THE BULLETIN BOARD
September 2004
[September 28th]Proof That Your Union Works For You-- COLA
APWU members received a Cost-Of-Living Adjustment in their Sept. 24 paychecks that increases annual salaries by $624. This is the largest single COLA increase for postal workers since May 1981.
In late November, members also will receive a 1.3 percent wage increase, resulting in raises that total $1,184 to $1,292 in a two-month period.
Read the full story on the national APWU website.
[September 28th]Only Two Days Left on FEGLI Open Season
"The Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program Open Season ends September 30, 2004. (This is the first FEGLI Open Season in five years, and the next one may be years away.)"
"During this Open Season, if you're an employee in an eligible position, you can enroll in the FEGLI Program even if you previously waived all coverage. If you're already enrolled, you can elect more or different coverage, up to the maximum available. You don't have to answer any questions about your health or have a physical examination as you probably would if you purchase individual life insurance coverage in the private sector."
Visit the FEGLI 2004 Home Page today for information on this program.
[September 27th]Station and Branch Staffing
After numerous and lengthy reviews of managements' function four calculations and related proposed staffing changes, updated decisions were presented to the Union at a August 16, 2004 Labor/Management Meeting. At this writing, in-section bidding could commence anytime soon with installation-wide bidding starting in October.
In March, management gave notification of intentions to excess 62 full-time regular clerks, reducing that complement from 314 to 260 throughout the combined Stations and Branches. Their intentions were to replace them with 62 part-time flexible employees, up from the current 6, for which they have since acquired hiring authorization. As of today:
- There are to be 309 full-time and 26 part-time S&B clerks.
- The Utility Clerk duty assignments are to be abolished.
- Expect significant reposting of current assignments, both in-section and city-wide, depending on the status of the section, in accordance with the Agreements.
- A number of S&B clerks could lose their current duty assignments, either through reposting and/or section reductions.
- The Local Agreement to temporarily fill potentially impacted assignments with Replacement Pool Clerks terminates in Oct.
- The Replacement Pool section and assignments will remain.
- These staffing figures conclude the potential for involuntary reassignment of clerks out of the craft and P&DC installation.
While some of our goals have been achieved, this is not an agreement.
PMAPWU is opposed to part-time assignments in Stations and Branches, and contend that management is failing to maximize full-time assignments as required by the Agreements, as demonstrated through the Utility Bids, and as identified through joint review efforts. Contrary to managements' complement desires, Stations & Branches are not independent, they are part of the P&DC installation.
[September 26th]New Tracking Site for the TSP Funds
Take a look at a new website:TSPMoney.com- Trends, Signals, and Patterns.
This is a new site that will give you daily, weekly, monthly and year-to-date looks at the TSP, plus many tools to examine trends and returns. This is not a site run by the Thrift Savings Plan, only an informational site that tracks the funds, and does not provide financial advice or advisors.
[September 17th]Give the Gift of Good Jobs
Union-made holiday gifts offered on new web site
A new web site launched this month will help shoppers find all sorts of union-made gifts from clothing and chocolates to computers, games and greeting cards.
Shoppers will spend more than $1 trillion during the fall and winter holidays and www.shopunionmade.org will steer as many dollars as possible towards the purchase of union-made gifts, explained Matt Bates, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department.
"Shoppers can 'Give the Gift of Good Jobs' by buying holiday items produced by workers with the good pay, benefits and rights of a union contract. The Shop Union-Made web site makes it easy to support good jobs by buying union," Bates said.
"What we buy has a huge impact on jobs and the economy. More money is spent during Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukha and Kwanzaa than any other time of the year," he added.
The AFL-CIO will target the peak of the holiday shopping season by promoting "Buy Union Week" Nov. 26 through Dec. 5. The grassroots campaign will rely on community groups, anti-sweatshop activists, labor, consumer and religious organizations to spread the word about buying union for the holidays.
"The public is ready for this. People have seen millions of good jobs disappear and they are looking for ways to take a stand. The web site is a convenient way to make a big difference," Bates said.
[September 10th]USPS Agrees to Cancel Hallmark Program
from Burrus Update #14-2004
The Postal Service has agreed to end a pilot program with Hallmark that permitted the card and gift store corporation to perform retail postal services. In a Sept. 10, 2004, letter the USPS vice president for Labor Relations formally notified the APWU that it would end the pilot and would not proceed with the Hallmark Gold Crown initiative at this time.
This is a significant accomplishment for the APWU. Hallmark and the USPS had announced an arrangement under which 972 Hallmark Gold Crown Stores would sell stamps and accept mail.
Although postage stamps have been available in drug stores, contract stations, and numerous other commercial establishments for many years, accepting letters and parcels over the counter is a different matter. The Hallmark program would have expanded private postal services to a new level.
Hallmark's CEO expressed surprise at our concerns, and said he had contacted postal officials to address them.
Please read President Burrus's full message (and see the letters exchanged) at Burrus Updates on the new national APWU website.
[September 6th]Labor Day Is Here.
We hope to see many of you in the parade today, because this year's Labor Day is an important one. It's very important to show our strength and unity at a time when our working rights are being challenged and threatened by the current administration-- plus, it's an election year. Let's not become a statistic because we were first a silent majority.
[September 6th]Your Voting Rights as an American Citizen
Did you know...?
In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which includes the right to cast a "provisional ballot" if your eligibility to vote is challenged. Even those who have voted before could experience problems casting their ballots.
Did you know...?
The five top risks for eligible voters include registration problems, erroneous purging of names, problems with the new identification requirement, difficulties with voting systems and a failure to count provisional ballots.
Did you know...?
To ensure every vote is counted in the 2004 election, the AFL-CIO, affiliated unions and their allies launched the My Vote, My Right campaign to educate voters about their rights. You can access individual state voter bills of rights to educate other voters about their voting rights and learn about the risks eligible voters face this year when casting their ballots.
Please get out the message that Working Families Vote!
Did you know...?
Big business outspends working families in financial contributions to political campaigns on a 12-1 basis— but guess what?
You can't be outspent on your vote.
Visit the Working Families Vote! website to learn more about your rights as an American voter, to participate in the choices our country makes, and ultimately, to help shape what our country will become for our futures, our livelihoods, and for the futures of our children. Do it today!
[September 1st]National APWU Convention Officially Endorses Kerry-Edwards Ticket
from the APWU 2004 Convention Bulletin
Responding to a videotaped message from Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, the APWU 17th Biennial Convention closed its proceedings Thursday with a rousing endorsement of the Kerry-Edwards ticket.
The APWU endorsement urges members to vote for Kerry-Edwards and candidates for Congress who will help protect workers' "wages, health benefits, retirement benefits, and collective bargaining rights." It also urges APWU members to give generously to COPA to support the union's political goals.
The convention endorsement follows a National Executive Board action in May, in which it endorsed Kerry, who had not yet chosen a running mate. The action means that the union's highest governing body supports the Democratic ticket.
"Of course, APWU members are free to follow their conscience on this matter," said President William Burrus after the board's decision. "But I believe this election will be a referendum on the Bush Administration, which has been a disaster for the middle class and for working people."
Read the entire bulletin item at APWU 2004 Convention Bulletins
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