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THE BULLETIN BOARD
June 2001 | ||||||||
 [June 29th]More Picnic Winners There were so many winners at the Local's picnic held at Sandcastle Amusement Park on Sunday, June 24th that we couldn't fit them on one page! Here are the rest of the day's winners. Plus! We would like to share a few of the comments we've received about the picnic: "The union picnic was absolutely wonderful. Everything was in an abundance from entertainment for all ages to the food and prizes. Thank you, everyone involved." LPB "...we had a wonderful time at the union picnic on Sunday. Just wanted to let you know that you did a terrific job. I know that there is a lot of work involved in planning something that size and I hope you had enough help. I hope you got to enjoy some of the day even though I know you were busy all day making sure things were going as planned. Anyway, great job." DA & F |
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| [June 29th] Coat Drive for Homeless Begins in September Light of Life Ministries Annual Coat drive will begin September 4 through October 12. Drop your gently used winter coats off at your neighborhood drycleaners anywhere you see the Western Pennsylvania Cleaners and Launderer's Association (WPCL) logo displayed. These participating drycleaners will clean the coats free of charge and deliver them to the mission. Coats will be distributed to the homeless and the needy on Saturday, October 27, 2001. |
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| [June 27th] GMF Management Reports Staffing Changes Planned
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| [June 26th] The 2001 Pittsburgh Metro Solidarity Picnic Stay tuned for news from the picnic on our events page, coming soon. But if you'd like to see the bulletin listing the winners of the prizes and the McShane Scholarship, download the list of winners This is an actual copy of the list, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the memo. Don't have it? Go get it free at Adobe's website.
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| [June 26th] Rock Against Racism 2001 The Thomas Merton Center is presenting Rock Against Racism 2001 on Saturday, August 18th, 2001 at the Schenley Park Overlook. Read the message from representative Maryellen Hayden: "The Thomas Merton Center has been hard at work supporting the Living Wage, producing education and information pieces on how the Bush tax cuts affect the poor, working class, and middle class people in our area. We have also been working to develop broad-based community support for efforts against racial and ethnic oppression." "Rock Against Racism is an effort to bring together different kinds of people using diverse types of music. Last year, our first concert had over 500 people in attendance. This year, we expect 2000." Make plans to go! |
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| [June 26th] What's the TRUTH about Postal Reform? "Postal Service management and the USPS Board of Governors are spreading misleading information to achieve their objectives of postal reform and modification of the collective bargaining process. The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, intends to expose these USPS fabrications so that American citizens and the Congress will know the truth." APWU Executive Vice President William Burrus sends all APWU members the following memorandum addressing the propaganda we've been seeing on our Postal Link bulletin boards in our workplaces and on the closed circuit Postal Vision TV's. This one is a "don't miss," but you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the memo. Don't have it? Go get it free at Adobe's website.
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| [June 21th] We won - get over it! Message to management: Let's bring this to an end! It seems that the Pittsburgh Metro is not the only Local experiencing difficulty in having Postal management pay when we win grievance settlements and arbitration cases. On June 18, 2001, I received a letter from the Eastern Montgomery County Area Local (EMCAL) President stating that his Local has met numerous times with District and Local managers in an attempt to bring management into compliance with the Local's grievance/arbitration wins. Like Pittsburgh Metro, Eastern Montgomery is pursuing compliance through the court system and seeking help from the National to that end. I have joined the EMCAL President in seeking the assistance of National Executive Vice President William Burrus in bringing payment and finally, closure to these cases. Rosemary Penascino President |
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| [June 13th] Burris Update #36: Negotiation Process Moves Forward On this date APWU and postal management have been provided the list of three (3) arbitrators requested from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS). As per the parties written agreement, the national parties will have 14 calendar days from date of receipt to make a selection of the arbitrator who will serve as the neutral arbitrator. The list of nine arbitrators includes two arbitrators submitted by each of the parties (union and management) for a total of four. Added to the four thus selected, the union and the Postal Service selected one arbitrator from the other party’s list of five previously submitted in our effort to voluntarily agree to an arbitrator without the intervention of FMCS. This party selection thus includes the names of six arbitrators to which the parties will add the three arbitrators received from FMCS. Within the next 14 calendar days, the parties will begin the process of alternate striking of names with each party afforded four strikes until the name of one arbitrator remains who will be designated the neutral arbitrator. The beginning of the arbitration process will be determined by the availability of the arbitrator and will commence for 45 days. The arbitration panel will consist of three arbitrators, one designated by the union, one by the Postal Service and the neutral selected pursuant the above described process. Bill Burrus Executive Vice President June 11, 2001 This update, and all other Burrus updates are available at the APWU national website, www.apwu.org-- |
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| [June 1st] Solidarity Picnic Registration Deadline Approaches! The cut-off date for registering for the Solidarity Picnic is just around the bend. Have you registered yet? If you'd like to read about the picnic plans, we have it all laid out for you from start to finish. If you like what you see, please feel free to print off a copy of the registration form or use our convenient online registration form! The bottom line is... the deadline is June 11th! |
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| [June 1st] Who Wants to Know? They do. U. S. Postal Management that is. Pittsburgh has been selected as the site of a pilot program conducted at various stations, branches and associate offices in the area. A Pilot Program entitled, "WE WANT TO KNOW" is being conducted to handle customer's complaints. A giveaway notice card encourages customer's with questions/complaints to contact the Postal Service in one of three ways: (1) by speaking to their local Postmaster or Supervisor; (2) Call 1-800-ASK-USPS or (3) by visiting the Postal Service Website. The purpose of the pilot is to gather customer feedback on the card in order to determine its marketability and identify issues of concern. Pittsburgh was selected in addition to the Dakotas, South Georgia and Chicago Districts. Excerpted from a letter to President Penascino from Clerk Division, Assistant Director Thomas Thompson dated May 8, 2001. |
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| [June 1st] FEDEX Tentacles Further Infiltrate Allegheny Area Eastern Region Coordinator Jim Burke received notification from Steve Malizia, Manager, Labor Relations Allegheny Area that FEDEX drop boxes would be deployed in the Allegheny Area around the middle of June. As part of a nationwide deployment of FEDEX boxes to Retail Units, four district test sites were selected earlier with 417 surveyed locations for drop box placement. The sites include Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia and South Jersey. After completion and analysis of the surveys, a determination will be made on final placement. |
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| [June 1st] Toms River postal union: Punish bosses Abusive Toms River supervisors were transferred, even promoted, say angry letter carriers. The U.S. Postal Service failed to remove managers from its work force despite a recent report that blamed abusive supervisors for creating a potentially violent post office in Toms River, union officials said. Instead, supervisors in charge of the Toms River branch were placed in other leadership positions, some of which could be considered promotions, they said. "That's not the right way to correct a situation like this," said Joseph Palmerson, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 2128, representing the 280 employees in Toms River. "I don't think this is going to be swept under the carpet as it has in the past." Palmerson made his comments after reviewing a 29-page report released last week by the Office of the Inspector General, a watchdog agency that oversees the Postal Service. The report is attracting interest from a growing number of New Jersey congressmen. The report validated employees' claims that the branch was ripe for violence. It described numerous instances of supervisors harassing employees. And it said Postal Service administrators knew about conditions at the branch since 1999 but did little to ease the tension. The report also contained several recommendations, including human relations and conflict resolution training. But it didn't call for disciplinary action other than to reassign postmaster Joseph Bramante to another facility. Bramante was the only easily identifiable employee in the report. Assigned postmaster of the Toms River office in September 1999, he has since been transfered to Princeton, where he manages a facility where employees decipher addresses electronically. Palmerson said the transfer of Bramante and other managers is standard for the Postal Service, which has for years been hurt by the reputation of being a dangerous place to work. Between 1992 and 1998, 16 postal employees were killed on the job, nine of them by co-workers. That number includes a 1995 incident in which a fired postal worker killed two co-workers and two customers in Montclair. "I've seen it happen many times," Palmerson said. "My ultimate goal is to hold these people that did inappropriate things accountable for their actions." Among the actions the Inspector General's Office found: Bramante had a .38 caliber shell on his desk and handled it during an interview; and another supervisor berated an employee for more than an hour, leaving the employee in tears. The Office of the Inspector General operates independently of postal management, and its job is to investigate Postal Service programs. But the office usually leaves disciplinary actions to the Postal Service, spokeswoman Sandra Harding said. Postal Service spokeswoman Diane Todd declined to comment about personnel decisions. "We don't discuss any kind of administrative actions or personnel matters publicly, and that is for any level employee whether it's a letter carrier, custodian or postmaster," Todd said. Workers first detailed the branch's hostile climate in letters to regional managers in November 1999. After the conditions didn't change, they met with Rep. H. James Saxton, R-N.J. Saxton said he wasn't satisfied with the response from regional Postal Service managers and asked the Inspector General to investigate the conditions. The Inspector General's Office last September issued an urgent bulletin warning of the potential for violence. "When I saw the intensity of the workers, I got the feeling something terrible would happen," Saxton said in an interview. Saxton said he plans to meet with union officials in the next two weeks to discuss the report. And he isn't the only congressman involved in the issue. A spokeswoman for Sen. Jon S. Corzine, D-N.J., said Corzine also was meeting with employees. The ultimate goal, Saxton said, is to improve conditions. "And we're still working to get it rectified," he said. "If there's punitive action to be taken, that is a situation we'll be looking into." Published in the Asbury Park Press 5/22/01 |
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| Copyright ©2001 Pittsburgh Metro Local, APWU, AFL-CIO | ||||||||
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