[June 27th]

Last Minute Updates

It is in sadness that we announce that Greentree Maintenance member Bill Bech was killed by a drunk driver Tuesday night (June 25th) driving home from work.

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On another note, the Local's attorney notified us that BMC steward Andrew Gerenyi withdrew his lawsuit against the Local today in Federal court. We now have no lawsuits pending against the Local.

        [June 25th]

Attention Window Clerks

We have received notice from the National APWU, that postal management intends to violate the contract by allowing supervisors to sell stamps to customers during the first few days of the rate hike.

As stated by the Assistant Clerk Craft Director, Rob Strunk,

"There is no question that the APWU does not share the employer's view that it is permissible for management to sell stamps. Arbitrator Snow clearly stated that selling stamps is an exclusive craft function. The employer has qualified the instruction by stating that window personnel must be maximized, including overtime, before management could sell stamps."

"It is the position of the American Postal Workers union that not only should overtime be used but also penalty overtime be used during this period. Furthermore, this is clearly not an emergency as defined in Article 3."

Please notify your steward and file a grievance if management at your office violates the Agreement. Provide a signed statement listing the facts, and protect your job.

        [June 25th]

L&DC Meeting

All members who are employed at the Pittsburgh L & DC, are invited to participate in an informational meeting to be held on

Thursday, June 27, 2002 at the Sheraton in Mars
910 Sheraton Drive, Mars, PA
from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon

Local officers will discuss your first contract and your rights and responsibilities on the job. Meet your officers and discuss your contract in an informal setting held for members only. We look forward to meeting with you.

        [June 24th]

Protest at Memorial Day Rood Trucking Company Truck Pull

On May 26, 2002, the drivers of RTC (Rood Trucking Company) held a rally at Mercer Raceway Park to protest RTC's unwillingness to reach a fair contract with the drivers and their continuing abuse of the drivers' pension fund money. Six drivers, several employees from the General Mail Facility, and their friends and families attended for a total of 24 participants.

We distributed approximately 1200 leaflets to the crowd before the event, stating our reason for being there and asking for the support of the crowd in booing RTC's entry. The event was a truck and tractor pull, which started out with pickup trucks with modified engines pulling first, then tractors (farm type), and for the finale, the semi-tractors that are modified to produce more than 1,000 horsepower.

We displayed signs painted on bed sheets on the fences around the track, which we had to take down after George Rood, president and owner of RTC whined to the track management.

When RTC's entry "Rood Awakening" came to the line, our people, with the support from many of the crowd, booed the RTC entry driven by George Rood. We are not sure exactly what happened, but it appeared that George missed a shift, causing him to place very poorly. We think perhaps our booing rattled him.

We all had a good time, and those of our group that had not been to a pulling event before found it interesting. The drivers at RTC appreciate the help from our brothers and sisters at the Local and ask for your continuing support in our efforts to gain a contract.

Fraternally yours,

Members of the Pittsburgh Metro Negotiating Team

        [June 21st]

2002 Standard Mileage Rate

Effective January 1, 2002, the standard mileage rate for use of privately owned vehicle while on official business travel has increased from 34.5 cents per mile to 36.5 cents per mile.

If you use your private vehicle while on postal business, (e.g. travel to and from a station or travel to and from a training site) you are entitled to compensation for your mileage. In addition, if you have already submitted a voucher for travel that occurred since January 1, 2002 and did not use the new rate you should resubmit for the difference owed to you.

        [June 14th]

Headquarters Building Improvements

During my first year in office we replaced four of the eight air-conditioning units in our headquarters building. Because the other four units were still working, we did not replace all of the units at once. The remaining four air-conditioning units have stopped working, and we are in the process of gathering estimates to replace these units.

The recall election has cost this Local in excess of $16,500 so far. The final tally is not yet in. The Secretary/Treasurer notified me this week that we must transfer $20,000 from our interest-bearing Business Index Account to our checking account to cover our bills this week. The cost-saving measures we have implemented are being depleted by the recall election.

With every good wish,

Rosemary Penascino
President

        [June 14th]

Organizing Non-Members

There are approximately 85,000 postal workers nationwide who are eligible but are not members of the APWU. The National is offering to assist in a sign-up program. If any member is interested in working with the National on such a program, please call Headquarters at 412-321-4700.

        [June 14th]

National President's Conference

President Burrus congratulated me from the podium on winning the recall election. He assured me later that he would make a phone call and discover why Pittsburgh arbitration dates are being cancelled by the Eastern Region Coordinator.

You can watch President Burrus debate Postal Reform on C-Span June 18, 2002 at 2:00 pm.

An impressive amount of information was shared by Local Presidents from across the country who attended the National Presidents Conference. We learned that Pittsburgh is in the forefront on some issues, while other issues have not yet surfaced here. We will update our members on issues unveiled at the National Presidents' Conference, in a special edition of the Metro Voice mailed to your homes.

With every good wish,

Rosemary Penascino
President

        [June 14th]

Holiday Leave Adjustments

Management has notified the National APWU that holiday leave adjustments will appear on paystubs for Pay Period 13-02. As stated by our National Officers "seeing is believing."

        [June 7th]

Holiday Leave Not on Pay Stubs

We have contacted the National APWU and been advised that postal management has not yet provided an adequate explanation for not being in compliance with the agreement to add hours worked, on your President's Day Holiday, to your annual leave balance.

As stated by our National, postal management claims that they were unable to make the annual leave adjustments because they had to enter the back pay on that paystub. Neither your Local nor your National officers finds that to be an acceptable reason to deny our members an agreed-upon right.

As soon as we have additional information, like when you can expect to see this adjustment, we will forward that information to you via this website and in-house postings.

        [May 28th]

Patrick McShane Scholarship Fund

Jennie Roth, daughter of James Roth, Maintenance Craft [BMC] and Tracie Hart, daughter of Henry Hart, [Clerk Craft] Grant Street Station, were selected as the recipients of the Patrick McShane Memorial Scholarship at the May 18, 2002 Membership Meeting.

Each will receive $500.00 towards her education. Tracie is currently enrolled at Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA. Jennie is enrolled as a freshman at Laroche College.

Congratulations to both winners! We wish them success in their 2002-2003 academic year.

        [May 15th]

National Advocate Win Means MORE MAINTENANCE JOBS!!

Bill LaSalle, APWU National Advocate for the Eastern Region, received a substantial ruling in the May 7, 2002 Class Action Arbitration Award from Arbitrator Elliot Newman. This case involved staffing at the BMC (Maintenance Craft) in Warrendale, PA. The Order sustained the grievance, with the staffing level to be filled to the capacity established in two directives from calendar year 1999. If the staffing is not in place within 4 months (120 days, as stated) the Union may then claim further violation and request a monetary remedy.

From the award: "The evidence shows that the Service has failed to staff the Pittsburgh BMC in accordance with levels established by an approved staffing package. There were a total of 149 Maintenance Craft employees working at the Pittsburgh BMC on July 1, 1997. The total authorized Maintenance Craft complement at the Pittsburgh BMC during the period in question was 168 employees." It goes on to say that "...the BMC was understaffed by 19 employees."

National Advocate LaSalle, who has been handling maintenance arbitrations for Pittsburgh, is from the Philadelphia Bulk Mail Center, Maintenance Craft. Bill is also the APWU Maintenance Craft Director for the State of Pennsylvania. Bill's win means more maintenance jobs at the Pittsburgh BMC. Congratulations, Bill, and thank you.

        [May 1st]

Local Associate Office Agreements

Out of 100+ Associate Offices we visited, we found no one who could remember receiving a personal visit from the Local for many years. Virtually all Associate Office contracts had been rolled over without question for 6 to 16 years. The Task Force did find a dozen quality agreements that we felt served craft employees with good, enforceable language. Most members were surprised, and some indeed shocked to have Local 081 addressing their contracts face-to-face.

Our biggest problem we encountered in reviewing the Associate Office contracts was vague language that left too much leeway for interpretation.

The second biggest problem we encountered was that entire sections were missing from contracts. Some Postmasters were operating with only half an agreement and had no updated contract. These people offered contracts from 1994 or earlier, some dated back to 1986. We had to merge the old with the new and develop a complete and comprehensive negotiating package to bring us into the new millennium.

We found stewards who had been in place for years who had no contract, and thus, could not apply corrective action to management violations. We left these stewards with copies of comprehensive contracts for Associate Offices, so they could better represent our members.

We found that our members were very willing to give input for improvement in the agreements. Often our clerks were ahead of management in knowledge about how their suggestions would work to improve things for everyone, even through to implementation and results. Much of this was "common sense" and gave strength to overall equity.

Our sincere thanks to many APWU members who took the time to itemize issues and contractual problems, and to go over these with us as we continue our struggle to improve our contacts.