It looks like we will be going to impasse arbitration for a first contract at the Pittsburgh Priority Mail Processing Center. Locally, we are permitted to negotiate the 22 items outlined in Article 30 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Management offered little... forty-five seconds for wash up, no guaranteed leave and no seniority. They've been working with casuals too long. We will keep you updated as events happen at the PPMPC.

The parties at the National level will determine staffing and craft jurisdiction. Once these decisions are made, the information will be disseminated to the membership. Many craft employees have inquired about transfer opportunities; this information will be provided as soon as we get it, as well.

In addition, we are in the midst of negotiations with Rood Trucking. In order to ensure that you receive timely responses to your questions and concerns, refer them to your CGOs and stewards.

Management originally projected that 17 clerks would lose their jobs at Associate Offices. That number has dropped to around nine as of this date. We have had enough clerks from Associate Offices retire, resign and change crafts to account for the decrease in the number of impacted employees. Our research indicates that there are an equal number of held vacancies to handle the employees being excessed.

Management informed the Local that they intended to remove the word "marketing" from three of the six Administrative Office Replacement Pool bids. This change was not significant enough to warrant reposting of the bids. Management's change merely resulted in all of the bids becoming exactly the same. This action caused a one-time pick by seniority of all hold downs for the pool clerks.

We'd received a complaint that management's Terry McGartland (from the RMD office) was informing employees that the FMLA form prepared by the APWU is no longer accoptable. Our investigation uncovered the fact that DOL Agent Jim Phelps had indeed advised McGartland to this effect.

In a phone call, Phelps stated "What the union negotiated is an absolute disgrace and needs to be thrown out. Employees should use the DOL's form."

When I asked Phelps if he had the authority to throw out a form that was approved by his bosses at headquarters, he said he did not. When I asked Phelps if he had the authority to advise local postal supervisors to refuse a form that was already approved and accepted by DOL headquarters, he again said he had no such authority.

I then requested that Phelps keep his dissatisfaction with the current form (a form that has been acceptable to all parties for the past eight years) to himself. Phelps claims that the employees submitting the APWU forms are not having them properly completed by their physicians.

We need to be careful to submit FMLA forms that contain complete information. If your doctor has answered all questions, including those that do not apply to your situation by marking them as NA (not applicable) and has signed and dated the form, it should be accepted by management. If a properly completed form is rejected by your supervisor, please see your steward and file a grievance.

We have had numerous changes in the clerk craft that have resulted in clerks being placed in a saved grade status. This has affected the positions of LSM operator in the past, FSM clerks presently, and soon, the Level 6 PSDS clerks will be impacted (by the Time and Attendance Collection System... TACS.)

An employee whose job is eliminated and who cannot be placed in a job of equal grade shall receive saved grade until such time as that employee fails to bid or apply for a position in the employees's former wage level. Saved grade does not begin until the employee either bids to a lower level position or is canvassed into a lower level position.

Once the employee is placed in the lower level position, her saved grade status begins: she will be compensated at her former wage level. Now she must bid all posted duty assignments in her former wage level. If she fails to do this, she is removed from saved grade status and placed in the proper wage level for her assignment.

On April 2, 2001, Clerk Craft Director Cliff Guffey signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the USPS and the APWU with new procedures that will apply when it is necessary to reassign clerk craft employees in accordance with the procedures of Article 12, and/or when employees are assigned to duty assignments according to the procedures of Article 37, Section 4 (due to the impacts of the automation of the AFSM 100, TACS, FSM 1000.)

One of the changes under this will bring about is that employees who receive saved grade under this MOU will not be required to bid or apply for vacancies in their former wage level for a period of two years from the time they occupy the lower level duty assignment.

If management has designated your bid as impacted and you have questions, please contact your union steward.

Both Michelle Moon and Cindy Miller have completed the second level of classes offered in American Sign Language. We applaud theur efforts at making our hearing-impaired members' lives a little easier by learning to communicate with them in their own language.

Very nicely done, ladies. Congratulations on your accomplishment!

Work on the second floor is well underway. The broken office furniture, broken computers, old door frames and doors, and assorted other junk has been hauled away. Our attempts to donate the "stuff" were unsuccessful.

We are working on having the rooms painted and carpeted. It looks like we will also have to replace some broken window blinds prior to renting the offices.

There are others out there who support PMAPWU's fight for justice with Rood Trucking Company. Our cry for support has been heard far and wide. Following is just a small sample of the comments we've been receiving in support of worker's rights:

• Employees in the United States have a right to a voice in the workplace - unions have ensured that voice is taken seriously by management.
  Kevin Murray - County Legislator, Rochester, NY
  
  
• I write this letter to you with hopes that you will pass my support along to those workers who are fighting for their right to organize. I encourage these workers to continue their efforts to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract. Perseverance will bring the benefit of unionizing and most importantly, it will bring the benefits and security of having a good and acceptable first contract. My best wishes are with all of you.
  David Koon, New York State Assembly, 135th District, Albany, NY
  
  
• Dr. King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." I support your valiant efforts. Keep up the good fight!
  Jose A. Cruz, Monroe County Legislator, 29th District, Rochester, NY
  
  
• The right of working men and women to bargain collectively should not be infringed. Efforts, such as yours, not only mean better jobs, but better communities for everyone.
  Representative Louise M. Slaughter (NY) Washington, DC
  
  
• In the global economy of today, it is essential that our American workers have the security and job protection that unions and collective bargaining afford. Over the years, labor unions have allowed men and women a voice in their workplace to articulate their needs and concerns, ensure safety and wellness on the job site, advocate for fair and just compensation, and to help steer the direction and decision-making of the companies that employ them. I encourage you to be strong and have faith that progress and success will come from solidarity.
  Joseph Robach, New York State Assembly, 134th District, Albany, NY

If you are in the market for kitchen appliances, power tools or sporting goods, why not look to Union made items? Members of the Boilermakers produce some of the best-known and most reliable home products available.

Here's a short list of just some of the products you'll find at retail stores in your neighborhood. Remember, some of these products may be produced in factories both in the U. S. and elsewhere. So, even if the product or brand name matches a Boilermaker product, check the label to make sure that it was made in America.

Kitchen Items and Cooking Equipment

Aluminum Foil	Reynolds
Built-in Refrigerators	Whirlpool
Can Openers	Swing-A-Way
Commercial Food Equip.	Hobart
Cooking/food oil	Humko
Gas and electric ranges	Premier
Ovens, broilers, griddles, fryers	Comstock Castle Stove
Ovens, cook tops, hoods	Thermador
Ranges, deep fryers	Vulcan
Stainless steel kitchen equip.	Hudson Food Service
Stainless steel kitchen prod.	Servco Co.
Stoves, cook tops, pots	Wolf Range Co.