Work Hours, Edits, and Ergonomics


With the influx of many additional TEs (transitional employees) at the East Pittsburgh Remote Encoding Center due to FSM work, snags have materialized regarding other work versus Postal work hours; on the Union Board, there is a Postal notification letter regarding willingness to work with other employees. Please refer your supervisor to this should you have problems with reporting or departing times, and be prepared to substantiate. Steward Antoinette Watson successfully settled these issues this summer with REC management, but each case is unique and should be reviewed.

Toni also successfully settled running multiple edits when the past practice has been one per week. Regarding error edits, you may be able to have an error edit removed if you can prove your reasoning and result; to find how to do this, please see your Steward as we have been successful in this area.



The East Pittsburgh REC now has chairs with adjustable arms, resulting from a grievance filed in 2000 focusing on ergo-related injuries. Some 21 employees, Union and non, participated in statements about injury. If you were one of these, thanks for the courage to sign your name, which in some measure produced the resulting settlement without going into arbitration. Forty-five chairs originally were accepted, with another 8, and then 13 arriving. Securing more will be ongoing.

Management's position of a "comfortability issue" did not address the documentation of injuries. The most severe cases were people who were keying with elbows resting on knees because they could no longer hold their arms up to key. Carpal tunnel and numbness in backs and legs were also reported. With any chair, should you notice wear or mechanical problems with adjustment, notify your supervisor. There is a form to fill out. Also, have the chair red-tagged and pulled from the floor. Like Smoky the Bear says, "Only you" can do this. When you use a chair, if you notice a problem, please don't leave it out there to injure someone else. File a complaint, red-tag the chair and work safely.

New TEs have also increased the need for orientation sessions at the REC. If you were not at an APWU orientation, please contact Steward Melissa Ritter, Tour 3, who has been conducting these ongoing. Management arbitrarily reduced the time allotment for orientation from on hour to 1/2 hour in 1996, and this was successfully appealed and won; it is now set at one to one 1/2 hours because of need at the REC sites.

In Pittsburgh, we have been able to have bids posted and filled for Tour 1 careers. We are looking to convert TEs. We hope to succeed in earlier start time bids for Tour 3 Careers. Other RECs are complaining about having career bids arbitrarily abolished and moved from Tour 3 to Tour 1 with no input from their Union representatives. This has not happened here. If you have any information regarding bids, ODLs, or daily and weekly work hours, please contact your Steward. We can put the information to good use in painting the entire picture for increased job security, and every little bit helps.

In closing, remember safety first. Smart time management will guarantee you are not rushed. The cold weather that is coming will bring ice and slippery walking and driving surfaces, so be careful out there. Thanks for making Pittsburgh the best.

Rheba Salac, CGO, Pittsburgh REC Site