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President’s ReportSam Wood

SWFAL-APWU EDITOR

I am sad to announce that ourEditor for many years, LynneCram has resigned from herposition as Editor of theSouthwest Florida Area Local.For years now, Lynne has donean excellent job editing, publish-ing and mailing out our local"Eagle’s Eye" and I know of nomajor concerns that we have hadwith our newsletter during hertime as Editor. I thank Lynne forher years of dedicated service toour membership and hope thatshe continues to be active in ourlocal.

The SWFAL-APWU ExecutiveBoard appointed Kathy Moyer toreplace Lynne as Editor for theremainder of her term. SinceKathy was an elected Trustee,the SWFAL-APWU ExecutiveBoard also appointed DaveGrant to take over Kathy's posi-tion as Trustee.

We feel that Kathy and Dave willdo an excellent job in their newpositions for the SWFAL-APWU.

MEETING WITH LEE COUNTYCOMMISSIONER

SWFAL-APWU LegislativeDirector Lorenzo Tindal, SWFAL-APWU Vice President Dan Gray,Lee County Commissioner RayJudah and SWFAL-APWUPresident Sam Wood met onMarch 22, 2012, to continue tosave Southwest Florida Jobs.Commissioner Judah also want-ed to congratulate our localmembers on a job well done onsaving jobs in Southwest Florida.Judah and Lee CountyCommissioners went on record,opposing the Ft. Myers P&DCclosure. The Southwest FloridaArea Local - American PostalWorkers Union appreciate all ofthe Lee County Commissioners’support in protecting SouthwestFlorida jobs and their efforts inkeeping "service" in the UnitedStates Postal Service.

I would like to thank our newSWFAL-APWU LegislativeDirector Lorenzo Tindal for set-ting up this meeting withCommissioner Judah as well asVice President Dan Gray forattending this meeting. Lorenzo

and Dan haveplayed amajor role inc o n v i n c i n gour Southwest Florida CountyCommissioners to take our sideof the issue by keeping Postaljobs in Southwest Florida. Weare working to keep that greatworking relationship by meetingwith City and County Leaders toaddress our members concerns.

BID CHANGES COMING?

By now, many of you have heardthat the Fort Myers Processing &Distribution Center will remainopen and bids may be changing.Our local has been getting littleinformation on this issue. It is ourbelief that management has noclue as to what they want or needas far as start or end times. Webelieve management will makesome changes but do not knowat this point how minimal or dras-tic those changes will be. Oncewe have more information, it willbe sent out.

DON'T STOP FIGHTING

Now that we have some of thepressures of Station and PlantClosings off of the SWFAL-APWU, we can't sit back and donothing. I can assure everyonethat as long as there are threatsof consolidations and closingsout there, they will surely be backunless we continue to fight.

We need to continue our effortsto support COPA and I encour-age everyone to continue to giveas much as they can (especiallyvia direct deposit). This is anelection year and every anti-Union candidate will be lookingto take away your rights to collec-tive bargaining. Will you be ableto support your family then?COPA funds ensure that we havea voice in the political arena.

Continue to write yourCongressmen, Senators andlocal leaders and educate themon the facts about the USPS.Your voice matters and will makea major difference as it alreadyhas in Southwest Florida.

I want to personally thank ourmembers for an outstanding jobin standing up for our jobs espe-cially over the past 6 months.The Save The Postal ServiceRallies, AMP Study Meeting,Petition Drives, and the LetterWriting Campaigns were a hugesuccess. I am proud of our mem-bership here in SouthwestFlorida!

Great Job Everyone!

Thank You, Lynne CramLynne Cram has faithfully servedour Southwest Florida Area Localfor many years as our Local’sEditor. Lynne began working forthe Postal Service in 1988. Shehas been a Steward for 15 yearsand Editor of The Eagle’s Eye foralmost 14 years!

There has been an evolution oftechnology changes over theyears as Lynne prepared TheEagle’s Eye. In the earlier edi-tions, the only way for Lynne toenlarge or shrink the size of anarticle or clip art was to use acopy machine with that capabili-ty. She then had to cut out thearticles and clip art, and pastethem down with rubber cement inthe correct position for printing.Finally, Lynne had to drive the“cut and paste” Eagle’s Eye tothe printing company. In contrast,the last Eagle’s Eye Lynne pre-pared was completed on hercomputer and sent to the printingcompany via email. Lynne hasadapted to layout and printingtechnology changes over theyears as she prepared TheEagle’s Eye for our membership.

Lynne especially wanted me tothank the membership for all ofthe training they have sent her toover the years as she served asEditor of The Eagle’s Eye.

Lynne has been married for 30years and has two daughters andone son. She has spent count-less hours over the years, withher husband, children and otherfamily members – and sometinesfriends, helping while preparingThe Eagle’s Eye to be mailed.There were many hours of plac-ing mailing labels on the eachEagle’s Eye, taping and sorting(for the bulk mailing). There werecountless hours of work, but alsohappy talk, happy times andpleasant memories for Lynne.

Lynne has been a very dedicatedand knowledgeable Editor! Iappreciate the time Lynne hasspent training me to take over theEditor duties - both in person andin forwarding emails to me that Ihave needed. Lynne has beencommitted to making this asmooth transition and sharedmany tips and ideas to assist mein the future with The Eagle’sEye!

Thank you Lynne for the excel-lent job you have done over theyears as Editor of The Eagle’sEye. Your dedication and com-mitment to our membership areappreciated. Thank you, LynneCram!

Kathy Moyer

April 2012 The Eagle’s Eye Page 2

Southwest Florida Area Local, APWU

11000 Metro Parkway, Unit 8

Fort Myers, FL 33966

239-275-1007

Open 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday

WEBSITE ADDRESSwww.swfloridaapwu.org

PRESIDENTSam Wood

SWoodFla@aol.com

239-823-APWU

VICE-PRESIDENTDan Gray

VPswfal@aol.com

239-834-2736

SECRETARY-TREASURERFelicia Gluhareff

SecTreaSWFAL@aol.com

CLERK CRAFT DIRECTORPaul McAvoy

ClerkCraftSWFAL@aol.com

MAINTENANCE CRAFTDIRECTOR

Mickey Szymonik

Maintdirswfal@aol.com

239-834-2900

EDITORKathy Moyer

EdSWFAL@aol.com

MOTOR VEHICLE CRAFTDIRECTOR

Vacant

TRUSTEESHelen Brillhart-Skinner

Wendy Skaff

David Grant

SAFETY & HEALTHCOMMITTEE

David Grant

Wendy Skaff

CONSTITUTION COMMITTEEDan Gray

Felicia Gluhareff

Joyce Kelly

Kathy Moyer

Wendy Skaff

NATIONAL MAILING ADDRESSPer Capita Section

APWU, AFL-CIO

1300 L Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

FLORIDA POSTAL WORKERThe Florida Postal Worker

P.O. Box 8363

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310

www.apwuflorida.org

Secretary-Treasurer’s ReportFelicia Gluhareff

3/25/2012

CALL TO ORDER:

Time 9:30 a.m. There were 15members in attendance.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:

The pledge of allegiance was ledby Dave Grant.

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:

Present were Dan Gray, FeliciaGluhareff, Paul McAvoy, MickeySzymonik and Kathy Moyer. PaulMcAvoy made a motion toexcuse Sam Wood and MickeySzymonik made a motion toexcuse Joyce Kelly. Both motionspassed.

MAP:

Robert Nowall and Paul McAvoyeach told a joke in honor ofCharles Glennon.

NEW MEMBERS:

Catherine Brady

EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES:

The executive board decided topostpone the voting on the con-stitutional changes until the nextmeeting to ensure that thechanges where posted for theappropriate amount of time.

Dan Gray has been researchinginto retreat rights for tour 2 clerkswho were excessed out of thetour. Other retreat rights werealso discussed.

A letter will be sent to all stationsto be posted letting membersknow that we will no longer beissuing $5 checks for the VOEbounties but if you wish to makea $5 donation in the form of aVOE survey to COPA in yourname, we will be happy to makethat happen.

Dan Gray stressed how importantit is for clerks to check their3971’s before signing them tomake sure they are correct. If youdo not agree with the informationon your 3971 please do not sign.Your shop steward will be happyto help you try to get it corrected.Clerks are getting frequencies forbeing as little as .5 clicks late.Please be cautious.

The executive board welcomedKathy Moyer as our new Eagle’sEye editor, details were dis-

cussed. Lynne Cram resigneddue to personal reasons and hasoffered to train Kathy for asmooth transition. Dave Granthas been appointed trustee andwill fill Kathy Moyer’s vacatedposition.

SECRETARY-TREASURER’SREPORT:

Paul McAvoy made a motion toaccept the minutes as reported inlast month’s Eagle’s Eye. Themotion passed. Finances werediscussed.

REPORT/SELECTION OFCOMMITTEES:

We will be voting on the proposedconstitutional changes at theApril, 2012 general membershipmeeting.

REPORT OF CONVENTIONCOMMITTEES:

None

REPORT OF TRUSTEES:

The next audit will be March 29,2012.

COMMUNICATIONS:

Dan Gray read through thismonth’s communications andinvited all to do so as well. A let-ter was sent to Ray Judah thank-ing him in supporting our fight tokeep the Fort Myers plant open.Sam Wood, Dan Gray andLorenzo Tindal also went to thankhim in person and talk to himabout the Postal Service’s ongo-ing fight. A letter was also sent toMayor Henderson thanking himfor his support of the Fort Myersplant as well.

UPDATE OF GRIEVANCES:

The grievance regarding man-agement improperly convertingPTR’s to FTR’s is still active andat step 4. Management that hasclerks that have been unassignedover 120 days is in violation ofthe CBA. The only exception isclerks who are training. Pleasenotify your steward if this appliesto you.

OLD BUSINESS:

None

NEW BUSINESS:

Sam Wood, Dan Gray andLorenzo Tindal are making sure

all area sup-porters ofkeeping theFort Myersplant open are thanked. Lorenzois working on setting up a meet-ing with the Cape mayor to thankhim.

If management has abolishedyour bid they are supposed togive you the option of training onor off the clock. The choiceshould be yours, make sure theyare following this requirement.

LABOR/MANAGEMENT:

Sam and Dan will be meetingwith Dorinda this comingTuesday.

GOOD AND WELFARE:

The winner of the COPA 50/50drawing was Pat Fraser who won$40.50. The total netted was $81.The name drawn for the mem-ber’s incentive award was DanGray. He won $50. The pot willstart over at $50 again at the nextmeeting. Kathy Gorman madechocolate to be drawn for with theCOPA donations. The winner ofthe chocolate was Grace Baer.Thank you Kathy! Pat Fraserdonated $20 of her 50/50 draw-ing winnings back to COPA.Thanks Pat!

LEFTOVERS:

Please check your station’sLMOU, some stations arerequired to post 2 overtime lists.One for days off and one forscheduled work days. You canfind your LMOU online atswfloridaapwu.org

Lead clerks will be addressed bythe CBA in June. These positionswill be filled by bidding andawarded to the senior clerk whobids on them.

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS

AND DELEGATES:

Felicia Gluhareff performed andrecorded the roll call.

NEXT MEETING:

Robert Nowall moved to have thenext meeting on April 22, 2012 at9:30 a.m. at the union hall. Themotion passed.

ADJOURNMENT:

Robert Nowall moved to adjournat 10:30 a.m. The motion passed.

April 2012 The Eagle’s Eye Page 3

Sam, Lorenzo and I recently visitedLee County Commissioner RayJudah at his office to thank him forhis assistance in helping stop therecent attempt by the USPS toclose the Fort Myers P&DC. We asa Local must continue to activelypursue relationships with local,state and national politicians fortheir assistance in matters such asthe possible consolidations, deliv-ery standard changes and anyissues that affect our members andlivelihood. Remember when PlantManager Kohlun read the letterstating we were not going to beconsolidated into the ManasotaP&DC, the phrase "for now" wasused more than once. So we muststay vigilant and let everyone knowwe are here to stay and will not gowithout a fight.

For the members who do attendmeetings you should be familiarwith Lorenzo Tindal. For those whodo not, let me give you a little back-ground on him. Lorenzo is now ourSWFAL-APWU Retiree ChapterPresident as reported in lastmonths Eagle’s Eye. He is also aformer Business Agent fromPennsylvania. Lorenzo brings awealth of knowledge and experi-ence which he freely shares witheveryone. Lorenzo has been atremendous asset to our local.Lorenzo has unselfishly donatedhis time and energy in helpingbetter our local and we should all

take the time to personally thankhim.

An issue that seems to continuallyraise its ugly head, and I have reg-ularly wrote about in my article, isfailing to read your PS Form 3971prior to signing them. If you do notagree with what is documented onyour 3971 do not sign them. Haveyour supervisor change the infor-mation, and if they refuse, then youshould refuse to sign them and askto see a steward. We have beenseeing many 3971s at InvestigativeInterviews that a member is statingthe information is incorrect on theslip in regards to leave or beingunscheduled. Please look overyour slip thoroughly. If you do notunderstand the 3971 ask to haveyour Union Steward help youreview it.

We are seeing a dramatic increasein attendance related disciplinewith management citing anythingand everything. We have hademployees disciplined for tardinessof less than 5 minutes. Your beinglate is being cited the same as ifyou had called in for one or moredays. Management does not carewhat your reason for the absencehappened to be.

We have had discipline issued withthe supervisor writing in his super-visor summary (now this is a directquote), "The employees only

excuse was she was taking care ofher terminally ill mother." For mostthis is impossible to even imagine,yet this did happen. To make thisone issue even more nauseatingand disgusting, when the supervi-sor answered the Step One hedenied the grievance and stated,"The employee had time to mornher mothers death." Well, theemployee was disciplined by man-agement for the absence after thedeath.

At least at Step Two management’sLabor Representative from Tampaexpunged the discipline. This Letterof Warning was also concurred bythe employee’s Manager. This isonly one of many sick and disgust-ing things done by management.

Management does not care aboutyou - only their numbers and howyour absence affects their sickleave percentages. So be vigilantand protect yourself. If you qualifyfor FMLA, please get your absenceprotected.

Please, if you are asked to bring indocumentation for an absence ofthree days or less ask to see yoursteward to determine if it is a legiti-mate request by management.Management is abusing the"deems desirable" function ofeRMS and we need to get them tostop.

Vice President’s ReportDaniel M. Gray

P r i n c i p l eA s s i g n m e n tArea, or PAA,seems also tobe an issue at the Plant.The Mail Processing Clerk PositionMemorandum of Understandingbetween the USPS and APWUis a question and answer memo-randum that explains the ruleswhen it pertains to your PAA andbeing moved for it. Your bid shouldhave listed a PAA and that is whereyou should perform the majority ofyour work. When managementmust move an employee out oftheir PAA to another operation theymust move all employees who donot hold a bid with that PAA first,then the junior employee with thePAA.

Now if you are brought in for over-time on your non-scheduled day ora designated holiday you do nothold entitlements to your PAA.Example, for your holiday it is doneby Tour and skill for staffing andovertime is done by section So inthese instances you cannot dis-place an employee on their normalscheduled day. Remember thisMOU, as well as all handbooks,and manuals are available on theAPWU National web site for you toreview.

Remember if you have any ques-tions or concerns, please ask tosee your Union Steward.

Greetings From BokeeliaMANAGEMENT VIOLATES SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

Bokeelia’s OIC has allowed viola-tions of a previously settled andsigned Grievance SettlementAgreement – and has also violat-ed it herself.

Just because the previousPostmaster (Gomez) no longerworks at the Bokeelia Post Office,it does not permit the current OICto violate a Grievance SettlementAgreement that the APWUSteward and previous PostmasterGomez negotiated, settled andsigned prior to the OIC’s arrival atBokeelia.

OIC has said that she would nothave signed the Agreement hadshe been at Bokeelia. However,Postmaster Gomez did sign theAgreement and it remains in fulleffect.

No where does the SettlementAgreement state that it becomesnull and void if another OIC orPostmaster decides that theydon’t like the SettlementAgreement or that Managementcan abrogate SettlementAgreements at will.

OIC PERFORMING CLERKWORK

The Postmaster position in a Level18 Post Office like Bokeelia, isconsidered to be a “working”Postmaster position, and as such,is allowed contractually to perform15 hours of Clerk work per week.That being said, it’s a given thatPostmasters and OIC’s should notperform Clerk work in the absenceof all Clerks. At Bokeelia, the OICis ignoring this contractual limit.

At Bokeelia, this has been a prob-lem for several years, even whenthe previous contractual limit was18 hours per week. Along with thePostmaster (or OIC), there is oneFull Time Regular (FTR) Clerk andone NTFT Clerk. There is simplytoo much work at Bokeelia for twoclerks, so previous Postmastersand OIC’s have worked over thecontractual limit in an effort tomake up for the absence of thenecessary staffing of clerks. Thecurrent OIC is now doing the samething. The Union has previouslyfiled grievances and been award-ed monetary settlements.

The last Postmaster at Bokeeliainformed me that there was still an

unfilled PTF position at Bokeelia,but that was last year. The currentOIC is very secretive, so it is pos-sible that is no longer the case.

Filling the PTF position would alle-viate the necessity of Postmastersand OICs doing clerk work in

excess of the contractual limit atBokeelia and/or in the absence ofall clerks. If these issues are hap-pening in your office, ask to seeyour Steward.

In Solidarity.Kathy Moyer

April 2012 The Eagle’s Eye Page 4

Management has now gottencompletely out of hand with issu-ing discipline. They don't carewhy youwere out orwhat circum-stances youmay havewhen youcall in sickbut if you areout 3 or 4times in ayear"s time,they will dis-cipline you.In the lastmonth, here are some of thethings management has done inorder to issue Letters of disciplineto employees:

One employee during an inves-tigative interview was told his offi-cial discussion was on February4, 2010. I told the supervisor thatan official discussion has to betimely and relevant. This discus-sion was over two years ago. Hetold me, an official discussionlasts forever. When asked wherehe heard that he told me laborrelations told him that. He claimsthat Labor Relation SpecialistsJoe Homalash or Lynn Chiocchitold him so.

Another investigative interviewthe supervisor was citing in a sixmonth period of time, one sickoccurrence and three lateness for.09, .07, and .05. Two of theseare less than 8 one-hundredthswhich falls into the 5 minuteleeway rule. The grievant signedthe 3971's for .05 and .07.

Grievances have been filed andwon on this issue because it hasbeen accepted as a past practicefor management to accept this fordecades. I have filed a grievanceon this matter and hopefully it willslow down or prevent the issuingof discipline to this employee.

One employee had two majorsurgeries. These surgeriesexhausted his 480 FMLA hours.At the end of that year thisemployee had some issues dueto complications from the previ-ously mentioned surgeries.Management was fully aware ofhis condition. He could not useFMLA and management gavehim an official discussion. Oneyear later and 4 absences man-agement issued the employee aLetter of Warning. This employ-ee's record has immenselyimproved. Did this matter to man-agement? Not at all. Once youreach a certain number ofabsences, usually 3 or 4 you willbe pulled in for an investigativeinterview and disciplined.

In past issues Dan, Myself, Sam,and Joyce have all warned youabout not reading 3971's beforesigning them. This seems to befalling on deaf ears. Here is anactual supervisor summaryrequesting discipline for anemployee. I am not making thisup and the punctuation andspelling errors are real.

Mr. (Name Withheld) states thatsome of his absences shouldhave been covered by FMLA, yethe signed the 3971's when her

returned to work and neverrequested that they be correctedto FMLA he also states that hedon't remember being late yetagaing we have two 3971'ssigned by the employee for lates.

Mr. (Name Withheld) has beenan employee for 19yrs, he knowsto check anything prior to signingand to ensure it correctly relectswhat he requested.This Letter ofWarning is both warranted andjustified to impress upon her theseriousness of his actions.

This is exactly how this part of thesummary was written. Thissupervisor claims this clerkshould know to check his 3971but he doesn't proof read or spellcheck.

What really happened on thatday is this employee was on time.Clocked in at his normal begintour time. He asked to leave earlybecause of low mail volume andthe supervisor agreed.

Then something went terriblywrong. When looking at the clockrings for that day the supervisor,for some reason did not put inenough annual or LWOP to coverthe 8 hour guarantee. Five dayslater this supervisor goes in andadds .35 clicks of LWOP late. Hethen goes to the employee whosigns the 3971 without reading it.Taking all things into considera-tion (not to mention the typo's,bad spelling and punctuation)the document of record is the3971 and the employee signed it.You would think management

Paul McAvoySWFAL Clerk Craft

Director

Management Wants To Discipline The Worldwould realize they were at faultand expunge this discipline but itwas denied at step one and is atstep 2 now and this employeehas a Letter of Warning on hisrecord.

Please do not let this happen toyou! Read over all 3971's beforesigning them. YOU DO NOTHAVE TO SIGN THEIR COM-PUTER GENERATED 3971'S. Iget a blank 3971 and fill it outmyself, that way I know what I puton there and what I requested.Remember, this is your requestfor leave not management's. Ifmanagement tells you that youmust sign their computer gener-ated 3971, write refuse to signand ask to see your steward.

Management is citing everything.If you are late or run into traffic orhave car problems, they do notcare you will be disciplined. Ifyou call your supervisor and tellthem you will be a few minuteslate, they will not let you make itup on the end or give you achange a schedule. It will beconsidered an unscheduledabsence. If you are 6 minuteslate it will count the same as ifyou called in for 24 hours (threedays). If you call in to ERMS forthree days in a row and call inthree separate times, you will becharged for three unscheduledabsences. If you call in once forthree days (if you feel better youcan always come in sooner) itcounts as one unscheduledabsence. I am not telling you todo this but "you do the math".

April 2012 The Eagle’s Eye Page 5

You sure have a knack for pushingpeople. Last Monday, you hadnobody to work the registeredmail. So you take me out of myExpress bidto do it. Thereis always tonsof Expressand FGCUmail onM o n d a y s .Now, we haveto create afirm sheetand give it tothe driverbefore he can take the collegemail.

We’ve only been doing this a cou-ple of weeks. On this day, whenwe put the scanner in the cradle,the computer was extremely slow.It was uploading the data, but theExpress clerk had to clock out at 8,before it was finished. So I was try-ing to get it to work but had toleave to fax the postage due sheetfrom the mdo’s office. As usual,there was nobody there. The para-noids have locked me out. Nobodyanswered my knock, so I had tojust stand there and wait for some-one to show up.

Kirk happened to be walking by soI asked him to let me in. Iexplained that the firm sheet was-n’t printing and proceeded to sendthe fax.

Then I went back to the cage andit still wasn’t working. So Kirk gotTroy to look at it. He wasn’t surewhat to do either. I went to thedock and told the driver he mighthave to scan all the pieces asdelivered if they couldn’t figure outhow to get the firm sheet to print.

By then it was 8:20. There wasnothing else I could do about it. SoI went to clock out without takingmy final break. A couple of dayslater I heard that someone com-plained that I had just walkedaway. So do I get to authorize myown overtime now? I’m on the list.Nobody told me to stay. If youhave a problem, you should listento both sides of the story.

I’ve been the editor of the Eagle’sEye a LONG time. My first editor’sconference was in 1999. I’ve beento many schools, conferences andconventions. I thank the membersfor sending me. I’ve learned a lot. Iwill share that knowledge with ournew editor, Kathy Moyer.

I’ve been doing this since my kidswere small. They were constantlyinterrupting me. I remember tellingthem, “If you see this screen on mycomputer, don’t interrupt meunless you’re bleeding!” Ofcourse, that didn’t work. Theyknew I didn’t mean it.

Back in the day, I actually had tocut and paste - with scissors andglue! I had to take the articles tothe union hall and use the copymachine’s enlarge/reduce featuresto make the articles fit in the allot-ted space. I had to drive it to andfrom Cape Coral - an hour eachway. On more than one occasion,it wasn’t done on time and I had togo back. Needless to say, we usea different printer now. The wholething is created on the computernow.

I’d also like to thank my helpers.Minnie Pearson was there when-ever I needed her help with fold-ing, taping, and labeling 1000papers a month. It’s closer to 700now, but still very time consuming.

Over the years, I’ve had help frommy children - Charles, Kelly andKathleen. Occasionally, theirfriends helped too. My motherworked on it whenever she was intown. My husband Tom alsohelped me with the mailing for ourunion. There were many otherswho volunteered. I thank you all.

Anyway, I’ve reached a point in mylife where it’s time to let someoneelse take over. After spending aday with Kathy, I am sure she willdo an excellent job. She has doneother publications. She is familiarwith the printing industry. Sheactually knows the contact personfrom the printing company we use!Please welcome her and get yourarticles in on time!

Lynne Cram

Dear Miss Management

Of late there has been talkamongst the Executive Board andthose members who show up atthe General Meeting, as to how tocut expenses in the face of declin-ing Union membership. Boardmembers are, for the most part,willing to give up a day of UnionLWOP each month.

I do not get any specified UnionLWOP per our Constitution, so Ireally don’t have a dog in thisfight. I work untold hours off theclock, as do all stewards and E-Board members, particularly now.I don’t care. I do what I dobecause I believe in our cause.

What concerns me more is thedivisiveness that is occurringbetween the Executive Board, theMembership, and all the employ-ees of the USPS. We are beingpitted against one another. TheUs vs. Them mentality beingengendered by the USPS is detri-mental to us all. Divide andConquer has been a strategicpower play since time immortal.When everybody is running forcover there is no unity or strength.

What happens in these circum-stances is scatter-shot reactions.“I have to get them before theyget me!” More concerning to methan who gets Union LWOP is thefact that people’s lives are unrav-eling over all the uncertainty inour workplace, and many arehunkering down with their ownbunker mentalities.

Government is to blame, man-agement is to blame, the Union isto blame, our co-workers are toblame. Cohesiveness is alreadybleeding on the sidewalk and noone seems to care, as long as thechalk outline is not their own. “It’sa pity, but thank God it wasn’tme.” One employee has been

heard tobemoan thefact that theFort MyersPD&C was spared from the chop-ping block, because she couldn’tapply for early hardship retire-ment. In other words, who caresabout every one else, why could-n’t they have shuttered the Plantfor her benefit.

When are people going to say“enough,” and band together forthe common good? When do westop throwing conscience-assuaging dollars to the down-trodden and realize that there butfor the grace of God, go I. Whathas happened to our workplace?What has happened to ourUnion? What has happened toAmerica? Let us bow our headsin shame and pretend to pray forsomeone other than ourselves.Let us bow our heads.

This will presumably be my lastsubmission to the Eagle’s EyeEditor Lynne Cram. I have beeninformed that Lynne, our longtimeEagle’s Eye Editor, is resigningbecause of personal reasons.Lynne has been Editor of theEagle’s Eye since I became anAPWU member and she hashelped me clarify and clean upmy articles. She was well-versedin the requirements and restric-tions that a Union newsletter mustabide by. We owe Lynne Cram ahuge debt of gratitude.

Thank you as well to KathyMoyer, who is stepping up to fillThe Eagle’s Eye Editorial posi-tion. She has been a tireless anddedicated Union Steward and Ihave no doubt that she will betireless and dedicated in her newposition.

Solidarity, Prosperity, Peace

Union MattersMickey Szymonik

April 2012 The Eagle’s Eye Page 6

Count me in and enroll me as anAPWU Retiree for only $3 a month!

One of the problems facingAPWU members, continues to bethe lack of, and or, mis-informa-tion given about the retirementprocess. Many are left to fend forthemselves when it’s time to talkto human resources about theirofficial retirement date and theiroptions to continue membershipin the APWU.

I retired from the Philadelphia, PADivision in 2005 due to a disabili-ty. I went in person and talked tothe HR representative in March,2005, telling her that I wanted tomake my official retirement dateJuly 1, 2005. Instead, the HRRep. entered my retirement dateas May 20, 2005, causing all sortsof problems for me later. In addi-tion, I was not given my optionsfor continuing union membershipdues.

In 2011, I contacted the NationalAPWU and was informed that Iwould have to pay back dues, dat-ing back to May 2005. Six yearsof dues, plus the continuedbi-weekly amount, in order to bereinstated. That would have costme more than $3,000.

I was nevergiven theother twooptions to joinas a retiree,as you will see below this article.This misinformation was given toa local retiree, Barbara Carr, herein Southwest Florida just weeksago as well.

For only $36 a year, you can be aretired dues paying member ofthe APWU. If you are thinkingabout retiring, or already areretired, review your options,select the one that fits your budg-et, join and plan on coming out toour monthly retirees meeting.

The Retirees Chapter of theSWFA-APWU is now in theprocess of planning in-servicetraining for our members/employ-ees about, (preparing for retire-ment, everything that you need toknow).

The next scheduled retireesmeeting will be held at the unionhall on April 19, 2012 at 11:00am.Make plans to join us!

In Solidarity.

Complete details for the following are listed in APWU National Constitution andBylaws.

� OPTION 1Retiree Membership of only $36 per year, ANNUITY DEDUCTION ofretiree $3 dues monthly.

Privileges: The right to vote and run for office as a Retiree NationalConvention Delegate or National Director of the APWU Retirees Department.

� OPTION 2Retiree Membership of $36 per year plus APWU NationalPer Capita Tax, ANNUITY DEDUCTION of approximately$23 per month. *

Privileges: Same as OPTION 1 plus eligible to participate in nationalelections (limited to areas outlined in the election rules).

� OPTION 3Retiree Membership of $36 per year plus APWU full dues(National Per Capita Tax and local dues), ANNUITY DEDUCTIONof retiree $3 dues monthly. You will be billed for the National Per CapitaTax and the required local dues amount. This amount will vary fromapproximately $200 to $600 annually.* (Note: Constitution orreinstatement of full dues-paying membership requires compliancewith Article 3, Section 4 of the APWU National Constitution and Bylaws.This language can be reviewed on the APWU web-page,www.apwu.org, in the Secretary-Treasurer section under “Constitution and Bylaws”).

Privileges: Same as OPTION 2 plus eligible for full local and nationalmembership rights.

* For Options 2 and 3 only, contact 202-842-4288 to find out thecurrent amount.

Retiree BenefitsLorenzo Tindal

New Work Schedules ComingTo Fort Myers P&DC?

Well, it appears that the shoe isnow on the other foot. With thestoppage of our Plant being closedand Manasota's Plant now on thechopping block we no longer haveto figure out where we will beplaced. So, now what well, therumor mill is stating that we willhave new working hours and newequipment. As I have stated a mul-titude of times before don't countyour hens before the chickenshave laid their eggs.

Let's just say that the rumor mill istrue and we have new hours.From what is speculated our hourswill be: Tour 1 – 7:30 PM until 4:00AM; Tour 2 – 3:30 AM until 12:00PM; and Tour 3 – 11:30 AM until8:00 PM. The maintenance win-dow is supposed to be from 4:00AM until 8:00 AM. We also knowthat it doesn't make a bit of differ-ence when our maintenance win-dow is suppose to be our leaderswill bend like a reed in the wind ifOperations wishes to have a pieceof equipment, they will get it.

Okay, off the band wagon andback to speculating. With themaintenance window for all equip-ment being in a four hour windowour illustrious stupervision willneed to ensure that all the equip-ment is looked at. To perform thisfete they will have to ensure a lotof individuals are working thosefour hours. We will probably findourselves having Tour 1 and 3 mir-ror Tour 1 as it is now, once againonly speculation.

Now onto the second part of therumor, if we receive more equip-ment that would mean we wouldneed more ET's and hopefullyMPE's and MM's. Once again thisis only speculation and we know

how management is with their bat-ting average. Let us also specu-late that Manasota closes. IfManasota closes and we receivemore equipment; as per the con-tract (which we know managementhas a hard problem following) ourfacility would have to make billetsfor the new job positions. Beforeanyone from outside our facilitycan be brought into our plant, ourpersonnel will be able to have firstcrack on the jobs. That wouldmean those personnel in the posi-tion, then anyone on the PER.Once the PER has been exhaust-ed then management can canvasanyone outside our facility thatwishes to move to our facility. I amnot trying to entice anyone tomove up the pecking order of tech-nicians, but this would be an out-standing opportunity to be placedonto the PER for whatever positionyou want to be on. If you want totake the job you can. If you don'twish to take the job you don't haveto, but you have a choice if youpass the 955.

Now then let us say that Manasotadoes close. Just like when it wasrumored that we were closing,those people don't have to transferdown here and start working in ourPlant. The Mail Handlers and stu-pervisors will, since they don'thave a mileage clause in their con-tract. Probably prior to June wewill start to see some new faces inour hallways and also in charge. IfManasota closes their manage-ment will have the ability to takewhatever bids we have open priorto any of our 204B's getting achance to become a regular pain.Good luck in whatever endeavoryou strive for.

Keith McGee

April 2012 The Eagle’s Eye Page 7

Proposed Constitutional Changes

Constitutional Changes As Submitted By The Constitution Committee

Article 16 SALARIES• Salaries• President $500 plus eight days authorized union leave per month• Change to seven days authorized union leave per month

Article 16 SALARIES• Salaries• Vice President $300 plus two days authorized union leave per month• Change to one day authorized union leave per month

Article 16 SALARIES• Salaries• Secretary Treasurer $150 plus three days authorized union leave

per month, plus one additional day in December and Januaryto do year end reports.

• Change to two days authorized union leave per monthplus one additional day in December and Januaryto do year end reports.

Article 16 SALARIES• Salaries• Editor $150 plus two days authorized union leave per month• Change to one day authorized union leave per month

Article 5 DUTIES OF OFFICERS550 EditorAdd: Shall send electronic copy of the Newsletter monthly to President

as soon as it is received by members.

April 2012 The Eagle’s Eye Page 8

Your ElectedOfficials

President Barack ObamaWeb Site:

www.whitehouse.govE-mail:

president@whitehouse.govPhone: 202-456-1414

Fax: 202-456-2461Capital Address:

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NWWashington, DC 20500

Senator Bill NelsonWeb Site:

www.billnelson.senate.govE-mail:

senator@billnelson.senate.govPhone: 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 your rep-resentative’s information, go towww.congress.org. Enter yourzip code and the web site doesthe rest. You can e-mail mostof your representatives atonce with a click of yourmouse at this web site. Theirvoting records are also avail-able here. Check it out! Letthem know how you feel,it’s your DUTY!

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.

March 29, 2012

The semi-annual audit by the Trustees of the Southwest Florida Area Local 1279 of the American PostalWorkers Union was conducted March 29, 2012. This is in accordance with Article 4, Section 710 of theLocal’s Constitution and By-Laws.

Present were Trustees Dave Grant, Wendy Skaff, and Helen Skinner. Also present were our Secretary-Treasurer Felicia Gluhareff, who provided the financial records, documents and files necessary for theAudit and our office secretary Karen D’Angelo assisted us as needed.

The purpose of the audit is to verify that:

1. The financial statements are substantially and materially correct and verifiable.

2. The local received and deposited all dues check off (DCO) monies received from theAPWU Headquarters.

3. All disbursements have been properly authorized as required by theLabor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1958, as amended (LMRDA).

4. The Local is in compliance with the reporting and disclosure obligations under theLMRDA and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).

5. All expenditures are supported by adequate documentation and that said expendituresare for the benefit of the Union Members as a group and do not result in any personal gainor private benefit or recognition that would be detrimental or harmful to our Union.

We reviewed bank drafts and statements for the period October, 2011 through February, 2012. We ver-ified the copies of the quarterly and annual tax returns, payments for the Dues Check Off (DCO’s) fromthe National APWU, the Local’s fiduciary bond status, leases, mortgage records, source documents,bills, receipts, and COPA contribution logs.

We reviewed documents such as the Constitution and By-Laws, minutes of the General Membershipmeetings, Executive Board minutes, Labor Organization Annual Reports, and LWOP/Authorized UnionLeave records, and previous Trustee Reports for notations of any recommendations made.

The quarterly and annual tax reports and Labor Reports are current as well as the annual 990 Reportand the LM-3 Reports.

Proposed constitutional changes have been printed in the March and April Eagle’s Eye. They have beensent to each station and the Plant and will be voted on at the April membership meeting.

A new Inventory List was printed for the Union Hall and the Union area at the P&DC.

Our Local is still faced with reducing costs where feasible. We brought up at the last Audit the possi-bility of doing a bi-monthly Eagle’s Eye to save over $500 per printing. We feel this needs to be votedon by the Local . This would require a constitutional change which is currently under review.

We checked with Felicia about the Property Insurance rates and telephone costs. Since the Local is ina situation where we are unsure of the changes the Postal Service is planning, we are leaving allaccounts status quo.

We wish to thank Felicia Gluhareff and Karen D’Angelo for their cooperation and assistance in locatingrecords and providing us with the necessary materials to do our audit. We also wish to thank the mem-bership and the Executive Board for their trust in allowing us to serve as your Trustees.

Respectfully,

Dave Grant

Wendy Skaff

Helen Skinner

Trustee’s Report