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IN THIS EDITION OF
THE EAGLE’S EYEDocument Carriers And Management
Performing Clerk Craft Work. . . . . . . . . . . 1
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Formula For Disaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Updating FMLA AndKnowing Your Weingarten Rights . . . . . . 3
Union Membership BenefitsFar Greater Than Their Cost . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Pool And Relief Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
VMF Grievances Moving Forward . . . . . . . . . . 6
Overtime Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
NLRB Rules USPS-Staples DealViolated Federal Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Support American Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
PROUD MEMBER
Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage
PAIDFort Myers, FLPermit No. 139
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AREA LOCAL AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION
CARRIERS AND MANAGEMENTPERFORMING CLERK CRAFT WORK
I find it amazing that employees insome offices do not file grievances onmanagement and carriers performingClerk Craft work. Tracking the individ-uals, the hours worked along withwhat work these individuals were per-forming will pay our APWU represent-ed employees at the appropriate over-time rate for all time spent performingClerk Craft work.
Some argue that they need helpfrom management to get the workdone. Without filing grievances,we will lose Clerk Craft jobs in thatoffice. Sitting back and allowingmanagement and carriers to per-form our duties without a chal-lenge will eliminate jobs for ClerkCraft employees.
Julio Mayo, the Marco IslandUnion Steward has been filinggrievances for well over a yearnow and has won the Marcoemployees well over $50,000.00for these violations. Clerks inMarco continue to get this freemoney in their bi-weekly pay-checks. Congratulations to Julioand his hard work enforcing theCBA.
The new language in the 2015-2018 does not allow managementto reassign any other Crafts intothe Clerk Craft (even InjuredCarriers). The language reads;"During the term of this agreementno reassignments in the ClerkCraft will be made within orbetween installations or from othercraft, unless the reassignment ismade based on a mutualexchange in accordance withArticle 37.2.D.7, or through theArticle 12 involuntary reassign-ment process or pursuant to thisAgreement."
So the above language should beused when filing grievances onCarriers working and performingClerk Craft duties.
NINE (9) IMPROPERLYREVERTED JOBSTO BE REPOSTED
Last summer, management at theFort Myers P&DC improperlyreverted nine (9) Mail Processingbids. Grievances were filed byPaul McAvoy and they went toStep 2 where Dan Gray argued torepost those positions. The Unioneventually sent those cases toarbitration.
NBA Mike "Sully" Sullivan last
Sam WoodPresident
SWFAL APWU
Southwest Florida Area Local 11000 Metro Parkway, Unit 8 Fort Myers, FL 33966
Alva, Bokeelia, Bonita Springs, Captiva,Chokoloskee, Estero, Everglades City, Felda,
Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Goodland,Immokalee, Labelle, Lehigh Acres, Marco Island,
Naples, Palmdale, Pineland, Placida,Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Rotunda,
St. James City and Sanibel
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
March 2017Volume 27 Number 2
month Pre-Arbed those cases andmanagement agreed that thosenine (9) duty assignments will bereposted for bid.
Winning these types of grievancesallow additional bid choices foremployees to choose. It alsoincreases the likelihood of PSE'sbeing converted to career. TheAPWU's challenge of improperactions by management, benefitall employees in the long run.Employees in all offices should beactive in challenging managementwhenever they believe the con-tract is being violated.
FORT MYERS RI-399SETTLEMENT ($5.2 MILLION)
It's been one (1) year since wecame to an agreement with man-agement for the RI-399 FlatsPreparation settlement for $5.2million. It had been over 8 monthssince the majority of employeesreceived their settlement checks.
Meanwhile, over 60 retirees hadnot received checks totaling over$350,000.00. The SWFAL-APWUhad filed grievances, dealt withmanagement and worked with ournational officers in order to get theremaining former employees paid.
With the help of APWU IndustrialRelations Director VanceZimmerman and the persistenceof our local, we have now signifi-cantly reduced the number of non-paid employees.
We have confirmed checks beingpaid to almost every employeethat had been identified to be paidby our local. Rest assured that wewill continue to fight until everyemployee has been paid theamount owed.
Thanks to our local's membersand current and former ExecutiveBoard Members for their continuedsupport in our fight in these issues.
Document Carriers And ManagementPerforming Clerk Craft Work
2 THE EAGLE’S EYE MARCH 2017
Southwest Florida Area Local, APWU
11000 Metro Parkway, Unit 8Fort Myers, FL 33966239-275-1007Open 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday
WEBSITE ADDRESSwww.swfloridaapwu.org
PRESIDENTSam [email protected]
VICE-PRESIDENTDan [email protected]
SECRETARY-TREASURERJamie L. [email protected]
CLERK CRAFT DIRECTORGrace [email protected]
MAINTENANCE CRAFTDIRECTOR
Jeremiah [email protected]
MOTOR VEHICLE CRAFTDIRECTOR
EDITORKathy [email protected]
TRUSTEESDaniel CarinciDavid GrantScott Wiser
SAFETY & HEALTHCOMMITTEE
David GrantWendy Skaff
CONSTITUTION COMMITTEEDan Gray, ChairmanGrace BaerDaniel CarinciDavid GrantPaul McAvoyKathy Moyer
ELECTION COMMITTEEBarbara Carr, ChairmanRobert Nowall
NATIONAL MAILING ADDRESSPer Capita SectionAPWU, AFL-CIO1300 L Street NWWashington, DC 20005
FLORIDA POSTAL WORKERThe Florida Postal WorkerP.O. Box 8363Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310www.apwuflorida.org
GeneralMembershipMeetingMinutes
January 22,2017
Note: Priorto the GMMmeeting AllOfficers andT r u s t e e swere sworn in by NBA MikeSullivan.
CALL TO ORDER:9:38 a.m. There were 21 mem-bers in attendance.
THE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE:The pledge allegiance was led by:Julio Mayo
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: S. Wood, D. Gray, J. Robertson, K.Moyer, J. Fracek, G. Baer, & J.Strunk.
MAP:Barb Carr told jokes in honor ofCharles Glennon, S. Woodchanged order of business andAmy Bartlemen of BJ’s came andspoke on the benefits of being amember of BJ’s. S. Wood thankedD. Gray, J. Robertson. He alsothanked D. Carinci for getting thefood and drinks for the installation.Also thanked were D. Carinci, G.Baer & D. Grant on all the work toswitch our phone & internet com-panies to Comcast which will save$100 a month!
NEW MEMBERS:Denean Monteleone & JesusRamirez
EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES:The Executive Board voted tomake S. Wiser and S. Christ alter-nate stewards for maintenance onT-1 at the plant. Board discussionswere, Q&A on one to a machine,RI-399, Arbitrations & Removals,Stewards including statements &proper documents in their griev-ances, Bokeelia, Maintenance bidspread sheet, importance ofemployee statements in griev-ances, spring seminar, EGS sys-tem, trustee school and signaturecards.
SECRETARY/TREASURER REPORT: Grace made motion to accept Nov& Dec minutes as reported inEagle’s Eye, M. Szymonik second-ed, Motion passed. Dec & Jan verybusy for me as it is tax time. I com-pleted all W-2’s, W-3’s, 4 reportsdue to IRS, all paperwork SocialSecurity office required. Afterworking closely with ChristineSheehan our LM-3 and 990 EZ isalmost complete. B. Carr got arebate for our local for the closedPO Box’s for the election. Specialthanks to K. D’Angelo who gotahold of Keith McGee’s children sowe were able to send the Incentive
award winnings to his children.
REPORT/SELECTION OFCOMMITTEES:B. Carr - 4 late ballots & junk mailwere found in the PO Box before itwas closed. Once closed shereceived a refund for our local of$89.50. She had 17 postagestamps left which she will return toK. D’Angelo.
REPORT OF TRUSTEES:Trustees thanked J. Robertson &K. D’Angelo for the awesome jobduring the audits. Also, welcomedS. Wiser as a new Trustee & hav-ing him on board will be awesome!
COMMUNICATIONS:Steward changes, Postal Press,Sec/Treas Conference, Letter fromWayne Nichols, email correspon-dence to & from VanceZimmerman on remaining RI-399Payouts, Thank You card from K.D’Angelo, Christmas Cards from,NBA’s, Kenith Beasley, AnnaSmith, Miami Local, NationalAPWU, Kathy Gorman, DarlaHoward, Letter to changeExecutive Board, Notice ofTelecon, cancellations of dues formembers going into supervision,NLRB notice, Letter from NationalPresident Mark. D, LetterVoluntary Benefits Plan, Letterfrom AFL-CIO, email on Carrierdoing light duty clerk work. NBA M.Sullivan read info from our con-tract on other crafts improperlyworking in our crafts.
OLD BUSINESS:Issues at stations were discussed,supervisors doing clerk work,importance of clocking over toproper operations you are workingin at the time, PSE percentages.
GOOD AND WELFARE:The winner of the COPA 50/50drawing was Scott Wiser who won$28.00. The total netted was$56.00. The name drawn for theIncentive Award was Dan Gray.He won $50.00. The pot will goback to $50.00 at the next meet-ing.
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:Results were recorded.
NEXT MEETING:Robert Nowall moved to have themeeting on February 19, 2017, he withdrew that motion andmoved to change the motion toFebruary 12, 2017, D. Grant sec-onded, motion passed. The nextmeeting is Sunday February 12,2017.
ADJORNMENT:Robert Nowall moved to adjournthe meeting at 10:52 a.m. D.Carinci seconded, the motionpassed and the meetingadjourned.
General Membership Meeting Minutes
February 12, 2017
CALL TO ORDER:9:32 a.m. There were 13 mem-bers in attendance.
THE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE:The pledge allegiance was led byDave Grant
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: S. Wood, J. Robertson, G. Baer, J.Fracek, J. Strunk, K. Moyer. J.Robertson made a motion toexcuse D. Gray. J. Fracek second-ed the motion, the motion passed.
MAP:Barb Carr told jokes in honor ofCharles Gennon. Barb also saidRose Glennon says to say hi toeveryone.
EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES:RI-399 who had not received RI-399 payout checks have finallybeen cut. Most if not all shouldhave received them. 9 revertedbids to be reposted, New contractdoes not allow for any carriers towork in our craft, including injuredcarriers, Step 2 process, PostOffice (AO’s) contracting out work,VMF, Management trying to forcestandards on the PSE’s at theplant.
SECRETARY/TREASURER REPORT: I am happy to report our biggie taxitems, such as the LM3 and 990are complete and filed with theIRS. A special thanks to Dannyand Dave for setting up the UnionHall with Comcast internet andphone which will save $100 amonth. Also thanks to KarenD’Angelo for being there when allneeded to be installed. The plantshould be set up this Tuesday. Alltax liabilities are complete. Statedues and AFL-CIO dues are cur-rent and up to date.
REORT OF TRUSTEES:Trustee school discussed.
COMMUNICATIONS:Union Leadership meeting March23, 2017.
UPDATE OF GRIEVANCES:We are trying to get priority sched-uling on the second part of RI-399grievance for arbitration. 90% ifnot 98% of retiree payouts for thefirst half of the RI-399 should final-ly be mailed out. More than halfhave already received theirchecks. Danny Carinci made spe-cial mention that the reason theretirees are finally getting theirmoney was because of Sam Woodgiving constant pressure to thePost Office. He thanked SamWood for all he does.Management at the plant reverteda bunch of bids in the past and wenow have a pre-arb settlement
Jamie RobertsonScretary-Treasurer
SWFAL APWU
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report
See: Secretary-Treasurer’sReportContinued on Page 7
MARCH 2017 THE EAGLE’S EYE 3
minute, repeat what you just saidslowly and listen to yourself. Howcan you possibly be overstaffedwhen you're using too much over-time?"
But why am I wasting your timetelling you all of this? I mean,you're there. You've seen andknow all this.
I realize that maybe at some of thestations you may not want to sayanything when a supervisor oranother craft is doing your work forfear that you will just get stuck hav-ing to work more overtime. Maybeyou're seeing lower level mainte-nance doing higher level work. Ormaybe if you are on the overtimelist you just want to keep a good
thing going.
Just remember, when someoneelse is performing your work man-agement is recording hours you'renot needed. And if you're raking inthe long hours because they areshort staffed and you happen toget sick or worse, injured youwon’t be getting a, "thank you", butyou will more than likely be scruti-nized on attendance or safety.
So do yourself a favor. When theydo your work, see your Stewardand "FILE"! And don't worry, theneed for overtime will still be therebut if you do nothing your job maynot!
In Solidarity
hell bent on getting more with less,constantly spreading the work-force as thin as they can get it.Attempting to set absurd goals,coming up with new uselesscharts, heat maps and ridiculousplans to cut back service and workhours.
One good example would be thecustodians, who will be made towear and use vacuum packs toperform their cleaning. Once theyare done with their route, they willbe required to weigh the dust toshow that the program is working.
No, I'm not joking (Sounds likesomeone up top is trying to justifymaking the big bucks).
The sad part is local managementknows this to be true, but nonedare to stand up to district anddemand help.
I myself was in conversation with asupervisor who was ranting abouttoo much overtime and the need tocut back. Then, without losing abreath, the same supervisor start-ed carrying on about being over-staffed.
I had to stop him and say, "Wait a
Take increas-ing mail vol-ume plusbelow mini-mum staffing,throw in poorto no trainingand morem a n a g e r sthan youknow what todo with. Whatdo you get?
"OVERTIME!"
Now I'm no mathematician andexcuse me if I seem out of placehere but someone at the top mustbe on crack because it just doesn'tadd up!
There are Window Clerks, both listand non-list, working overtimedaily, including days off, MailProcessing Clerks being maxi-mized weekly and Maintenanceand Custodians without enoughstaffing to complete routes. Yetmanagement’s solution is bidreversions and the constant threatof excessing.
Management (and I'm talkingabout National level) seems to be
Formula For Disaster
Danny CarinciT2 & T3 StewardFt. Myers P&DCSWFAL APWU
We are in thebeginning ofa new year,thus it may betime for manyto updatetheir FMLAinformation.
If you need toupdate yourFMLA infor-mation andneed formsmake sure you see your unionsteward, or you can easily printthem yourself from our local unionweb page.
For those of you who have neversubmitted FMLA forms, but feelyou or a family member may havea medical condition that may qual-ify for FMLA, feel free to ask to seeyour union steward and they canhelp provide you the assistanceyou may need.
Next topic - your WeingartenRights! When you are brought inby any person of authority from
supervision or the postal inspec-tors always be sure to enact yourWeingarten Rights. These areyour rights and are there for yourbenefit of protection.
Do not assume anything! Do notassume you are just being ques-tioned and that everything is goingto work out in your favor. Do notassume the questions are for yourbenefit. Do not assume the ques-tions have a corrective rather thanpunitive intent behind them.
You need to remember that assoon as management asks you aquestion about your job in anymanner during a meeting one onone it has now become an inves-tigative interview and you mustexercise your Weingarten Rights ifyou want representation at thatpoint.
Weingarten Rights
IF YOU ARE BEING ASKEDQUESTIONS WHICH COULDRESULT IN DISCIPLINE, BESURE TO DO THE FOLLOWING:
1. Request the right to have yourunion representative with youbefore answering anyquestions, and do notvolunteer information beforespeaking with your unionrepresentative.
2. Make sure you are ordered toanswer the questions.
3. Keep your answers to the pointand very accurate. Becompletely truthful in youranswers. Do not speculate.
4. Do not volunteer to take apolygraph examination or drugtest.
5. If you are told you are facingcriminal investigation, refuse toanswer any questions until youhave spoken with an attorney.
Finally, there are always issueswhich occur on a daily basis likeovertime or the occasion onessuch as holiday scheduling thatseem to be inevitable. Please see
your tour union stewards toaddress these issues as they areyour best immediate resource forhandling many of your day to dayissues.
If there are unresolved or reoccur-ring issues then you should workwith your tour stewards to seewhat concepts can be developedto address these issues. If we canwork using a team approach forthe handling of grievances, we willbe more likely to reach the desiredresolution within our craft that willbenefit our membership.
We are only as strong as we areunited and the more united thestronger we are!
Feel free to stop me anytime withquestions you may have and if I donot have the answers I will do mybest to find them and get back toyou as quickly as possible. I will tryto keep you informed as to what Iam finding out as we move forwardin the process.
In Solidarity
Updating FMLA AndKnowing Your Weingarten Rights
Jeremiah StrunkMaintenance Craft
DirectorSWFAL APWU
Just remember, when someone
else is performing your work
management is recording
hours you're not needed.
4 THE EAGLE’S EYE MARCH 2017
I would like totake this timeto welcomeour newmembers ofour local’sE x e c u t i v eBoard andthank theones whohave movedon.
As most of you know, JamieRobertson was appointed by theExecutive Board when Feliciaresigned as Secretary/Treasurer.Jamie is doing an outstanding joband has done all this with no for-mal training.
Paul will be missed greatly asClerk Craft Director. I will now beable to mispronounce people’snames without being corrected,and now Paul won’t miss Churchdue to our Sunday Union meet-ings. Grace Baer has stepped in tofill his boots and will be a greatasset.
Mickey decided not to run againand Jeremiah Strunk has steppedin as Maintenance Craft Directorand will help with any Maintenanceissues.
We need more young members tobecome actively involved in ourlocal. We will be seeing a big exo-dus of members who near retire-ment age. Who will step up to fillthe void in the next couple ofyears? Who will be the future localleaders?
It amuses me every time I hear thebull#@*t excuses of non-Unionmembers and why they will not jointhe Union. The reality is they arenothing but selfish and cheap indi-viduals.
The same non-members do notblink an eye when they have aproblem with management andthen come running to the Union forhelp. If the Union sucks why notsolve your problems on your own?
These same non-members havetheir greedy little hands outfor each settlement wonby the Union on all members’behalf. They have no problemattempting to suck out every bene-fit which they fail to contribute toin any fashion. Do any ofthese selfish individual realizewhat their own work environmentwould be like if they did not havea Union?
Here is a list of things that Unionshave made possible:
(1) All breaks at work,including your lunchbreak
(2) Paid Vacation(3) Family and Medical Leave
Act (FMLA)(4) Sick leave(5) Minimum wage(6) Civil Rights Act/Title VIII
(Prohibits employerdiscrimination)
(7) Overtime Pay(8) Child Labor Laws(9) Occupational Safety and
Health Act (OSHA)(10) 40-hour work week(11) Workers’ compensation (12) Unemployment insurance (13) Pensions(14) Workplace Safety
standards and regulations(15) Employer health care
insurance(16) Collective bargaining
rights for employees(17) Wrongful termination laws (18) Age Discrimination in
employment Act of 1967(ADEA)
Daniel M. GrayVice PresidentSWFAL APWU
Where the Union has a legal dutyto represent all employees in thebargaining unit (member or non-member) the Union does not haveto supply non-members with anyitem or information that is not partof this legal representation.
If you disagree with how the Unionis operated, then join and becomeactive in the Union. Don’t justwhine and complain, be proactive.Become part of the solutionto what you believe the Unionshould be. You want to reap thebenefits, but refuse to help pay thecost.
A good example of what a non-member is like imagine if you wentout to dinner and everyone ate thesame meal yet you (the member)were forced to pay the whole billand they (non-member) got theirmeal for free. That is what the non-members are expecting of themembers every day.
The cost is minimal as to the ben-efits gained. Union employeesmake an average of 30 percentmore than non-union workers. 92percent of Union workers havejob-related health coverage versus68 percent of non-union workers.Union workers are more likely tohave guaranteed pensions thannon-union workers.
So please don’t ask for an FMLAform from the Union so you cangive it to a non-member. Do notgive the password to the wirelessinternet to the non-member.Instead ask the non-members tojoin and pay their fair share.
Remember, if any members haveany questions or concerns askyour steward. Any non-membersgo ask your supervisor.
(19) Whistleblower protectionlaws
(20) Veteran’s Employment andTraining Services
(21) Raises(22) Sexual Harassment Laws(27) Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA)(28) Holiday Pay(29) Privacy rights(30) Equal Pay Acts of 1963
and 2011 – requiresemployers pay men andwomen equally for thesame amount of work
(31) Laws ending sweatshopsin the United States
The above list is just to name afew. Do any of these non-mem-bers believe that managementwould pay them the wages andbenefits they receive if not for theUnion?
A great example of what workingfor an employer who does nothave or want a Union would belike, just look to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has continually fought tokeep out any Union from formingin their stores. This is so they cancontinue to pay low wages with lit-tle or no benefits and no job secu-rity.
The owners of Wal-Mart are someof the wealthiest people in Americaif not the world, yet many of theirown employees have to live onfood stamps and other govern-ment assistance to make endsmeet.
Now what disturbs me evenmore is a non-member askingthe Union for FMLA forms,documents or help outsidethe scope of what is requiredby law and acting like theirfeelings are hurt when they aretold no.
Union Membership BenefitsFar Greater Than Their Cost
MARCH 2017 THE EAGLE’S EYE 5
Pool andrelief assign-ments areused to coverabsences off u l l - t i m ee m p l o y e e sholding dutyassignmentsat branchesand stations.It is under-stood thatpool and relief assignmentsrequire a degree of flexibility andinvolve some uncertainty.Fortunately, contract languageexists that helps diminish thisuncertainty. Some of the most fre-quently asked questions aboutpool and relief assignments areprinted below and are taken direct-ly from the Article 37 JCIM Q&A’s.
Please address additional ques-tions and/or potential violationswith a steward. Remember, thestewards are here to address yourconcerns including the improperassignment of injured carriers inthe clerk craft.
No carrier should be doing eighthours of clerk work. If this is hap-pening in your office document thework being done, ask to see asteward, and file to get paid at theovertime rate for the cross-craftviolation. The duty assignment yousave may be your own!
227. Can Relief and Pool Clerk Craft duty assignments beposted with a PrincipalAssignment Area in morethan one (1) station,branch, finance unit, etc.?
Response: No. Relief and PoolClerk Craft duty assign-ments can be posted withonly one (1) PrincipalAssignment Area wherethey are domiciled. Reliefand Pool Clerks mayproperly be assigned asneeded to Relief and Poolassignments in otherlocations (e.g., stations,branches or other installa-tions) identified in theirduty assignment.
228. Can Relief and Pool Clerksbe assigned in accordancewith the Relief and PoolMOU from their domiciledlocation to any station,branch, finance unit, etc.,within an installation or toother installations?
Response: Proper Relief andPool assignments underthe MOU will be tolocations specifically listedon the duty assignment.
229. Can the USPS list allstations, branches, financeunits, etc. on the dutyassignment as potentialrelief and pool locations?
Response: The degree ofspecificity included mayvary with the size of thecoverage area in that insome areas with a largerelief pool a particular reliefassignment should belimited to a relatively smallarea of coverage, whereasin other offices the natureof the assignment mayhave to be broader.
230. Can Relief and Pool Clerksbe assigned, within theRelief and Pool MOUexception, to cover thescheduled days off ofanother employee?
Response: No. The exceptionsto out-of-schedule paycontained in the Relief andPool MOU apply only whencovering “absences andvacancies of employeesholding regular bid assign-ments and other situationswhen the assignment isuncovered.” Relief andPool clerks are notnormally utilized to coverscheduled days off. Theexception would be in thedomiciled facility and otherstations or branches, ifincluded in the employee’sposted work hours andduty assignment.
231. Can Relief and Pool Clerkduties be added to (ordeleted from) an existingSSA, SSDA, or LSSA dutyassignment without repost-ing the job?
Response: No. The addition ordeletion of Relief and PoolClerk duties to or from aduty assignment consti-tutes a change necessitat-ing a reposting of the dutyassignment.
232. If a Relief and Pool Clerk isassigned to cover anabsence of five (5) days orlonger for an employeeholding a full-time regularduty assignment, do theyreceive additional wagecompensation when cover-ing such assignment?
Response: No. Relief and Poolassignments consisting offive (5) days or more do notrequire payment ofadditional wage compen-sation provided the Pooland Relief Clerk receiveswritten notice of theassignment by Wednesdayof the preceding week.
233. Can a five (5) day Reliefand Pool assignment bemade to cover theabsences of two or moreclerks?
Response: No. This would
apply even though theabsences covered exceedfive days when combined.
234. Is the USPS required tonotify Relief and Poolclerks of Relief and Poolassignments in advance?
Response: Yes. The Relief andPool MOU requires thatmanagement notify theemployee by Wednesdayof the preceding serviceweek that he/she is tocover an assignmenthaving a schedule differentfrom the Relief and Poolemployee’s regularschedule for a period ofone week (five workingdays) or longer.
235. Do Relief and Pool Clerksreceive additional compen-sation when performingappropriate Relief and Poolassignments?
Response: For assignments offive (5) days or more,Relief and Pool clerks donot receive additionalcompensation if theyreceive notice of theassignment by Wednesdayof the preceding week. Ifthey are not notified inwriting by Wednesday ofthe preceding week, or ifthe assignment is for lessthan five (5) days, theRelief and Pool clerks areentitled to work theirregular schedule and anyadditional hours arecompensated at theapplicable rate in accor-dance with ELM 434.6.
236. Can the USPS make aRelief and Pool assign-ment without theWednesday priornotification?
Response: Yes. The USPSmay make Relief and Poolassignments as the needarises to cover an absenceof an employee holding aFTR duty assignment. However, the Relief andPool Clerk must be com-pensated at the applicablerate in accordance withELM 434.6.
237. Can the schedule of aRelief and Pool Clerk betemporarily changedbecause of service needsduring a particular weekeven though they are notbeing assigned to anappropriate assignmentprovided for in the Reliefand Pool MOU?
Response: Yes. However,because such assignmentswould not fall within theRelief and Pool exception,
the out-of-schedule orovertime and guaranteeprovisions of ELM 434.6would apply.
238. Can Relief and Pool Clerksperform overtimeassignments in theoffice/section in which theyare temporarily assignedwhile covering anabsence?
Response: Yes. However, inaccordance with the JCIM,Relief and Pool Clerks areonly permitted to sign theOTDL in the section wherethey are domiciled. Unlessprovided otherwise in theapplicable LMOU, whenRelief and Pool Clerks areassigned to locations otherthan where domiciled, theymay be offered overtimeonly after all qualified andavailable clerks on theOTDL in that section/loca-tion have been maximized.
239. How are Relief and PoolClerks granted incidentalleave in the section/loca-tion in which they aretemporarily assigned?
Response: The supervisor inthe office where theemployee is working isresponsible for acting onincidental leave requests;however, such leaveshould be coordinated withthe home office supervisor.
240. Are Relief and Pool Clerksscheduled for holidays inthe section/location inwhich they are temporarilyassigned?
Response: No. Unless provid-ed otherwise in the applcable LMOU, they arescheduled in theirdomiciled section or facility.
241. Can Relief and Pool Clerksbe utilized to cover forabsences in MailProcessing plantoperations (Function 1operations)?
Response: No.
242. Can the USPS post all jobsas Relief and Pool Clerks?
Response: No. The number ofRelief and Pool dutyassignments should belimited to a numbersufficient to coveranticipated absences andvacancies, and othersituations where anassignment is uncovered,within the installation.
Pool And Relief Assignments
Grace BaerClerk Craft Director
SWFAL APWU
See: Pool And ReliefAssignmentsContinued on Page 6
6 THE EAGLE’S EYE MARCH 2017
compared to 10-20 hours a weekthat you should be getting. Manyat the VMF do not know what apaycheck with 20-40 hours of OTon it looks like. I do, 5k per monthtake home pays a lot of bills.
Another issue here that needsaddressing is, at least 4 techsleave the shop every day on theTag/Service trucks. A grievancehas been filed to make this a bidjob. This same, identical grievancewas won at arbitration just a fewmonths ago, so it will be won here.(Don’t let management lie to youand say since it was in Tampa itdoesn’t count here. It is citable.Plus - the Union’s advocate for thestep 2 will be the same personwho won it in arbitration.YAHTZEE)! But I digress.
What the issue is, since thesetechs are out of the shop on a dailybasis, their hours cannot countagainst those of the VMF. Againtheir daily job is outside of theVMF, not in it. So these hoursshould be made up by the techsthat have to make up for theirabsence - more opportunity forovertime.
This is why management has tocontract out so much work. Onpaper we have at least 4 moretechs working in the shop, andthough doing a TAG/road call is inthe job description, a TAG/roadcall is defined as an occasionalcall out of the shop for a repair, nota daily scheduled routine.
I know there are some who justwant to come to work, do their jobsand go home, I get it. They trustmanagement to do the best bythem. Maybe at one time it mayhave been that way, but not now.Management’s priority is to savetheir own asses first.
To do this, they have to stay in thenumbers and stay under theradar. They don’t have astrong Union to stand up forthem. When their Boss givesthem numbers to reach, theyhave to do it, or be replaced,it’s that simple.
In my opinion, very few in manage-ment have the backbone to followthe rules and are scared to dowhat’s right. (I’ll cite the 200denied grievances). This leads tomanagement doing whatever ittakes to stay in the numbers, sadlythis usually means breaking therules and taking advantage of theemployees.
If this is allowed to continue, it willbecome the way. Where the rulesare up for interpretation, manage-ment will bend, twist or completelyignore them, unless it benefitsthem of course. This is why it’simportant to know the CBA, followthe CBA, and enforce the CBA.
The CBA benefits the employeesmore than it does management.Read it, learn it. Management iscounting on you not to.
Happy NewYear, every-one! I hopeeach of youhad a goodholiday sea-son, and theNew Year willbe full of newfriends, newexperiencesand greatmemories.
I would like tow e l c o m eAnthony B. to the VMF family ashe begins his postal career. I amlooking forward to many years ofworking together.
At the very end of this last yearwe almost had a first for us atthe VMF: ManagementALMOST settled a grievanceat step 1!
We were so close, but as it stands,(for a record I believe, we are stillchecking on it) Management is 0for about 200 grievances for 2016.Here is to a better 2017. We’repulling for ya.
The thing is we are winning thesegrievances at Step 2. The majorityof the grievances denied are iden-tical to those we won. Not only ismanagement violating theCollective Bargaining Agreement(CBA) to begin with, now they arerefusing to settle grievances atlowest possible step - another vio-
lation of the CBA.
I do like the “deer in the headlightslook” they have at the step onemeetings when they try to skirtaround the facts. The fact that acitable sign off paying employeesmoney for the same issue cannotbe ignored. These signs offs, I’mbeing told by local management,are not proof that we won a griev-ance. So I guess management isjust paying us now to lose griev-ances!
Good Grief, Charlie Brown. Eyesat higher levels have taken noticeand this issue will be addressed.
I was told that last year manage-ment contracted out over$760,000.00. The majority of thiswork was craft work. 63 enginesreplaced, transmissions, tirerepairs, tons of tows/shuttles. Howmuch overtime did the employeesof the VMF miss out on?
Not one tech has filed a grievanceto be maxed out prior to contract-ing out. The grievances I havebeen filing (and winning) are forthe employees of the VMF to bepaid dollar for dollar for every dol-lar paid to the contractors. But thesettlements are a settled uponamount. If the employees fight fortheir overtime it will be a muchlarger amount than the settle-ments are paying. Plus they willstill get paid for the contracting.Managements token 4 hours ofovertime (OT) a week is nothing
Joe FracekMotor VehicleCraft Director
Ft. MyersLead Steward
Page FieldSWFAL APWU
VMF Grievances Moving Forward
244. Where will the Relief andPool Clerk whose bid dutyassignment identifies addi-tional installations for whichhe/she has relief responsi-bilities be domiciled?
Response: The Relief and PoolClerk will be domiciled intheir home installation asdesignated on their PSForm 50.
245. Can Bulk Mail Clerk or BulkMail Technician dutyassignments within aBMEU (Function 7) beposted as Relief and PoolAssignments?
Response: No. However, anSSA or SSDA whooccupies a Relief and Poolassignment could beutilized to relieve a BMC orBMT within their function 4office, so long as theypossess the necessaryskills and/or training andthat type of relief assign-ment is identified on theirbid duty assignment.
246. What types of absences orvacancies can Relief andPool Clerks cover in other
installations?
Response: When the installa-tion to be relieved hasbeen properly identified intheir bid duty assignment,Relief and Pool Clerks maybe utilized to cover full-timeabsences and vacancies(including those of thePostmaster or Supervisorin that office) in other PostOffices, level 20 and below. When such Relief and Poolassignments are posted,notice will be given to thepresident(s) of the APWUlocal(s) representing theinstallation(s) for whichrelief will be provided, ifmore than one local isinvolved.
248. Can Relief and Pool Clerksbe posted as NTFTassignments? If so, whattypes of vacancies orabsences can they beutilized to cover?
Response: Yes. However, if thevacancy or absence beingrelieved is a traditional dutyassignment or is anotherNTFT duty assignmentwith different daily or
weekly guarantees thanthat of the NTFT Relief andPool Clerk, the R&P clerkwill have the option ofassuming the schedule ofthe duty assignment forwhich the relief is beingprovided or of assumingthe core hours and off daysof the single vacant dutyassignment or absencebeing relieved while stillremaining subject to theirown daily and weekly workhour guarantees.
249. While a Relief and Poolclerk is working in adifferent installation, whatdetermines the location ofthe employee’s “immediatesupervisor” and “certifiedsteward” for the purposesof Article 15.2, Step 1?
Response: Normally, a Step 1grievance will beinvestigated and/ordiscussed at the locationthe grievance is alleged. However, there may becircumstances where thisis not feasible. In thesesituations a grievance maybe initiated in theemployee’s home office.
243. NTFT full-time flexibleassignments in the ClerkCraft may be utilized tocover Function 4 vacanciesand absences. Is thereany difference betweenthese assignments andRelief and PoolAssignments?
Response: Yes. Relief andPool Clerk schedules maybe changed withWednesday notice tocover vacancies andabsences withinspecified stations,branches or otherinstallations identified intheir bid relief and poolassignment. NTFTFlex schedules may bechanged with Wednesdaynotice for operationalneeds without requiringcoverage of a specificassignment. Employeesin NTFT Flex assignmentsare not normally availableto be utilized in otherinstallations.
Pool And ReliefAssignmentsContinued from Page 5
MARCH 2017 THE EAGLE’S EYE 7
Overtime is being handed out likecandy in the stations but most of itis being done incorrectly.
Management is saying that theyare not allowed to work employ-ee's seven days a week if they areon the (OTDL) Overtime DesiredList according to their higher ups(District) (Area).
The truth is they are telling themno Penalty Overtime! For anyreason!
If you have employees on the NonScheduled Day List for overtimethey should be working them firstbefore bringing in a non-list per-son, even if it means penalty over-time.
Same goes for the pre and posttour overtime, the list should get itbefore the non-list even if it’s forPenalty Overtime. File your griev-ance on this every day, once aweek or at least by the 14th day ofoccurrence.
not their work.
Ask to see your steward and makesure this is being taken care of.We could possibly rate anotherclerk in your office and maybe theywill start following the contract aswell once the money is being paidfor them not following the contractthat they signed.
David GrantTrusteeSWFAL APWU
Document your supervisors doinglobby work. Every clerk and custo-dian should document when theysee this happening. Write downthe time frame they are doing itand who the supervisor is that isperforming our work.
There may be more than onesupervisor or manager that isdoing this at any given time andthis includes mail pick up, workingthe M-POS, doing paper work forcustomers, plain and simple it's
Overtime Basics
stating that the plant needs torepost 9 bids. Naples custodialhours are being tracked.
GOOD AND WELFARE:The winner of the COPA 50/50drawing was Julio Mayo who won$18.00. The total netted was$36.00. Julio donated $18.00back to COPA. The name drawnfor the Incentive Award was SamWood. He won $50.00. The potwill be $50.00 at the next meeting.
LEFT OVERS:Discussion lead by North stationwere stations not getting stewardtime, non list working N/S day
overtime and penalty overtimeover the overtime desired listemployees.
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:Results were recorded. – DanGray was excused.
NEXT MEETING:Robert Nowall moved to have themeeting on March 19, 2017. BarbCarr seconded, the motionpassed. The next meeting will beheld Sunday, March 19, 2017 at9:30 a.m.
ADJORNMENT:Robert Nowall moved to adjournthe meeting at 10:08 a.m. It wasseconded by Dave Grant, motionpassed and the meetingadjourned.
Secretary-Treasurer’sReportContinued from Page 2
The UnitedStates PostalS e r v i c eannounced ina letter toA m e r i c a nP o s t a lW o r k e r sU n i o n(APWU) thatthe dealbetween theUSPS andStaples hasended. Staples will be removing allsignage and discontinue postalservices at the retailer’s approxi-mately 500 stores by the first weekof March 2017. As a result, theAPWU is calling off the boycott ofStaples immediately.
“The public Postal Services is anational treasure that was treatedlike a cheap trinket by former thePostmaster General”, said APWUPresident Mark Dimondstein.“First, former Postmaster GeneralDonahoe cut a dirty deal to set uppost offices staffed by Staplesemployees in 82 stores. Then theydowngraded the offerings to the‘Approved Shipper’ status inhopes of ending the protests, but
expanded nationally. In each casethe security and the sanctity of themail, the training of clerks, andproper oversight were tossed outthe window. This was bad for theconsumer, bad for the USPSbrand and an insult to our dedicat-ed members.”
“This is a big win,” said PresidentDimondstein. “Staples is out of themail business which they shouldnever have gotten into.”
We can often get caught up inlocal matters because we workwith local issues every day in ourworkplaces. However, here isanother example of how yourlocal, and many other locals like usaround the country work togetherand support our National APWU inefforts that greatly affect us andpostal jobs.
This victory was not wonovernight. It took time to build themomentum needed to overcomethis attack on the postal service.Without a national effort, support-ed by the many locals nationwide,it would not have been possible toshare this victory we are celebrat-ing today.
On January 22, 2017, the newlyelected SWFAL APWU ExecutiveBoard and Trustees were sworn inat the installation ceremony byAPWU National Business AgentMichael "Sully" Sullivan.
Officers and Trustees will servetwo-year terms and are as follows:Daniel Carinci, Trustee, Scott
Wiser, Trustee, Dave Grant,Trustee, Kathy Moyer, Editor, TheEagle’s Eye, Grace Baer, ClerkCraft Director, Jamie Robertson,Secretary-Treasurer, Sam Wood,President, Dan Gray, VicePresident, Joe Fracek, MotorVehicle Craft Director, JeremiahStrunk, Maintenance CraftDirector.
NLRB Rules USPS-Staples DealViolated Federal Law
Kathy MoyerEditor
The Eagle’s EyeSWFAL APWU
Standing at the far left, APWU National Business Agent Michael “Sully”Sullivan officiates at the installation ceremony swearing in the newlyelected SWFAL APWU Executive Board and Trustees.
From left to right: Daniel Carinci, Trustee, Scott Wiser, Trustee, DaveGrant, Trustee, Kathy Moyer, Editor, The Eagle’s Eye, Grace Baer, ClerkCraft Director, Jamie Robertson, Secretary-Treasurer, Sam Wood,President, Dan Gray, Vice President, Joe Fracek, Motor Vehicle CraftDirector, Jeremiah Strunk, Maintenance Craft Director
8 THE EAGLE’S EYE MARCH 2017
Your ElectedOfficials
President Donald J. TrumpWeb Site:
www.whitehouse.govE-mail:
[email protected]: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202-456-2461Capital Address:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NWWashington, DC 20500
Senator Bill NelsonWeb Site:
www.billnelson.senate.govE-mail:
[email protected]: 202-224-5274
Fax: 202-228-2183Capital Address:
716 Hart Senate OfficeBuilding
Washington, DC 20510-0905District Office:
Tallahassee, FLDistrict Phone: 850-942-8415
Senator Marco RubioPhone: 202-224-3041
Fax: 202-228-5171Capital Address:
524 Hart Senate OfficeBuilding
Washington, DC 20510-0903District Office:
Tallahassee, FLDistrict Phone: 813-207-0509
Our members live in severaldifferent districts. For yourrepresentative’s information, goto www.congress.org. Enteryour zip code and the web sitedoes the rest. You can e-mailmost of your representatives atonce with a click of your mouseat this web site. Their votingrecords are also available here.Check it out! Let them knowhow you feel, it’s your DUTY!
THE EAGLE’S EYE
EDITORIAL POLICY
The Eagle’s Eye is the official pub-lication of the Southwest FloridaArea Local, APWU, AFL-CIO. Theeditor has the right to determinewhether the material submittedshall be printed, and has the rightto edit as needed. It is the policy ofthis newsletter to disallow anyattacks on individuals. Opinionsexpressed are those of the writers,and not necessarily those of theExecutive Board. The deadline forsubmission of all articles is the dayof the monthly membership meet-ing. You must be an APWU mem-ber to submit an article. Name maybe withheld upon request. All arti-cles may be reprinted with propercredit given. Captions/cartoonsmay only be reprinted upon writtenpermission of the editor.
