The BayBreeze€¦ · Northeastern Wisconsin Area Local American Postal Worker’s Union AFL-CIO Volume 58 No. 5 Sept/Oct 2015

Northeastern Wisconsin Area Local American Postal Worker’s Union AFL-CIOVolume 58 No. 5 Sept/Oct 2015

TheBayBreeze

President’s Report.........................................................1,2Union Picnic Pictures....................................................3-8July Union Meeting Minutes .............................................9Schultz on Silliness (SOS)..............................................10do you know?.............................................................11,12Aug Union Meeting Minutes............................................13Condolences/Congratulations.........................................14We can thank our unions for.......................................... 14Thank you card.............................................................. 14

Walker visits Harley on Campaign Tour..........................15Koch Brothers’ Assault on Workers................................15Nomination and Election Notice......................................16PSEs Reimbursed for time/cost for fingerprints..............17Congratulations to Packerland Dr. Window Clerks.........18OIG Sounds Alarm over Delayed Mail............................19It’s Working! Union Gear Thursdays...............................19Tony Van Scholarship Winners Drawn...........................20Summer Salad Recipe....................................................20

Inside this edition:

President’s Report by Lucy Hauser

The most recent announcement from APWU Headquartersis the $56 million lump-sum payment which has beenawarded to clerks in level 15, 16 & 18 offices as a result ofthe arbitration settlement from Arbitrator Shyam Das. ThePTF and NTFT clerks have been awarded a cash settle-ment because Postmasters in those level offices were per-forming more clerk work than was allowed by our NationalAgreement. Any PTF or NTFT clerk in a Level 15, Level16, or Level 18 office will receive a portion of the settle-ment depending on how many weeks they were on therolls between May 7, 2011, and December 5, 2014.Those clerks who were on the rolls for the entire periodwill receive approximately $4,900. In addition, every 4weeks the Union receives reports from USPSHeadquarters which identify those offices where thePostmasters are in violation of the National Agreement byperforming too many hours of bargaining unit work. Weare still working to finalize the list of eligible clerks in the541 and 542 offices and determine the actual hourly rateof pay for each clerk so we can award them a fair mone-tary settlement. I hope that we will finish the final paper-work next week.Local issues that have arisen lately are related to holidayscheduling. Management determines the number ofemployees that will be utilized. You will be scheduled to

work the hours your skills are required, and these hoursdo not necessarily have to be the same as your bidassignment. However, if management directs you toreport at a time other than what is posted on the scheduleand they do not change the official posted schedule, youare entitled to out-of-schedule pay for that day. The pecking order for selecting employees to work on aholiday is outlined in Item #13 of our Local Memorandumof Understanding.1. Volunteers for their holiday or designated holidayby seniority.2. PSE's 3. Volunteers on their off day, by seniority.4. Mandate non volunteers on their holiday or desig-nated holiday by inverse seniority5. Mandate non-volunteers on their off day, byinverse seniority.Note that our LMOU does not differentiate betweenCustomer Service employees and Plant employees. Themajor deciding factor in selection of employees is seniori-ty, but sometimes specific skills are needed. Non-volun-teers who are on Annual Leave the entire week in whichthe designated holiday falls will be excused from workingon the designated holiday. A non-volunteer who is onvacation the entire week in which the holiday schedule isposted (usually a Tuesday) is excused from working if theholiday or designated holiday runs in (cont on page 2)

HappyHappy

Autumn!Autumn!

Page 2 APWU Bay Breeze Sept/Oct 2015

(from page 1) conjunction with their bid annual leave.Non-volunteers who are on Annual Leave the entireweek in which the holiday falls shall be excused fromworking on the holiday - this does not necessarily includethe designated holiday. Bidding a day or two of vacationeither before or after a holiday or designated holiday willnot prevent you from being mandated to work- a person must have an entire week ofAnnual Leave approved in order to preventbeing mandated to work a holiday or designat-ed holiday. A full-time regular employee is guaranteed 8hours of work or pay on a holiday. You arenot allowed to waive your 8-hour guarantee.A full-time employee who works the holiday ordesignated holiday may elect to have theirAnnual Leave balance credited with up to 8hours of Annual Leave in lieu of holiday pay. You canchoose one or the other, not both.Designated Holidays:There are 5 holidays that are always observed onMondays: Martin Luther King Day, President's Day,Memorial Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day. If the holi-day is a Monday and you have Sat/Sun off days, yourholiday is Monday. If you have Sun/Mon off days yourdesignated holiday is Saturday. If you have Mon/Tue offdays, your designated holiday is Sunday. If you haveTues/Wed or Thurs/Fri or Fri/Sat off days your holiday isMonday.Confusion arises when the holiday lands on a day in themiddle of the work week. Veteran's Day is alwaysNovember 11, no matter what day of the week it is. Thisyear the holiday lands on a Wednesday. If you haveTues/Wed off days, your designated holiday is Monday.If you have Thurs/Fri off days your holiday is Wednesday.If you have Sat/Sun, Sun/Mon, Fri/Sat off days your holi-day is Wednesday. If you have Sun/Wed off days, yourdesignated holiday is Tuesday. All other Sun/split offdays will have Wed as their holiday.Thanksgiving is always the 4th Thursday in November. Ifyou have Thurs/Fri or Sun/Thurs off days your designat-

ed holiday is Wednesday. All others have Thursday astheir holiday.Christmas lands on a Friday this year. If you haveThurs/Fri off days your designated holiday will beWednesday. If you have Sun/Fri or Fri/Sat off days yourholiday will be Thursday. All others will have Friday as

their holiday. If your name is added to the Holiday scheduleafter the Tuesday posting you may be entitled toholiday scheduling premium (an additional 50% ofyour base hourly wage) for each hour that youwork. Please contact a steward to have a griev-ance filed. The sign up sheet for the 4th quarter OvertimeDesired List is currently posted but will beremoved by 0800 on Monday, September 21.You may volunteer for Regular Day overtime or

Non Scheduled Day overtime or both. Please read thedirections on the front page. If you want to work up tothe maximum overtime allowed, then write MAX behindyour name. Please write legibly. If you have signed thelist and then change your mind, do not cross off yourname! A supervisor must cross off your name and initialthe form. I will be attending the Akey Seminar in Duluth,Minnesota, on Sep 11-13. National officers will be inattendance at this training seminar so I am hopeful thatwe may get some long-awaited news on contract negoti-ations and the upcoming arbitration.Our next membership meeting is scheduled for SUNDAY,SEPTEMBER 27 at 11:30 a.m. at Buster's Bar and Grill,2475 W Mason St, Green Bay. This is our Nominationmeeting for local officer elections. Please see theNomination and Election Notice published elsewhere inthis paper. Before we solicit nominations from the floorfor candidates we must first vote to determine how manyrepresentatives we will fund for the National Convention,which will be held in Orlando, Florida, in August, 2016,and the State Convention, will be held here in Green Bayin April, 2016. Any member in good standing can requestto be funded as a delegate to these conventions.

President’s Report

The Bay Breeze is the official voice of the American Postal Workers Union, Northeastern Wisconsin Area Local, pub-lished six times a year. The due date for publication is the first day of the odd month unless otherwise publicized.

The Bay Breeze attempts to keep the membership abreast of all important issues. We are proud members of theNational Postal Press Association and International Labor Communications Association. We are also members of theAPWU of Wisconsin, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Greater Green Bay Labor Council and were the first local inWisconsin to join the APWU Accident Benefit Association as a 100 % local. Letters, correspondences, and articles by members and officers are encouraged. Send them to the return address onthis newsletter. Articles must be signed by the author and names may be withheld upon request. Opinions are thoseof the contributors and not necessarily the Union, the Officers, or the Editor. The Editor reserves the right to delete, edit, or rewrite to fit the format of this newsletter, to disallow any attacks ofindividuals, to disallow any attacks of individuals, and to refuse to print any article deemed improper or unfit for publi-cation. Articles that are not credited are those of the Editor.

Sept/Oct 2015 APWU Bay Breeze Page 3

2015NEWAL Picnic

Mona (John’s wife), John Durben, and Tony Vanderbloemen

Gloria Shermo Cindy Peterson

Germaine Lasecki and Dave Kudick

Steve Treskon

Al Vaile and Joe Berken

Page 4 APWU Bay Breeze Sept?Oct 2015

This year’s NEWAL picnic

was a big success!

Gloria Shermo, Opal Watson (back wall), Tony Vanderbloemen, and Barb Glaser

Marie Komro (back left), Mary Wittak, Gene Wagner,and Lucy Hauser (back right)

Lynn Baumann andSteve Beerntsen

Ted’s wife and Ted Bruening

Thank you to everyone who helped

with the picnic and all who attended!


Brenda Ellenson and Joanne (Tim Albert’s wife)

Dick Schultz and Carol ObryHelen Ketchanago and Ken Mosher

Tracy (Tim’s wife) and Tim Roe

Pat (Bernie Haen’wife) andCarol (Les Yeager’s wife)

Shirley, Dick Schultz’s wife


Donna Vandenbush and boyfriend, Tom Nienow

Greg (Gloria Shermo’s husband) andSteve (Lucy Hauser’s husband)

Heesun Teague Danny’s wife and Danny Wavrunek

Mary Jo Sullivan and Lisa Niermann

Greg Hensel and family


Lori Sullivan and familyand Kelly Armstrong and family

Tim Alberts,Les Yeager,Bernie Haen and

Jon Decleene Scott Kelly’s family

Sharon Zisa Arlyn Wilinski and Robin Rasmussen’s wife


Donna Kudick and Debbie Lambert

Heidi Coutley andRobin Rasmussen

Barb Gehlhoff, Jerry Belinski,and Danny Buss

Barb Brown, Shirley Schuessler,and Don Schuessler

Alan (Bryce’s son), Bryce Thomas, Diane Vaile, Steve Paradise (front of table), Al Vaile, and Mike Murphy


Date: Thursday, July 23, 2015Place: Buster's Bar and Grill

President Lucy Hauser called themeeting to order at 1100 hours.

A quorum was declared with 19members in attendance.Steve Paradise led the Pledge ofAlliance and read the invocation.The following officers were present: President: Lucy Hauser, Vice-presi-dent: Steve Beerntsen,Secretary/Treasurer: Bryce Thomas,Bay Breeze Editor: Mary Davis. CraftDirectors: Tim Alberts and JeffHackl, and Recording Secretary:Steve Paradise. Clerk craft directorHeidi Coutley was excused due towork. Minutes of the June 2015 meetingwere printed in the July 2015 issueof the Bay Breeze. A motion toapprove the June 2015 meeting min-utes as printed in the Bay Breezewas made by Donna Hansen andseconded by Nick Ratajczk. Votewas unanimous.A motion was made by Nick Ratajczkand seconded by Dave Villwock tosuspend the normal order businessfor the server's to take our lunchorders. Motion passed unanimously.After the servers were done takinglunch orders, a motion was made byGloria Shermo and seconded byDave Villwock to resume the normalorder of business. Motion passedunanimously. The Financial Report for June 2015was read by Bryce Thomas.REPORTS Executive Committee: No meetingfor the month was held.Labor/Management: Topics dis-cussed were mistakes in the holidayscheduling and supervisors' notworking with the Local prior to post-ing of the schedules; the work roomtelephone (498-3919) not beinganswered by the supervisors; askingthe management to use the ODLsign-up sheet and have employeessign their initials to get overtime; and

the bid assignment of "other dutiesas assigned."Grievance: Step 1 settlements: aclerk will receive five hours out ofschedule pay because managementissued her a 1723 changing her starttime on a regular work day. A letterof warning for attendance will bereduced to three months on file.Step 2 settlements: a 14 day noticeof suspension will be reduced to "notime served," with a letter of warningon file for one year. A seven daysuspension will be on file for onlyone year. Step 4 settlements:PSE's are to be reimbursed for timeand costs for obtaining fingerprints inorder to be converted to career sta-tus.Scheme: No report.Automation: Steve Beerntsen gavethe report. Much of the reportfocused on ventilation issues suchas broken down air conditioning sys-tem for the main floor and the fansnear the LCTS are broken and willbe replaced in the near future.Report posted on the union board inthe break room. Safety/Health: No ReportLegislative: Steve Paradise, again,reminded the members to contactCongressman Reid Ribble's officeand ask him to support and co-spon-sor H.R. 54. He also reminded themembers to contact their senatorsand tell them to vote no on usingfunds from the TSP accounts for thehighway funding bill.OWCP: No report. Constitution: No Report.New Members: PSEs' LeanneAdams and Lia Mahabir. Lost Members: John Matula andGwen Bruchsaler (Both had trans-ferred).COMMUNICATIONSWe received a communicationannouncing the biannual John Akeyunion training seminar which will beheld in Duluth, MN on September 11and 12. We received 20 tickets forthe Greater Green Bay LaborCouncil's Labor Day picnic at Bay

Beach Park. Tickets will be givenout to NEWAL members free ofcharge on a first come basis. Theyare available in the union office. Wefound out that our official name forthe Local for the IRS and DOL formsis different from the one we areusing "NEWAL."UNFINISHED BUSINESSNone.NEW BUSINESSA motion was made by DonnaHansen and seconded by NickRatajcak that the August 2015 meet-ing for NEWAL will be on Thursday,August 27 at 1130 hours at Buster'sBar on West Mason St. Motionpassed unanimously.A motion was made by Mary Davisand seconded by Steve Paradisethat NEWAL shall purchase a $100gift card for Gloria Shermo for actingas the Recording Secretary for theJune 2015 NEWAL meeting. Motionpassed unanimously.A motion was made by DaveVillwock and seconded by MaribelSauer that NEWAL shall send up tosix members, to be determined bythe Executive committee, to the JohnAkey seminar to be held September11 and 12, 2015 in Duluth, MN.Also, that transportation expenses,lodging, per diem, lost time and reg-istration for the Akey seminar will bepaid by NEWAL. Motion passedunanimously.OTHER BUSINESSA discussion took place about theRI399 issue: MHA's working trays ofstandard letters on the LCTS.ADJOURNMENTA motion was made by DonnaHansen and seconded by TimAlberts to adjourn the meeting.Motion passed unanimously.NEWAL meeting adjourned at 1215hours.The $10 door prize was won by MattVadala.

Minutes submitted by SteveParadise.

July 2015 MINUTES OF MONTHLY MEETING OF NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN AREA LOCAL #2247



you know?

OPM resignation:Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta has resigned in July. She has been at the helm since

November 2013 and after two separate data breaches and much scrutiny has decided to step down.

Staples Update:A hearing on charges that the Postal Service illegally subcontracted work to Staplestook place on Aug 17 and 18. After the Postal Service and Staples continued to resistcomplying with subpoenas issued by Region 5 on the National Labor Relations Boardand the APWU, the judge decided to rule on their claims at a Nov 2 hearing. ThePostal Service and Staples are claiming the documents they are to provide listed in thesubpoenas contain confidential, proprietary information. Remedy we are trying toachieve is to return that existed on July 31, 2014, back to the APWU bargaining unit.

Biased study?:.Famous OJ attorney, Robert Shapiro, recently did a study - financed by United Parcel Service - that happened to comeup with the results that $18 billion in subsidies are used by the USPS. He basically is trying to show that between thepost office having a monopoly on mail boxes, receiving tax breaks other companies don't get, having the ability to bor-row cheaper from the US Treasury, and by having higher wages and benefits for employees, "we", the USPS, are notgiving the public the best price. He thinks privatization is the answer. Coincidentally that is likely the answer UPS waslooking for.

USPS positions eliminated:In June, the Postal Service has transitioned most SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) compliance functions to an outside company.

About 95 USPS headquarter employees were affected.

Mail theft:The penalty for stealing a person's mail is a fine and/or imprisonment of five years.

New size mailboxes:Next generation mailbox is a big hit. About 165 customers received a new wider mail-

box back in January as part of the study. This mailbox was a hit and it can handle 70 to85 percent of all packages sent in the mail. The mailbox size is 13 inches wide by 7inches high by 16 inches deep. Effective Sept 13th, a new rule says curbside boxesmust meet this standard. Existing curbside boxes will have the option to change to thissize but will not need to.

New rates of forever stamps:As of April, new forever stamps available: a postcard forever stamp, two ounce letter stamps, three-ounce forever stamps, additional ounce forever stamp and first ounce nonmachineable surcharge forever stamp.

USPS has new digital service:Digitalized mail services are growing - the one that the USPS offers in Northern Virginia and is

expanding soon to New York City is called Real Mail Notification. This program emails customers adigital preview of their daily mail, comprised of images taken during the sorting process. Businessescan work with the Postal Service to add interactive options to the email alerts.Already available is the myUSPS.com package-tracking app. Customers can see real-timescanning of their packages

Mailable Card with your cellphone:American Greeting Corp offers an app that turns iPad artwork into paper cards that can be mailed. (cont on pg 12)

do


(do you know? continued from pg 11)New COD payment option:USPS now accepts electronically transmitted funds to the mailer's account for COD packages.

Report a death of an employee:Reporting a death of an active postal employee, call 1-877-477-3273, option 5, option2, with their employee ID number,

full name, city and state. For a retired postal employee, call 1-888-767-6738 with name and social security number.

SPSS is new machine:New small-package sorting equipment sorts 6,000 small parcels per hour. The Small Parcel Sorting System was tested

at five sites with plans for 26 more to be installed across the nation.

Retirement planning on liteblue:Current employees can get a snapshot of your retirement outlook, visit liteblue.usps.gov. From there click on "enter my

HR", then on bottom left click on "HR Sitemap", in second column here click on "Retirement", then "financial wellness"and last, click on "your retirement calculator" listed under "Planning for Retirement". This will be helpful in seeing whatyou should need to do now to have the retirement life you imagine.

FMLA info online:FMLA provides eligible Federal employees with an entitlement to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month

period for the following purposes:birth of a son or daughter of the employee and care of the newborn;* placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care;* care of a spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee who has a serious health condition;serious health condition of the employee that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or

her position. * Entitlement to 12 weeks of leave expires 12 months after the date of birth or placement for adoption or foster care.(Employees may begin this leave prior to the birth or placement.) 30 days advanced notice with required paperwork is needed to Shared Services, with 15 days to reply if/when addtionalpaperwork is requested by them.For more detailed information, go to opm.gov, at top "A-Z Index", “Family Leave Policies”, “The Family and MedicalLeave Act”.

New employee recognition program:A new program called "Deliver the Brand" recognizes employee efforts. Lakeland District postal employees in PostOffices and Plants can earn a lapel pin to proudly wear along with a Letter of Appreciation. Employees are nominated bytheir immediate manager, supervisor, or postmaster. Each submission is subject to review before recognition is con-ferred.

TV series coming soon:CBS will be airing a new half-hour series, The Inspectors, on Saturdays at 9:30 am on Oct 3. It is a dramatic series

about the Postal Inspection Service.

Newly decorated main post office:Cami Pietsch has decorated the front of the post office. Take a look when you're driving by the main post office in

Green Bay on Packerland Dr. Nice job, Cami! (permission for pictures by Jan Whittkopf, acting postmaster)


August 2015MINUTES OF MONTHLY MEETING OF NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN AREA LOCAL #2247

Date: Thursday, Aug 27, 2015Place: Buster's Bar and GrillPresident Lucy Hauser called themeeting to order at 1130 hours.A quorum was declared with 16members in attendance.Steve Paradise led the Pledge ofAlliance and read the invocation.The following officers were present: President: Lucy Hauser,Secretary/Treasurer: Bryce Thomas,Bay Breeze Editor: Mary Davis. CraftDirectors: Tim Alberts, Heidi Coutleyand Jeff Hackl, and RecordingSecretary: Steve Paradise. Vice-president: Steve Beerntsen wasexcused. A motion was made by DonnaHansen and seconded by GloriaShermo to suspend the normal orderbusiness for the servers to take ourlunch orders. Motion passed unani-mously.After the servers were done takinglunch orders, a motion was made byJeff Hackl and seconded by HeidiCoutley to resume the normal orderof business. Motion passed unani-mously. Minutes of the July 2015 NEWALmeeting were read aloud by SteveParadise. A motion to approve theJuly 2015 meeting minutes wasmade by Gloria Shermo and second-ed by Mary Davis. Vote was unani-mous.The Financial Report for July 2015was read by Bryce Thomas.REPORTS Executive Committee: The execu-tive discussed procedures for theupcoming nominations and electionof NEWAL officers. Nominations willbe taken at the September 2015 reg-ular NEWAL meeting. Lucy Hauserappointed Mary Duttweiler to be thechair of the nominations committee.The executive committee alsoreviewed the necessity of membersattending union training seminars.Labor/Management: No meeting inAugust. Topics to be discussed atthe September meeting will be themistakes in the holiday schedulingand supervisors' not working with theLocal prior to posting of the sched-ules and the relationship between

the plant and customer service. Grievance: Step 1's: GlobalRemedy Settlements for the AO's forCBA Art. 1.6b. (Postmasters per-forming clerk work). Step 2's: anotice of 7-day suspension will beheld in abeyance pending approvalof disability retirement. A tour 3clerk will receive 50% pay for threehours for a CBA Art.37.F.10 violation.Four clerks will receive holidayscheduling premium pay for beingadded to the July 4th schedule afterthe mandated schedules were post-ed.Scheme: Lamont Brooks from theAPWU headquarters sent a commu-nication that they are still research-ing the decision that an employeedoes not have to pass the schemetest to be a scheme clerk. All thescheme training through the SON-ICS computer program will be on theclock.Automation: No ReportSafety/Health: No ReportLegislative: Steve Paradise reportedthat during the month of Augustthrough Labor Day that Congresswill be in recess. Members areencouraged to make appointmentsand meet with their Legislators inperson encouraging them to supportPostal legislation such as H.R. 54.Their telephone numbers are listedin the bi-monthly Bay Breeze.Steve also reported that the amend-ment in the Senate to use fundsfrom the TSP retirement account forthe transportation funding bill wasdefeated. The amendment vote fellthree short of the 60 vote cloturerule. OWCP: No report. Constitution: No Report.New Members: None. Lost Members: None.COMMUNICATIONSWe received a communication fromUnion Plus announcing that they willbe giving away three $500 prizes formembers applying and using theircredit cards. UNFINISHED BUSINESSNone.NEW BUSINESSA motion was made by Donna

Hansen and seconded by TimAlberts to approve up to 24 hourslost time and expenses not to suc-ceed $200 for the nomination com-mittee members. Motion passedunanimously.A motion was made by Jeff Hackland seconded by Tim Alberts thatthe September 2015 meeting forNEWAL will be on Sunday,September 27 at 1130 hours atBuster's Bar and Grill on WestMason St. Motion passed unani-mously.OTHER BUSINESSSteve Paradise reported that he hasthe tickets to the Greater Green BayLabor Council's annual Labor Daypicnic to be held at Bay Beach Park.Tickets can be picked up, free ofcharge, in the union office.Steve also reported on his efforts to

create a Local Dispute Resolutioncommittee back in September 2012concerning the jurisdiction of theLCTS, a RI399 issue. Green BayP&DC management refused to takepart citing that we were in the middleof a contract. He urged the newelected officers to form a LocalDispute Resolution committee soonafter the new contract is approved,at least, for the purposes of estab-lishing a new inventory. Our currentinventory dates back to October 8,1992.Steve encouraged the members towear our APWU union shirts (orstickers, buttons, or armbands) onThursdays to show our solidarity tomanagement that we are holding outand in support of our union's goal ingetting a good working contract.Our contract will be soon taken up inarbitration.ADJOURNMENTA motion was made by BryceThomas and seconded by MaryDuttweiler to adjourn the meeting.Motion passed unanimously.NEWAL meeting adjourned at 1235hours.The $10 door prize was won by MattVadala.

Minutes submitted by SteveParadise.

The family of Ken Frantz, retired member who passedaway

Ray Talbot, whose mother passed away

Ben Edinger, whose brother passed away


Senator Tammy Baldwin310 W Wisconsin Ave #950Milwaukee, WI 532031-414-297-4451

Congressman Reid Ribble550 N Military Ave #4BGreen Bay, WI 543031-920-471-1950ribble.house.gov/contact-me/email-me

Senator Ron Johnson517 E Wisconsin AveMilwaukee, WI 532021-414-276-7282ronjohnson.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Governor Scott Walker115 E State CapitolMadison, WI [email protected]

Wi Legislative Hotline: 1-800-362-9472US House/Senate Line:1-800-522-6821White House Comment Line:...............

1-202-456-1111

Representatives to Contact:

Our Condolences go out to:

Congratulations to our new member:

Kim Blahnik

Thank you card received from HeatherMatchefts, for Tony Van scholarship

We can thank our unions for

Weekends without workPaid vacation

Minimum wageEight-hour workdays

Child labor lawsWorkplace safety

Sept/Oct 2015 APWU Bay Breeze . Page 15

President:Lucy Hauser

ExecutiveVicePresident:

Steve Beerntsen

Secretary/Treasurer:Bryce Thomas

Recording Secretary:Steve Paradise

Clerk Craft Director:Heidi Coutley

Motor Vehicle CraftDirector:

Tim Alberts

Maintenance CraftDirector:

Jeff Hackl

Editor:Mary Davis

Officers of theAPWU-

Northeastern WisconsinArea Local

Our governor, Scott Walker, has been out campaigning for presi-dent this month visiting four dealerships and posing on HarleyDavidson motorcycles.

Harley is a leading example of a successful company with astrong union.

Walker constantly reminds everyone how he "took on theWisconsin unions and won!". His presidential campaign hasfocused primarily on how good of a union-buster he is.

He needs votes, as he decreases his lead in the polls - guess hehas to sink to riding on a union-made bike. He's gotta do whathe's gotta do - no matter how hypocritical he may appear.

Walker visits Harley on his Campaign Tour

Yes, the dealerships of the union-made Harley motorcycle

The Koch AgendaAccording to reports, the Koch brothers have given more than $1 million to theAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to push their extreme, anti-workeragenda. ALEC has pushed for privatizing the USPS and has urged cutting back thewages of postal employees. They claim workers are paid too much and pensions andretirement provisions are too costly to taxpayers. They say collective bargaining givespostal workers unfair advantages over private-sector employees." The brothers try to win legal decisions to strengthen their efforts. They fundedgroups that filed thousands of pages of legal briefs attacking campaign finance laws.After the Supreme Court threw out federal restrictions on campaign contributions in2010, the Koch brothers began to spend unprecedented sums to sway elections." In the last election, the brothers funded efforts to discourage young people,minorities, and seniors from voting. The reactionary bills they have introduced in dozensof states impose stricter voter ID requirements, which do not prevent people from regis-tering to vote, but keep them from getting a ballot if they cannot present specific paper-work." As donors to higher education, they have designed grant agreements with morethan 150 colleges and universities that restrict academic freedom by exerting controlover who gets hired." AFP was one of the lead groups in Wisconsin encouraging Republican Gov.Scott Walker to revoke collective bargaining agreements with public employees - exceptfor police and firefighters, who tend to support the GOP. Through national legal advoca-cy groups like ALEC, they have introduced scores of anti-worker bills in dozens ofstates." Koch-funded politicians have proposed 67 bills in 25 states to reduce the mini-mum wage." In an effort to destroy Social Security, they want people to invest their retire-ment savings on Wall Street, which is riskier and would earn billions in fees for invest-ment firms. In addition, they want to raise the retirement age for Social Security to 70." According to the International Forum on Globalization, Charles and David Kochare America's single largest source of private money in opposition to environmental pro-tections. They have spent over $643 million to block or rollback legal protections forclean air, clean energy, clean water, and other environmental issues.

Boycott Georgia Pacific Products, owned by Koch Industries.

Koch Brothers' Assault on Workers

from July/Aug The American Postal WorkerMagazine (in part)


Nominations for the following offices of the Northeastern Wisconsin Area Local, AFL-CIO, will be accepted from the floorat the September 2015 membership meeting, which will be held on Sunday, September 27, 2015, at 11:30 a.m. atBuster's Bar and Grill, located at 2475 W Mason St, Green Bay Wisconsin.

General Offices:President and automatic delegate to State and National ConventionsExecutive Vice-PresidentSecretary-TreasurerRecording SecretaryEditor

Craft Offices:Clerk CraftMotor Vehicle CraftMaintenance/Custodial Craft

The Election Committee Chairperson will present a slate of eligible candidates for each office at the September meeting.Other eligible candidates may be nominated from the floor at the meeting. Anyone wishing to submit their nominationprior to the September meeting should contact a member of the Election Committee. Any member who is not in atten-dance at the September membership meeting that has been nominated as a candidate for an office or as a conventiondelegate will have until Monday, October 5, 2015, to supply a written letter of acceptance to the Committee Chairperson.

Convention Delegates:State ConventionNational Convention

During the meeting the membership will determine the number of delegates that will be funded by the Local for eachconvention.

The election shall be by mail referendum. The Election Committee Chairperson shall rent a post office box for the returnof ballots in an AO outside of the Green Bay Post Office. Ballots will be mailed out during the first week in November toall active members who were on the rolls as of October 1.

There will be two (2) types of ballots.1. A general ballot which will be sent to all eligible voting members of the Northeastern Wisconsin Area Local.2. A Craft ballot, which will be sent to all eligible voting members of the craft for which the election is being held.

Eligible CandidatesA. The candidate must be an active member. Any member who voluntarily holds a managerial, supervisory or EASposition with the responsibility for issuing or recommending discipline or applying or interpreting the National Agreementfor the equivalent of one pay period in a year shall be ineligible to hold office in any capacity, so long as the membercontinues to serve in such position and for a period of one year from the time the member vacated such position. Anymember who has submitted an application to a managerial, supervisory or EAS position with responsibility or for apply-ing or interpreting the National Agreement shall withdraw such application prior to acceptance of nomination for anyoffice.B. Any member who voluntarily, after August 31, 1984, accepts or applies for any managerial or supervisory posi-tion, EAS position or the PASS program, for any period of time, whether one(1) day or a fraction thereof, either detailed,acting, probationary or permanently, shall immediately vacate any office held by that member in the Local or its equiva-lent.C. No member will be eligible to run for more than one office in the same election.

Only members in good standing may be funded as delegates to conventions.

Chairperson: Mary Duttweiler, Maintenance CraftCommittee Member: Dennis Hall, Clerk CraftCommittee Member: Gloria Shermo, Clerk Craft

NOMINATION AND ELECTION NOTICE


PSE’s reimbursed for time/cost for fingerprints


Just recently the window employees were featured in “Team Lakeland”, the LakelandDistrict’s online newsletter. The following clipping is of that article. Not included in the pictureis Kim Gerritts, who is also a vital part of that crew who happened to be on leave the day of thepicture.

Congratulations to them all on their recognition. And thank you to acting postmaster, JanWittkopf, for allowing us to share this with all of our local’s members.

Congratulations to the Window Employees at the Packerland Dr, Green Bay Main Post Office


The Postal Service's Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an alert this month that confirms what theAPWU has been telling Congress and what postal patrons have been enduring - America's mail hasslowed dramatically. In its review of mail timeliness after the USPS cut service standards on January 5,2015, the OIG found "a substantial increase in delayed mail over the last several months."

Recognizing the severity of the situation, the OIG called on the USPS to "immediately address the timeli-ness of mail processing." In their alert, the OIG highlights that delayed mail has increased by 48% in thefirst six months of 2015. By cutting service standards in January and virtually eliminating overnight First-Class Mail, the USPS now can take days longer to process and deliver mail and still be considered on-time. In spite of these relaxed standards, delayed mail is through the roof while the USPS fails to meetthese newly lowered standards. Remarkably, this steep decline in mail service occurred while the USPS has completed a small portion oftheir planned facility closures and consolidations. Earlier this year, the USPS put on hold the plannedclosure or consolidation of dozens of mail processing facilities. This was largely a reaction to customerdissatisfaction over reduced standards, delayed mail, and communities speaking out.

Before resuming the planned mail processing facility closures or consolidations, the OIG called on theUSPS to "establish criteria for determining if the network has stabilized and ensure the criteria are met."In the past, postal management has ignored similar recommendations by the OIG and the PostalRegulatory Commission.

USPS OIG Sounds the Alarm Over Delayed Mailfrom APWU eUpdate

In the San Francisco District, managers distributed USPS T-shirts and told workers to wear those shirtson Thursdays. Coincidence? Not likely.

Postal workers wasted no time Standing Up and Fighting Back! Many refused to wear management's T-shirts. And many others decorated management's T-shirts with buttons and stickers bearing the message,Good Postal Service! Good Jobs! Good Contract!

We've said many times that management takes note of how many people are wearing union gearbecause it shows how united we are in our fight for a good contract.

So don't forget to wear your union T-shirt, button, or armband this Thursday and every Thursday - and besure to send pictures of you and your co-workers to [email protected].

Hold your heads high, stay strong, and continue Standing Up and Fighting Back!

For more info, please visit www.apwunccc.org.

In Solidarity, Mark Dimondstein, President

It's working! Our Union Gear Thursdays are clearly getting under management's skin.

Continue to wear Union Gear every Thursday!

from APWU eUpdate

Non-ProfitOrganizationU S Postage

PaidAPWU Bay Breeze

APWU Bay BreezeP O Box 10323Green Bay, WI [email protected]

Change Service Requested

MOVING??

Please send usyour new

address so wecan get your

issue of the BayBreeze to you........ Thank you!

Next Union Meeting:

Sunday, Sept 27th, 11:30 am Buster’s Bar and Grill

2475 W. Mason St, Green Bay, Wi 54303**our Nomination Meeting for local officer elections

The Tony Van's Scholarship committee would like tocongratulate:

Tiffany Fameree, daughter of Dave Fameree and Heather Matchefts, daughter of Donna Matchefts

for each winning a $500.00 scholarship.

The drawing was held at the Union picnic on 8/2/2015.We had nine eligible applicants this year and wouldlike to remind everyone to watch for the application,including the rules again next year.

Committee Members

Lucy HauserBryce ThomasGloria Shermo

TONY VAN Scholarship Winners Drawn at the NEWAL Picnic

SUMMER SALAD

2 - 7 OZ BOXES OF RING MACARONI1 C CARROTS, CHOPPED

2 C CUCUMBER, CHOPPED1 C. CELERY, CHOPPED1 C ONION, CHOPPED

1 TSP SALT

MIX TOGETHER

1-1/2 C MIRACLE WHIP½ C VINEGAR

¼ TSP. PEPPER1-1/2 C SUGAR¼ TSP NUTMEG

THEN MIX ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER

Documents

The BayBreeze€¦ · Northeastern Wisconsin Area Local American Postal Worker’s Union AFL-CIO Volume 58 No. 5 Sept/Oct 2015