We cannot change the tragic events of September 11, 2001, but perhaps in some small way we can help those whose lives were immediately and forever changed in that fifteen minutes of terror.

At the September 15th membership meeting, President Penascino made a recommendation that the Local forego sending out Christmas cards this year. Instead, she felt that the money spent on cards could be sent to the families of those whose lives were lost int he recovery efforts.

The motion pased unanimously, and the checks have been sent. The Manhattan fire and police department's unions each received a check for $2,500.00 from the members of Pittsburgh Metro, along with our condolences.

You will not receive a Christmas card from the Local this year. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. We hope this has made a difference.

The APWU's chief negotiator, Vice President Bill Burrus, held a teleconference for the Local Presidents in Pennsylvania. During the hour-long conference, he reported the following information:

The parties have completed six days of hearings and are two-thirds of the way through APWU's wage presentation. So far, three different panels of workers have testified before the arbitrators. Each panel provided testimony describing their postal duties. Pittsburgh Metro member Peggy Wise provided expert testimony on window operations.

The postal service wants a four-year contract, while the APWU is seeking a 30-month contract. The impartial arbitrator, Professor Steven Goldberg, has told the parties that he is concerned about the costs involved in granting some of the Union's requests. He has asked the Union to quantify the cost of each request that we make.

Professor Goldberg has been professional, punctual, and impatient with disputes between the parties. He has made it clear that all he wants is information. He is not interested in what has transpried between the parties, nor how each side feels about the other.

The parties have scheduled five days of hearings in October and six days of hearings in November, and are hoping to wrap up testimony in mid-November. Briefs will be prepared and quite possibly, a decision could be rendered by the end of November or in early December.

October through December is traditionally the postal service's busiest time of the year. Due to the events of 9/11/01, both parties anticipate a loss in mail volume. People are not spending or mailing as they normally would. Federal Express, while helping to move the mail, cannot carry anything close to the volume that had been carried by commercial airlines. The anthrax scare will also take a heavy toll on mail volume.

VP Burrus closed the conference by reminding us all to vote.

"The governed must participate in the process. No matter how you vote, exercise your right, express your opinion, and support the candidate of your choice. Vote."

In his latest issue of the plant view, Manager Sean Lacey extols the virtues of employees "learning about overall equipment effectiveness (OEE.)"

This appears to be another management guise for employee efforts to be compared to the machinery they work with. While employees are encouraged to "pick up their pace," no considerations were addressed to the physical demands placed on the equipment operators. At least a reference to repetitive motion syndrome might have shown some concern about our well-being.

While warning of the impending budget crunch for the new fiscal year, Mr. Lacey projects a work hour reduction of 115,000 hours in mail processing alone.

Anyone still wondering why they want us to be more like the machines we work on?

Remember, YOU are responsible for your own safety. Don't take shortcuts, follow the rules for lifting, and in general, take care of yourself. No one else will.

As a result of the terrorist attack and the ensuing reduction in flights by the airlines, the USPS has had to truck mail that would normally be flown. Because of the uncertainty of the current situation, mangement has abandoned all plans to restructure staffing at the AMF until further notice.

At this time, we have reason to believe that contract workers are performing clerk duties in Cargo 3. We have notified management that we want access to that facility to view the operations in order to determine whether a violation has occured or not.

Management contiues to go after clerk craft positions. We are still under Article 12, Principles of Seniority, Posting, and Reassignments, due to the deplyment of the AFSM 100's, TACS, etc, throughout the nation.

Management is actively looking for ways to revert and/or abolish full time reguar clerk positions in Associate Offices, P&D centers, and Airfield Facilities. IN the AO's, management reverts a full time regular position and hires a part time flexible clerk.

When a PTF clerk is hired to replace what was once a FTR position, we need the clerks in that installation to track the PTF hours.

Contact a union steward immediately if you see that management is scheduling a PTF 8 hours within 10 hours, five days a week. This is a FTR position and is a violation of the contract.

Management continues to perform bargaining unit work without being challenged by our APWU members. Article 1.6 of the National Agreement prohibits management from performing bargaining unit work except:

1. in an emergency
2. for the purpose of training or instruction of employees
3. to assure the proper operation of the equipment
4. to preotect the safety of employees-- or
5. to protect the property of the USPS

If one of the exclusions listed above does not exist, you have a violation. You need to contact a union steward at once so that the incident can be investigated and a grievance filed if a violation of Article 1.6 did, in fact, occur.

These are our jobs! It is everybody's responsibility to protect work that is exclusive to the bargaining unit and/or the clerk craft. We need to actively protect our work with the same ambition that management is actively slashing the clerk craft positions.

Pittsburgh felt the second wave of impacts at our associate offices due to the installation of the FSM 100's. On September 22, 2001, clerks were excessed from their home offices of Braddock, Bridgeville, Belle Vernon, and Wexford.

Stewards are tracking work hours in all offices with excessed employees.

It appears that the FSM 100 impact at Butler will be minimal for now. Through creative efforts, the parties were able to work through the needed changes without excessing. Clerks will pick up a job that was formerly held by a mail handler. A pending clerk retirement will absorb the second impact. As always, our efforts are directed toward protecting the senior employees.