[August 13th]

How to Interpret Your Paystub

If you ever wondered what all those codes meant on your paystub, look at this
quick reference for interpreting your paystub, formally known as Form 1223, USPS Earnings Statement.

        [August 12th]

President's Postal Commission Targets Injured Postal Workers
Susan M. Camey,
National APWU Human Relations Director

A priority function of the Human Relations Department is to provide information, guidance and advice to APWU local and state representatives in order for them to assist our injured members. Each year nearly 84,000 new claims are filed with OWCP by postal workers. We account for over half of the new OWCP claims filed annually by federal employees. This equates to nearly 10 % of the entire postal workforce, which means on a percentage basis more postal employees are filing new OWCP claims than use the grievance procedure.

That being said, the President's Commission has targeted injured workers with recommendations that would relieve the USPS of millions of dollars in workers' compensation costs, placing the financial burden on workers and their families. Their recommendations include imposing a 3-day waiting period before we'd be eligible to receive continuation of pay (COP), limiting wage loss compensation to 2/3 of our basic pay and forcing injured workers into retirement.

Think you can stop reading because this doesn't affect you? You saw the figures, every day we are each at risk of being injured on the job. If you haven't been, consider yourself fortunate; but you should never consider yourself to be exempt.

Continue...

        [August 8th]

Possible Class Action FMLA Suit Could Take on National Basis
Reposted from 7/21

Do you feel that you have been unduly plagued with problems when requesting FMLA from management? A member of the Colorado Springs local started a class action suit, Cyncar vs. Potter, and as the case has progressed, it has widened from Colorado Springs to the Denver District all the way to the entire Western Area. It is very possible that it will widen to take on a national scope.

Furthermore: Attorneys Barbara Edin, working with co-counsel Elwyn Schaefer and Todd McNamara have a class action certified against the USPS in the Western District for qualified individuals with disabilities when it
(1) unreasonably required re-certification of FMLA requests;
(2) unreasonably delayed and/or denied FMLA requests or stated they were "not currently approved;"
(3) systemically required second and third opinions to support the FMLA requests; and
(4) designated disability-related absences as AWOL and/or disciplined employees for disability-related absences when FMLA was disapproved.

The Attorneys believe this case will go national.

To view the form relating to this class action, and possibly download it and send it in to these attorneys, visit Lu's News and Views Class Action page.

The class-action revolves around the following precept:
"Violations of the FMLA by the USPS against personnel who can meet the statutory definition of having a disability".

Judge Kelly Humphrey, EEOC Administrative Judge, Denver District EEOC, certified this class action on April 1, 2003. Judge Humphrey issued a twelve-page Order recognizing the class action the class attorneys brought against the United States Postal Service(USPS) for having:

"...discriminated against qualified individuals with disabilities when it (1) unreasonably required re-certification of FMLA requests; (2) unreasonably delayed and/or denied FMLA requests or stated they were "not currently approved;" (3) systemically required second and third opinions to support the FMLA requests; and (4) designated disability-related absences as AWOL and/or disciplined employees for disability-related absences when FMLA was disapproved."

The USPS has appealed this decision to the Office of Federal Operations and submitted a brief in support of the appeal on June 23, 2003. The class attorneys are subsequently submitting a rebuttal to the USPS appeal to the OFO. This appeal will be forwarded on July 23, 2003.

A note from John Cyncar, a career-long member of the APWU, asks for our help: "This class action will have ramifications at the National Level, and the USPS realized that possibility and had so stated in a motion to extend their appeal deadline. Because of the potential scope of the class action, we will also need your help financially. Should we win, this financial help will be refunded to the donors, barring any restrictions set forth by the EEOC."

Please visit the special page on the website (PostalFlame.org) Mr. Cyncar has set up to provide all the necessary information for you to decide if you may or may not be included in such a class action suit, and what you need to do.

        [August 1st]

Postal Commission Report Serves Advertising Mailers At Public's Expense
Burrus Calls Recommendations 'Seriously Flawed'

Noting that the final report of the President’s Commission on the U.S. Postal Service is "seriously flawed," American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus promised a vigorous campaign to ensure that its recommendations do not become law.

"The report endorses a drastic overhaul of the nation’s mail system," Burrus said. "The recommendations are intended to serve only the needs of the big advertising mailers, at the expense of the American people. The report proposes giving the Postal Service unfettered authority to close 'low activity' post offices without first seeking citizen involvement," he said. "This power to close local post offices would be a disaster for small businesses and for rural America."

"The commission would give broad authority to a politically-appointed Postal Regulatory Board to set postage rates, define the scope of universal service, amend the postal monopoly, define and adjust universal service, set wages and benefits, and review and act on complaints," Burrus said. “The commission would give the board unprecedented authority, with no accountability," he said.

The commission's recommendations stand in "stark contrast to the expressed will of the American public," the APWU president said. Burrus pointed to a nationwide survey — conducted on behalf of the commission — that found: Americans have an overwhelmingly favorable view of the United States Postal Service. Three out of four respondents to the survey conducted just two months ago said the USPS required only minor changes or that it works "extremely well as is."

"The commission seems to have embraced the view of some in the mailing industry that 'the American public is complacently, blissfully ignorant'," Burrus said.

The panel's final report also contains numerous anti-worker proposals, Burrus noted. "The recommendations on collective bargaining are fundamentally dishonest," he said. "The commission purports to improve the process, but proposes changes that would destroy it. The commission would empower the politically-appointed regulatory board with the authority to unilaterally determine appropriate compensation levels and impose them on existing and future employees.

"And, in spite of the sacrifices postal employees made during the anthrax terrorist attacks, the commission would deny postal employees their rights as federal employees, severing them from federal health benefit, retirement, and workers’ compensation programs." Burrus said.

"The report is seriously flawed. The nation's mail system is not broken, and no one outside of Washington seems to think that it is," Burrus said. "Despite the sluggish economy, total mail volume has increased, and the Postal Service is projecting a surplus of $4.5 billion this fiscal year. There simply is no need for the sort of radical reform this commission is advocating.

"The special postal commission has ill-served its president and the American people."

        [August 1st]

AFL-CIO NATIONAL BOYCOTT LIST
May - August 2003

Building Materials & Tools

JET EQUIPMENT & TOOLS, INC.
Auburn, Wash., distributor of "JET" brand metal-and-woodworking power and hand tools for home and commercial use.    (International Brotherhood of Teamsters)

Entertainment & Recreation

BIG LEAGUE THEATRICALS ROAD COMPANY
Performing the "The Music Man"   (Actors' Equity Assn./American Federation of Musicians)

BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION
BET cable television, Action pay-per-view, BET on Jazz
(International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers)

ECHOSTAR DISH NETWORK
Satellite Television Service     (Communications Workers of America)

Food & Beverages

ALGOOD FOODS
Reeses Peanut Butter Cups    (International Brotherhood of Teamsters)

DIAMOND WALNUT CO.
Diamond brand canned and bagged walnuts and walnut pieces
(International Brotherhood of Teamsters)

MT. OLIVE PICKLE CO.
Pickles and relishes sold under the Mt. Olive and other labels, including the Food Lion and Harris Teeter supermarket "house" labels.    (Farm Labor Organizing Committee)

PICTSWEET MUSHROOM FARM
Fresh mushrooms and frozen vegetables with the Pictsweet label.
(United farm Workers of America)

Transportation & Travel

BEST WESTERN-GROSVENOR RESORT
Hotel in Lake Buena Vista. Fla.; located at Disney World, but separately owned and operated.    (Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union)

FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON
Hotel in Waterbury, Conn.    (Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union)

NEW OTANI HOTEL & GARDEN
Hotel in downtown Los Angeles
(Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union)

HOLIDAY INN SUNSPREE HOTEL
Hotel in Kapaa, Hawaii     (International Longshore & Warehouse Union)

Others
CF&I STEEL and OREGON STEEL MILLS, INC.
Steel, including rod, bar, rail, pipe, and steel plate   (United Steelworkers of America)

R.J REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO.
Cigarettes: Best Value, Camel, Century, Doral, Eclipse, Magna, Monarch, More, Salem, Sterling, Vantage, and Winston; plus all Moonlight Tobacco products.
(Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union)