[December 23rd]

Interested in the Maintenance Craft?

Employees interested in securing an entry-level position as a Laborer-Custodian need to follow these steps:

1. Have an eligible rating on the 916 Laborer-Custodian examination. If you do not have an eligible rating, you must send a letter to the Examinations Department requesting to be tested. Testing is conducted twice a year.
   
   
2. Request a change of craft by writing to Human Resources - Hiring Department and include a copy of your eligible rating. Your name will be placed on a Non-Competitive List by date order received. All requests must be initiated through Human Resources.
   
   
3. When your name is within consideration a review will be made based on a number of factors, such as attendance, discipline, safety, etc. If you are approved for a Laborer-Custodian position, you will be scheduled for a medical to determine if you are able to perform the essential functions of the position. Medicals will be offered only when the position is being filled. If denied, a letter will be sent to you with a reason for the denial and your name will be removed from the Non-Competitive List.
   
   
4. Once you are a maintenance employee, you will be eligible for testing as a new to craft employee and apply for positions on a Promotion Eligibility Register.

Testing for other Maintenance positions will only be offered during an Open Season (In-Service). These are rarely given and only when there are a low number of In-Craft register applicants available. In-Craft Open Season occurs every three years during the month of March. The next In-Craft Open Season is scheduled for March 2003.

        [December 20th]

Members Approve Contract Extension

It's official. The membership at large has approved the negotiated contract extension by a vote of 79,932 to 10,568 making the current contract good until November 20, 2005. We have a copy of the Contract Extension PDF file from the APWU News Service available for you to look at, so please do so at your first opportunity.

        [December 19th]

Catch up on all the News!

We've got a number of great articles for you to read now posted on our Metro News page. It's been quite a while since we've been able to post fresh material, but the bugs have been worked out (for now!)

Click on over to read a commentary on privatization and what we can do about it... about the AFL-CIO Union Industries Show coming here to Pittsburgh in 2003... the incredibly ridiculous amounts of money that postal management spent on "expense accounts" for individuals involved with the Tour De France sponsorship, and many more interesting items.

        [December 16th]

Jobs With Justice "Grinch of the Year" Contest

Jobs with Justice is running its annual "Grinch of the Year" contest and asking visitors to its website, Jobs With Justice: a Campaign for Worker's Rights, to choose which person or organization did the most harm to working families this year.

The competition includes President Bush, Comcast, General Electric, Wal-Mart and West Coast Waterfront Coalition, an association of U.S. retailers that lobbied Bush to deny West Coast dockworkers their right to bargain fairly with their employers.



You can cast your vote at the website, which features each candidate's qualifications.

        [December 16th]

The "Enron Syndrome?"

President George W. Bush's decision to lavish bonuses worth as much as $25,000 on political appointees while slicing off a quarter of the pay adjustment Congress recommended for regular federal workers is another example of the administration's tilt towards the rich.

AFGE President Bobby Harnage Sr. said, "This move is another demonstration of the Enron Syndrome that permeates this administration -- one set of rules and numbers for the elite and another set for the rest of us."

        [December 15th]

Union Strength!

GRADUATING TO VICTORY:
A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional director cleared the way for graduate employees at the University of Pennsylvania to hold their long-sought union election. Relying on a 2000 NLRB decision granting union rights to similar New York University workers, Dorothy Moore-Duncan ruled November 21 that about 1,000 graduate employees are indeed workers covered by federal labor relations law and can hold an election this spring. The workers, Graduate Employees Together-Upenn (GET-UP), have been organizing with AFT and filed for an election 11 months ago.

After nearly decade-long struggle, an overwhelming majority of the 2,700 graduate employees at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana voted December 3, 2002 and December 4, 2002 for a voice on the job with ATF.

LIBRARIANS NOT QUIET ABOUT UNION:
A strong majority of 550 librarians, library assistants and technicians with the King County (Wash.) library system voted December 3, 2002 to join the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, AFSCME Council 2.

GETTING AHEAD:
Head Start workers in West Virginia are turning to SEIU District 1199WV/KY/OH for a stronger voice in serving their clients. In October, a unit of 115 workers at Logan Pride Head Start voted for the Union. In November, a unit of 80 workers at Light Bridge Head Start also chose SEIU.

        [December 11th]

Are You Aware of the Future of Your Job? -- Will the USPS be Privatized?

Read On...

Postal Service May Be Urged to Privatize
Bush to Name Panel to Explore Agency's Mission;
Potter Defends Universal Service

By Mike Allen and Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 11, 2002; Page A09

President Bush plans to name a commission today to look into privatizing part of the United States Postal Service, warning that the government cannot continue to provide universal mail service at current rates, administration officials said.

The investigation is part of Bush's plan to allow private contractors to compete for nearly half of the government's civilian jobs in coming years. The commission's report, due July 31, is expected to result in the first reorganization of the mail system since 1971, when the Post Office Department became the United States Postal Service.

Postmaster General John E. Potter plans to fight to maintain the government commitment to providing affordable mail service to every residence in the country, sources said.

Administration officials and lawmakers have long worried about the long-term health of the Postal Service, which has been hit hard by competition from e-mail and the use of the Internet for paying bills. The agency also suffered disruptions after the anthrax mailings and the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.

Read the entire article.

Well, it's happened.

The President of the United States has appointed a Commission on the Postal Service. According to Treasury Undersecretary Fisher, the commission has been told what to do, but it has been told NOT to recommend that things either remain the same or that mailers be required to carry the sole burden. PMG Potter and Secretary Fisher emphasized that nothing that the Commission will do should deter the USPS from moving ahead on its Transformation Plan.

If you want, you can download a PDF copy of Bush's Executive Order to read what he signed today.

        [December 11th]

US Postal Service Uniforms from a Foreign Supplier?

Ladies and gentlemen... this hits very close to home. This article appears in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat and centers on a plant in Meyersdale, PA... in our own backyard. There are 90 Garment Workers who are union employees and they want you all to know what's going on.

Please take the time to read this article! Especially any of you who are required to wear uniforms in the performance of your job! (Link opens in a new window.)

        [December 10th]

Why a Union Member?
A Commentary by Lee Simons

During the seventies, almost all Postal workers were Union members. The unpleasant memories of a militarized Postal Service were still fresh to many. But times and memories fade into the history books which, in turn, are forgotten and left on library shelves. While most will admit that unions were once beneficial, many today assert that unions should only be found in the history books. But new generations with their new explanations often overlook certain truths. Truths are eternal -- just as relevant tomorrow as they were yesterday. If you are questioning the wisdom of becoming a Union member, there are truths to consider.

Read the rest of the commentary....

        [December 4th]

A Bad Decision?

CWA has condemned a decision by the U.S. General Services Administration to allow WorldCom to continue supplying telecommunications services to the federal government even while the SEC broadens its investigation into the company's $9 billion-plus financial misreporting and former company executives face criminal and civil fraud charges.

In December 2001, the Bush administration overturned a Clinton administration rule that the federal government would not do business with corporations that perpetrate civil and criminal fraud.

Work in Progress - (11/18/02)

        [December 3rd]

Unions Win Big in Court

In a big win for the union movement, the U.S. Supreme Court (November 12th) let stand an appeals court decision that unions may charge nonmembers covered by a union-security clause for the costs of organizing in the same competitive market. The case, Mulder v. NLRB, was brought by the anti-union National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. It involves nonmembers of UFCW who were covered by union contracts at City Markets in Colorado and Meijer Inc. in Michigan who claimed it was unfair for the union to charge them for organizing costs.

Under federal law, unions may charge agency fees to nonmembers for activities related to collective bargaining, contract administration and grievances. The National Labor Relations Board ruled and the appeals court agreed that organizing workers within the same competitive market is germane to collective bargaining.

Work in Progress - (11/19/02)

        [December 3rd]

Labor Pains?

The struggle for power between unions and managers is likely to continue for the duration of the Bush administration. But ironically, the longer it goes, the stronger unions may become. Federal unions have struggled to get federal employees to become dues-paying members. The administration's stance against collective bargaining rights, coupled with its push to contract out work, appears to be spurring employees to join unions to protect their jobs and workplace rights. Interest in unions has grown during the Bush administration.

"There's definitely more of an interest," NTEU's Kelley says. "People who never before thought union issues were about them are seeing that the administration's actions could impact them."

Government Executive Magazine - (10/1/02) by Brian Friel

        [December 2nd]

Leave For Christmas-- Reposted

Clerk Craft employees leave for the period between December 24, 2002 and January 2, 2003, must be submitted not later than the close of business Friday, December 13, 2002.

All applications received up to and including the final date of submission will be considered as submitted simultaneously, will be placed in seniority order, and awarded on a seniority basis by work center. Please list your seniority date on the application.

Happy Holidays!