[September 28th]

AFL-CIO Supports Ed Rendell for Pennsylvania Governor

Union Flyers Available
The Working Families office has a supply of AFL-CIO flyers on hand for distribution for union members. "An important message from your union - Ed Rendell for Governor " signs are now available. Call the Working Families office at 412-562-1160 or 412-562-1162 to find out how to obtain signs.

Phone Bank Volunteers Needed
Also, use those above phone numbers to sign up to work the phone banks. Fifty phones are available, so volunteers are needed! Phone bank hours are Monday through Thursday, 5:30 PM - 9 PM, beginning Monday, September 30. The phone bank is located in the Steelworkers' Building, corner of Stanwix and Boulevard of the Allies, downtown Pittsburgh.

        [September 24th]

Pittsburgh to hold jobs for Youngstown and Canton

On Friday, September 20, 2002, we were notified that all Pittsburgh excessing is on hold for the time being. A second Area Meeting is scheduled to take place in October, where the parties will share information and discuss the impact already absorbed by Pittsburgh employees.

In the midst of being told by Local management that junior clerks may still be excessed from the GMF installation, I have received notice that Pittsburgh has been told to withhold level 5 clerk vacancies for both Youngstown and Canton, Ohio.

As we prepare for our second meeting, we continue to solicit your input. If you have casuals or light/limited duty or rehab letter carriers working in your bid section, report this to your steward. This request includes all stations and branches, as well as the GMF (all tours and crafts) and AMF.

Unencumbered employees should be reporting where they work and what they do for eight hours every day to their stewards. If you or anyone else in your office/bid section is working overtime, we need to know that, too. All of this information is critical in the fight for our jobs. Please help us by reporting all of the above information to your steward, so that documentation can be gathered to support keeping our junior clerks in our own installation.

        [September 24th]

Reminders and Updates

COLA and pay raises

Pay Period 20-02 (September 27) will include a $12 per pay increase-about $312 annually-due to a rise in the Consumer Price Index.

Pay Period 25-02 (November 16) will bring a 1.4% base salary increase. With this comes a raise in dues of about 60 cents per pay period, 44 cents for transitional employees.

Associate office representation

If you hold a bid in an Associate Office and you need steward representation, please contact Chief Grievance Officer of Associate Offices, Clyde Lewis at (724) 938-8100. You can also email him at ClydeLewis@pgh-metro.net

No Christmas Cards

At Saturday's meeting, the members voted not to send Christmas cards to themselves for the second year in a row. Instead, the members passed a motion to donate $500 to the Light of Life Ministries on the Northside, for Christmas. As stated by the member making the motion, "Let's do something nice for someone else."

"Casuals in Lieu of" case hearing scheduled

Pittsburgh's first "casuals in lieu of" arbitration case will be presented on October 25, 2002 at the BMC. The case involves management's use of casual employees in clerk jobs. National Business Agent Mike Gallagher will present the case for our Local.

Management continues to talk about excessing junior full-time clerks from the BMC. At this time they have not given us any particulars. When the information is shared with us, we will provide it to our membership.

        [September 23rd]

Post Office Gives Up on Germ-zapping Machinery

by Kay Lazar, Boston Herald
Tuesday, September 24, 2002

A year after the anthrax-by-mail crisis, the U.S. Postal Service has abandoned its plans of installing expensive electron-beam devices in many mail sorting facilities to zap harmful bacteria.

The agency says it has since shifted its goal toward finding hand-held devices that would allow postal carriers to detect harmful materials, much the way a Geiger counter detects radiation.

`"We have not found a machine that is really capable of doing that yet, but we are looking at a number of companies," Robert Cannon, Postal Service spokesman in Boston, said yesterday.

The agency spent $40 million last fall purchasing its first eight electron beam machines that were slated to be installed in the Washington, D.C., area to screen government mail. But Cannon said all eight have yet to be installed because of problems with the equipment. He said the machines can erase computer discs, make foods taste bitter and discolor envelopes.

The cash-strapped agency also found that it had to build a separate `"containment room" around each machine, to protect workers from the powerful beams.

Of the nation's 18 confirmed anthrax cases last year, five people died, including two Washington, D.C., postal workers and a Florida newspaper editor who opened an anthrax-laced letter.

"The more time that goes by that another hazard doesn't show up in the mail, you have to assess the threat," Cannon said. "All of (the agency's plans) could change tomorrow if another letter shows up."

        [September 20th]

FEHB Premiums Rise in 2003

Did you know that the Postal healthcare premiums are going up next year? Though you will be informed of the increase in the literature during Open Season in November and December, you don't have to wait. The average increase is 11.1% this year.

The American Postal Workers Union will be offering a new, nationwide plan, called the "consumer-driven option."

Under the plan, enrollees will receive a health-spending account worth $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for families. Employees will be able to draw from the account to pay for doctor visits, laboratory tests and prescription drugs. They may also use the account to pay for dental and eye care.

Unspent account dollars are rolled over to the next year. Employees who spend all of the money must pay a portion of their subsequent medical expenses out of pocket -- with the amount ranging from $600 for individuals to $1,200 for families -- before traditional health coverage kicks in.

Leaders of two federal unions and the president of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees criticized James for including the postal plan in the federal program choices. They said they feared that the new plan would siphon off healthy people while employees with high medical bills would stick with the more conventional plans and eventually drive up premiums even more.

This means that not only Postal employees can join the new plan, and that may mean that the new APWU plan could have a greater negotiating power with health insurance companies.

If you would like to see what the new rates look like, check out the chart at the OPM website. Here is the link for Pennsylvania.

        [September 10th]

Meeting Information

It's that time again. Summer is over, the kids are back in school and it's time for our members to begin attending Local meetings. We look forward to seeing you there.

The next scheduled meeting of the EXECUTIVE COUNCIL is:
Monday, September 16, 2002 at 4:00 p.m. at the Local Headquarters Building, 1414 Brighton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. All stewards are welcome.

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING is:
Tuesday, September 17, 2002 at 4:00 p.m. at the Local Headquarters Building, 1414 Brighton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

MEMBERSHIP MEETING is:
Saturday, September 21, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. at the Letter Carriers Hall, 841 California Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

There is important business to discuss. Please plan to attend.