F. Trujillo (I)

San Francisco Region, “B”
Shirley Jean Taylor (I)

San Francisco Region, “C”
James E. Scoggins (I)

San Francisco Region, “D”
Woodrow Williams Jr. (I)

Maintenance Division

Assistant Director “A”
Gary Kloepfer (I)

National Representative-At-Large
Idowu Balogun (I)

Maintenance Division National Business Agents

Central Region, “A”
Vance Zimmerman (I)

Central Region, “B”
Donald L. Foley (I)

Central Region, “C”
Troy Rorman (I)

Eastern Region
Doug Mirowski (I)

Northeast Region
Charles L. Wilcox (I)

Southern Region, “A”
Charlie Robbins (I)

Southern Region, “B”
Terry B. Martinez (I)

Motor Vehicle Service Division

Director
Robert C. “Bob” Pritchard (I)

Assistant Director
Michael O. Foster (I)

Motor Vehicle Service Division National Business Agents

Southern Region, Southeast Sub-Region
Ulysses Coneway (I)

Southern Region, Southwest Sub-Region
Dwight (D.D.) Johnson (I)

Western Region
Bruce Bailey (I)

Other National Business Agents

Pacific Area
Nilda R. Chock (I)

Support Services Division
Bill Manley

Retiree National Convention Delegates

Eastern Region: John F. Deeley (I)

Southern Region: Elizabeth A. Cramer
Bobby Donelson - Proud Member
Southwest Coastal Area Local, APWU, AFL-CIO
Local President - Ralph Lefter
California State APWU, AFL-CIO
State President - Isabelle Bailey
Posted by John Durben @ 05:13 PM CST

The actual California State APWU Convention began on Friday, May 21, 2004 and ran through Sunday, May 23, 2004. One of the most important reason to attend the state convention is the fact we get an opportunity for face-to-face meetings with national union officers from Washington, D.C. as well as regional officers. Another important reason is we get to discuss issues with local union officials from all parts of the California.

The following officers address our delegates:

· APWU, AFL-CIO President Bill Burrus
· APWU, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Terry Stapleton
· APWU, AFL-CIO Maintenance Director Steve Raymer
· APWU, AFL-CIO Clerk Director Jim McCarthy
· APWU, AFL-CIO Director of Research and Education Joyce Robinson
· APWU, AFL-CIO Director of Legislation Roy Braunstein
· APWU, AFL-CIO Assistant Motor Vehicle Director Mike Foster
· APWU, AFL-CIO Assistant Maintenance Director Idowu Balogun
· APWU, AFL-CIO Assistant Clerk Director Pat Williams
· National Auxiliary President Doris Poland
· California State Auxiliary President Dorothy Burr
· Western Region Coordinator Omar Gonzalez
· San Francisco Clerk NBA “A” Leonard Trujillo
· San Francisco Clerk NBA “B” Shirley Taylor
· San Francisco Clerk NBA “C” James Scoggins
· Western Region Maintenance NBA “A” Charles "Chuck" Sundgaard
· Western Region Maintenance NBA “B” Richard Shepard
· Western Region Motor Vehicle Service NBA Bruce Bailey

The message was very clear we are in a battle at all levels of the union: national, regional, state, and local as well as with the congress. Issues such as excessing, labor scheduler staffing model, unwarranted discipline, PTF conversions, new equipment and staffing, and postal reform, which could have an effect on every one of us as well as our families and friends. The union is on top of all of these issues as well as many others. Nothing is being taken for granted.

The long delay with grievances is being addressed. Most of the delay is due to sheer volume of the grievances we file. Nationwide the backlog of grievances has been reduced from approximately 90,000 to 47,000 grievances. This has not been an easy task and has been accomplished due to the efforts of many union representatives at the national, regional, and local levels. We have approximately 8,800 grievances pending arbitration in the Pacific Area. We have 586 grievances pending arbitration in the Santa Ana District. Santa Ana has 41 clerk craft, 7 maintenance craft, and 1 motor vehicle craft Step 3 grievances pending discussion. We have made some positive headway.

Some of the key issues addressed by the California State APWU Convention delegates are:

· Adding a new Oxnard SCF Representative was not approved.
· Four years elected terms for state officers was approved.
· Reduced the state executive board meetings to once a year was approved
· All California State APWU office to be located in a home was not approved.
· Recommendation National Conventions every three years rather than two years was not approved.
· Recommendation National APWU Officers term increase from three to four years was approved.
· Resolution California State APWU commends the Postal Press Association on its 40th anniversary.
· Resolution seeking military buy back provision for retirement credit be repealed was approved.
· Resolution seeking REC site TE’s get reasonable medical benefits was approved.
· Resolution seeking Caesar Chavez national holiday was approved.
· Resolution seeking veterans the right to be off on Veteran Day Holiday was approved.
· Resolution seeking no lunch provision was not approved.
· Resolution seeking union LWOP for part time union officials will not reduce employee’s benefits.

Congratulations to California State APWU President Isabelle Bailey, and all of the other state officers elected for the state term of 2004-2008.

The 2004-2008 California APWU Officers are:

President Isabelle Bailey
Vice-President Bill Villa
Secretary Carolyn Fullerton
Treasurer Larry DeNayer
Clerk Craft Director Zedie Ramage
Maintenance Craft Director Jimmie Waldon
Motor Vehicle Service Director Phillip Parham
Support Services Director Edwin Cox
Legislative Director Phillip Warlick
Retiree Director Tex Severe
Alhambra SCF Director Terry Stoller
Bakersfield SCF Director Gaare Davis
Eureka/Redding SCF Director Nanci Resendez
Fresno SCF Director Brian Eldridge
Inglewood SCF Director John Driver
Long Beach SCF Director Norma Jones
Los Angeles SCF Director Bridget Wolfe-Williams
Marysville SCF Director Rick Page
Oakland SCF Director Lisa Herrera
Pasadena SCF Director Mike Evans
Sacramento SCF Director Chuck Locke
San Bernardino SCF Director John Ewanizyk
San Diego SCF Director Gwen Wills
San Francisco SCF Director Refugio (Moses) Ramirez
San Jose SCF Director Tina Vanderpluym
San Rafael SCF Director Dave Swaney
Santa Ana SCF Director Ralph Lefter
Santa Barbara SCF Director Steve Green
Santa Rosa SCF Director Colman Pigott
Stockton SCF Director Toni Allison
Van Nuys SCF Director Gloria Banta

The Greater Los Angeles Area Local provided a presentation related to the National APWU, AFL-CIO Convention.

The national convention is in Los Angeles, California from August 18-27, 2004. The national convention provides training on many subjects, craft conferences to address craft needs, resolutions for collective bargaining, and resolutions addressing the directions and administration of the National APWU, AFL-CIO.

Bobby Donelson
Southwest Coastal Area Local
Posted by John Durben @ 09:04 PM CST

Thanks for your help in spreading this message. We can use all the help we can get going into the Memorial Day weekend and the rest of the summer. If people have further questions or want to find out where a blood drive is taking place near them, please have them call the American Red Cross at 1-800-626-4017.

Thanks and have a great day,
Dave Liethen
American Red Cross

Posted by John Durben @ 05:42 PM CST

PRESENT:
Dave Tauscher
John Moker
Ruth Forbes
Tim Johnson
James Landry
John Durben
Norb Hackl
Gail Nohr

The meeting was called to order at 10:03 AM.
The minutes were approved from the last meeting.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Norb has not attended a staff meeting to discuss the proper way to handle and timely processing of 1767s. This is still an issue to APWU. Employees are not being notified in writing about the abatement of a safety hazard.

Every item from the last safety inspection is abated.

The RR43 carrier case is continually being bumped with skids, pallets brought in by mail handlers driving forklifts. On occasion there is a work table on wheels with extended ends brought into that area. The cement parking bumpers used by the cases are not working. The committee suggested putting up permanent guard rails by the letter cases by the rural routes. There is not enough room to maneuver around in that area. Dave T. suggested switching the cases for mail processing. There would be extra lights dropped in to give more light for the clerks. Dave T. will bring this item up at the next staff meeting and see if there is a solution. Norb will send an E-mail to the SDOs and the MDOs.

ACCIDENT STATISTICS

There are a lower number of accidents for this year compared to last year. The largest number of accidents for Customer Service is in the slips, trips, and falls category. The largest number of accidents for the Plant is in the lifting category.

1767s

The committee reviewed the 1767s.

MAILHANDLERS

No new business.

NALC

Is there or should there be a SOP as to what action a supervisor should be taking when an employee might be in danger of a stroke or a heart attack? The committee agreed that the supervisor should take charge. If the employee doesn’t want the supervisor to call 911, then the supervisor shouldn’t drive them to the hospital either. It is a liability factor.

There is no list of employees that are trained in CPR. The employees were concerned about the liability factor. There was very little interest in the program. The post office is located very close to medical facilities.

There was talk that District was going to purchase one or two Automated External Defibrillators per office. There is a question about who will be trained to use the device.

The Power lift training program is a financial thing. The Plant can’t legally train another 250 employees with that program. Tim J. is willing to show the Customer Service employees a 10-15 minute demonstration on power lifting techniques. Norb will send an E-mail to the supervisors about this issue. The message will include instructions for the supervisors to respond even if they are not interested.

The sensor lights on the roll up doors can be lowered. Plant won’t adjust the sensor lights until the system is ours. The final walk through is on May 19. The pull cord attached to the roll up door in the GMF carrier section needs to be adjusted or replaced with something better. John M. and Dave will bring up this problem with the company on the final inspection. Maintenance will also look into this issue.

The motorcycle parking stalls will be marked after the cement is dry. There will be eight stalls. Parking vehicles on the lawn or in front of the gate in the parking lot is not permitted. Employees are to park their vehicles in lined stalls. John M. will talk to Sam about this problem.

Some of the truck locks are getting worn out. When the inspection is done at night, some of the trucks are not locked. The customer supervisors should address this issue to the VMF. Norb will talk to Gary about this problem.

APWU

The APWU requested to review all submitted PS Form 1767s and safety suggestions since the last Safety and Health committee meeting. Some of the departments send the safety talk logs for Customer Service and Mail Processing to Norb. They were not available at the meeting, but Norb will send these logs to John Durben.

Maintenance is in the process of getting bids to change the duct work and filters for the air conditioner at Cofrin station.

The old hoist was replaced for the battery room at the GMF. There was a new lifting basket, pulley, and basket for the excess chain added. There are painted lines to aide in parking the load hogs. The emergency switch on the outside of the room has not been looked into yet, but will be.

All of the items on the last safety inspection have been abated. John D. would like a copy of the first safety inspection.

The security system will be fully operational on 5-19-2004. There are items that need to be discussed and some bugs need to be worked out with the system. There is signage that needs to be added by the gates on the south side of the building for customers and contract workers.

Management feels that the location of the butt hut meets the regulations and that second hand smoke should not be a safety concern in this situation.

John D. was concerned about the wet mail that gets dried on bread racks on the workroom floor. Is it just water on the pieces of mail or is it a biohazard? The mail handlers are the first persons to handle the wet mail. The wet mail arrives in the hampers picked up from the star route drivers. If the mail handler has a problem with the wet mail, they should contact the supervisor. John D. wants to know if there is a SOP for this situation. Norb will check the action plan if there is no SOP, one will be created and distributed.

Gail N. was concerned about having no custodian on duty to cover for an 8 hour shift. Does this create a safety issue? This situation doesn’t happen often and it is not done intentionally. In the past, some employees would mention to the supervisor that a custodian didn’t show up on time so they could keep someone later.

All employees should be wearing their badges all of the time. Maintenance will notify all employees when the whole new security system is up and running as part of a floor talk.

Norb showed a safety deck video at the end of the meeting for educational purposes.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at 10:00 AM.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45AM.

Norbert Hackl
Chairperson Safety & Health Committee

Posted by John Durben @ 05:26 PM CST

[more]
Posted by John Durben @ 07:55 PM CST

Congress Daily, May 4, 2004

The House Government Reform Committee began circulating a draft Monday night of the postal overhaul bill it will mark up Thursday, but some commercial mailers say the bill is too weak to save the beleaguered Postal Service. The 126-page draft, which Government Reform Chairman Davis will introduce sometime before Thursday’s markup, includes many provisions recommended by the President’s Commission on the Postal Service last July, including mandated transparency regarding the agency’s finances, costs and operations. Like the commission’s recommendations, the bill would restructure the agency’s rate-setting process, establishing an inflationary rate increase cap and creating a strong regulator to monitor rates. But the bill would not give the Postal Service nearly the level of rate-setting freedom recommended by the commission, instead imposing price controls on competitive postal products. The bill would return to the Treasury the military service costs for postal retirees who served in the armed forces, but it is mostly silent on the kinds of workforce issues Senate Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Collins has said she will include in her bill later this month.

A Davis spokesman said he hopes the legislation will maintain the broad support expressed so far for postal change. “Chairman Davis is determined to keep together the coalition that has formed in support of postal reform,” the spokesman said. “We believe we have narrowed the universe of unresolved items to a very small few, and are hopeful that we will have bipartisan support when we mark up this legislation in committee on Thursday,” he said. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader DeLay told reporters that, although he had not yet seen the draft, he will schedule floor time for the bill if the committee approves it. “I see no reason why we can’t bring it to the floor,” DeLay said. A minority source on the committee praised the “cooperative process” of drafting the bill, but she said the legislation still leaves some large issues unresolved, including the fate of a mandated escrow account for the agency.

Some in the mailing industry, however, believe the committee is so eager to maintain coalition support that it has produced a fatally weak bill. ‘This is a horrible, horrible disappointment,” said Association for Postal Commerce President Gene Del Polito, who represents large commercial mailers such as time, Capital One and RR Donnelly. “We have made clear there are two things that have to be done to reform the Postal Service. Give them new methods for cost determination and give them the authority to withdraw excess costs and needless services, such as facility consolidation,” he said. “There are no such provisions in the draft at all.” Del Polito said one provision in the draft to restrict worksharing agreements would actually drive up postal costs, although it is favored by postal worker unions and postal competitors. “I see a lot of compromises built in to assuage the concerns of competitors or unions, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest the postal service is going to be any better off under this bill,” he said.

– by Zach Patt
Posted by John Durben @ 10:40 PM CST

According to SOA (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institutre for Security Cooperation in 2001) training manuals, the insurgents targeted for torture include people who "support union organizing or recruiting" and make "accusations that the government has failed to meet the needs of the people."

[more]
Posted by John Durben @ 10:33 PM CST

[more]
Posted by John Durben @ 05:30 PM CST

* Timeline Announced for ‘Early Outs’
Dates Set for Excluded, Newly Eligible Employees

* Postal Reform Update
Congress, White House Clash Over
Responsibility for Retirement Funding

* ‘Sunday Premium’ Dispute Resolved

* APWU Files Grievance Over
‘Interactive Voice Response’ System

* Bulk Mail Center Conference

The meeting was called to order at 10:20 AM [more]
Posted by Gail Nohr @ 05:00 PM CST

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold introduced two amendments today that would save taxpayers and the Medicare program millions of dollars. The first amendment eliminates almost $4 billion of the "slush fund" for HMOs and PPOs included in the Medicare prescription drug bill that passed last year.

[more]
Posted by John Durben @ 05:43 PM CST

APWU - SAFETY AND HEALTH
Safety Alert Update
Feb. 27, 2004
Issue: OxiClean mailing

Posted by John Durben @ 11:04 AM CST

UNI Postal affiliate, Syndicat de la Communication in Switzerland will today hold demonstrations in several large towns throughout Switzerland, post office workers will also observe the protest by stopping work.

The Syndicat de la Communication, has condemned the Swiss Postal Service (La Poste Suisse) over the dismantling of the collective agreement (locally known as convention collective de travail) and the outsourcing of post office business. Demonstrations are planned today at midday and during the afternoon, in Bern, Zurich, Basle, Lausanne, Bienne, Lucerne, Saint-Gall and in Tessin.

Posted by John Durben @ 05:42 PM CST

I have written a note about it to the Update Editor, who I hope will pass it to the MTSC Manager for a change of attitude here and provide each Technician with their own pair of this inexpensive item instead of the chance of passing on a skin condition among those who do the servicing of the Merlin equipment. I advocate that each of those who have this assignment, decline to wear a used pair of these Micro Fiber Gloves as a possible SKIN HEALTH problem,

Please print this message and place it on the Maintenance area Bulletin Boards for your protection.

In Comradeship for the Continuing Struggle.
"Jake"
In Comradeship for the Struggle, "JAKE"
Warren "Jake" Jackson, Ass't. Dir. "B"
Maintenance Division, APWU, AFL-CIO
1300 "L" St. N.W., Suite 500
Washinton, D.C. 20005-4107
Posted by John Durben @ 05:32 PM CST

In observance of March as Workplace Eye Safety Month, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and opthalmologists across the nation want to alert Americans to the possibility of eye injuries in the workplace.

According to Prevent Blindness America, each working day in the United States, more than 2,000 employees sustain job-related eye injuries, making workplace injury a leading cause of ocular trauma, visual loss and blindness. Of these, 10 percent to 20 percent will be disabling because of temporary or permanent vision loss.

For the complete story :

If you believe that you have been exposed to a biological or chemical agent, or if you believe an intentional biological threat will occur or is occurring, please contact your local health department and/or your local police or other law enforcement agency.

Posted by John Durben @ 06:11 PM CST

Posted by John Durben @ 06:04 PM CST

Posted by John Durben @ 07:55 AM CST

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