Management has implemented a new attendance control program at the GMF and BMC as of March 14, 2001.

It is the Union's position that the Postal Service's attendance control program is in conflict with, and violates the collective bargaining agreement and existing leave rules and regulations.

The Resource Management Database (RMD) and local management have established a pre-determined number of unscheduled absences that will constitute "failure to be regular in attendance" which could result in discipline. Management's implementation of this new system does not change the employee's rights to file a grievance if discipline is issued.

If you are issued discipline for attendance, you have 14 days to file a grievance. See your union representative as soon as possible so they have time to gather the facts and present your case. The burden of proof in discipline cases falls on management. They must meet the 'just cause' provisions of Article 16 of the National Agreement.

The RMD procedure alters existing rules and contracting provisions that affect the terms and conditions of employment in violation of the Agreement. It is also in conflict with the Family and Medical Leave Act. The APWU at the National level has initiated a Step 4 dispute over the RMD program.

We have requested a meeting to discuss the rumors around the PSDS changes. The Eastern Region has advised us that management intends to assign clerk duties to supervisors. We will be in the grievance procedure as soon as that occurs. It was mentioned briefly that management intends to cut staffing in the section in half. No time frame for this change was given, nor were any names or job-specific information provided.

We met with management over the Phase II impact of the flat sorter machines. Management had a lot of "doom and gloom" to sell us, and they asked that the union assist them in delivering the bad news to employees.

There was an awful lot of information that they couldn't provide and a lot of questions they couldn't answer for us. In other words-- a typical meeting. We arrived ready to discuss the issues on the agenda. They arrived ready to put on a presentation and then send everyone home. There were fourteen managers present at the meeting!

The "doom and gloom" message included many 'interesting' tidbits. Management is predicting excessing from the GMF. Our stats don't show that. They are planning to do away with all Level 5 flat sorter clerks by June 2002. They forsee excessing from city stations and branches and AO's. They intend to continue utilizing casuals even though the contract clearly states that all casuals must be "separated" before career employees can be excessed.

Management came to the meeting with no information on the names or Job ID numbers for the impacted positions or employees involved. A written request has already been placed with them for this information. Certainly, it makes sense that if they were predicting an impact of this degree, they would at least be clear about whom and what they were talking about. Tour III steward Bob Montana has been tracking the bids and staffing since the original impact, and once we receive the requested information on Job IDs, we will let you know.

At the meeting, CGO Bill Jones presented three beautifully prepared proposals for clerks to do prep work as part of the rotation on the FSM 100. Bill thoroughly researched the topic and answered all of management's questions. We are promoting the system involving 10 to 12 clerks in a rotation that includes prep, load and sweep duties in a continuous operation. The machine would run without stopping and relief coverage is built into the rotation.

Bill discovered that St. Paul, MN currently uses this system and they have some of the best numbers in the country. This should make this proposed rotation attractive to management. The rotation is attractive to us because it protects clerk jobs and it would lessen the impact of the FSM on our craft in general.

The Pittsburgh GMF is slated to receive a third Automated Flat Sorter Machine 100 (AFSM 100) by the end of February. A fourth is scheduled to be installed by the end of May. As these changes take place, we expect to see more excessing from stations, branches and associate offices. Management has failed to provide us with the names of employees who are most likely to be impacted, claiming the Area has not yet released this information. In the meantime, an employee from Sewickley notified us that she's already received a letter telling her that she is being excessed from that station.

We are attempting to lessen the impact on our members by holding meetings with the Clerk Craft Director and the CGOs. We are trying to discover ways to implement rotations that will benefit the Service and protect clerk jobs. Input from members is always welcome. No one knows the operation better than the people who perform these duties on a daily basis.

1. The PMAPWU will provide, for the 2001-2002 school year, two (2) $500.00 scholarships for one (1) year. If additional funds are available by May 19, 2001, we will provide an additional two (2) $500.00 scholarships for one (1) year.
   
   
2. The student must be a child of an active member of the PMAPWU local.
   
   
3. The student's application for the scholarship must be on an official application form. Completed forms must be received in the PMAPWU office by May 1, 2001.
   
   
4. A lottery of all applicants will be held at the May 19, 2001 membership meeting.
   
   
5. The student's parent must be a member of the PMAPWU in good standing. "Member's child" for purpose of this scholarship shall mean a son, daughter, stepchild, legally adopted child, or child permanently residing in the household of which the member is the head and actually be supported solely by the member, provided that the member is related to the child by blood or marriage or is the child's legally appointed guardian.
   
   
6. The scholarship recipient must attend an accredited college, university or trade school of his/her choice. The student must make his/her own application to the college, university, or trade school.
   
   
7. The amount of the scholarship will be deposited with the college, university, or trade school attended by the student. When the recipient notifies the PMAPWU he or she has registered, the award will be sent to the business office to be applied to the cost of tuition, with the stipulation that any monies refunded are to be sent to the Patrick McShane Memorial Scholarship Fund.
   
   
8. If the qualifying parent is in a supervisor/management capacity or has been in management during the preceding year, this will nullify the application of the member's child regardless of the parent's PMAPWU membership, be it a DCO (dues check off) or cash paying membership.
   
   
9. Send completed application forms to:
   Patrick McShane Memorial Scholarship
   PMAPWU
   1414 Brighton Road
   Pittsburgh, PA 15212

By RICHARD POWELSON
Scripps Howard News Service
March 09, 2001

WASHINGTON - The financially troubled U.S. Postal Service awarded $280 million in bonuses to managers for their units' meeting performance goals last year even though that move and others resulted in $199 million in net losses. Two U.S. senators, Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., questioned the large amount of the bonuses when the agency was projecting large losses for both 2000 and 2001. Also, the agency's inspector general has been reviewing "the reasonableness" of the performance bonus program for about 80,000 managers, which is in addition to merit raises that they may receive.

Postal Service spokesman Greg Frye said the extra compensation paid under the Economic Value Added Variable Pay Program was offered to managers at the first of the year if they met various performance goals, so the bonuses could not be cancelled when the budget ran into the red. "There would probably be lawsuits if it were not approved," he said.

Thompson said: "The Postal Service management needs a reality check. Paying large bonuses at a time when they're planning on seeking new rate increases and projecting $2 billion to $3 billion in losses for the (2001) fiscal year defies logic."

Sessions has directed his staff this year to spotlight unwise federal spending.

"They are asking for a rate increase. Had they not paid the bonuses they would have made a profit" last year, Sessions said in an interview. "You wonder sometimes if they are keeping profits low or remaining in deficit to justify a rate increase."

Frye said Postal executives, while also eligible for merit raises, do not get extra compensation called "locality pay," which many federal employees receive for working in high-cost areas. The extra, variable compensation program was started in 1996 under Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. The agency, which has 900,000 employees, has a budget this year of $67 billion. Non-managers declined to participate in the variable pay program, Frye said. Managers' bonuses ranged from zero for those whose units did not meet performance goals, up to 15 percent. Frye said he did not know how many managers' units failed to meet their goals. Under program rules, managers can withdraw exactly one-third of a year's bonus that year and the rest in equal payments the next two years.

Just two months ago, Sessions found that postal managers had improperly used chauffeurs and official vehicles more than 520 times over four years, including taking spouses on errands and having cakes and packages transported home.

"Leaders have got to set a good example, particularly when times are tough," Sessions said. "So you cannot create a perception that the top officials are ... being driven by chauffeurs and getting large bonuses."

UPDATE: The two Level 4 barcode bids at the airfield were abolished, and management has placed the clerks into the GMF unassigned pool. The new Triple A system has been installed at the GMF, with plans to include it at the AMF as well. According to research, and advice from the Region, thse jobs beling to the clerk craft. We are compiling a grievance packet to put into the system on this issue.

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Patti and I visited the AMF on Tour One to view the operational changes that followed the removal of the bar code sorter. As reported by CGO Paul McBurney, management intends to install a new machine to aid in the breakdown of mail at the AMF. We discovered that Cleveland already has the machinery in place, so there are plans underway to send a delegation to view the equipment and its operation.

Management has not yet determined what will become of the bar code sorter and the clerks who hold the level 4 jobs at the AMF. We've been told that the machinery is being stored in a truck on the compound. As events develop, we'll keep you informed.

Something happens at your office that you don't like and you want to file a grievance. So... you go to your steward and he/she refuses to file on the basis that you don't have a grievance. Don't storm away mad, ask for an explanation. Knowing our contract (both the National Agreement and the Local Agreement) requires a lot of time and study.

What is "grievable?" A grievance is a violation of the Contract; Past Practice; Fair Treatment; Federal or State Law; or Management's Rules and Responsibilities.