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The Political Scene
By Tina Desautels, Political Director
Senate Bill 1789 Update
Today I sat in on a conference call with Senator Mark Udall’s staff. Currently, the only vote that has happened is a cloture vote. The Senator voted for this but it failed. The bill must pass this before amendments can be added. I was advised that there are several amendments proposed. They may or may not be helpful for us. The Senator has not seen any of the proposed amendments.
The best advice I have is for each of us to call Senator Udall and Senator Bennett at their Washington, DC offices, (1-202-224-3121) and let them know we want to support:
• Keeping six day delivery
• Maintain current service standards
• Allow the USPS to recover overpayments to the Retiree Pension Fund
• Prevent closings of Plants and small Post Offices
Human Relations
By Phil Desautels, Director Human Relations
This is a subject I have written about in our publication, The Mountaineer, and have spoken about at DMAL General Membership Meetings.
The Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) is the Federal program created to treat injured employees. You should think of it as an insurance company. For example, your roof needs replacement after a wind storm. You submit a claim. A Claims Examiner processes your claim and issues a decision. If your insurance approves your claim, you then get the work done. OWCP does the same thing. If you suffer an injury at work during the same work shift, it is referred to as a “traumatic injury”. OWCP will, in all cases, regardless if they approve the claim or not, pay the first $1500.00 within the first 60 days (this does not apply to injury/illness cases). This covers basic treatment and medication. If your condition requires more treatment such as therapy, or surgery, you must have:
An approved claim
Doctor’s request for therapy, surgery, or other medical treatments
Approval from OWCP for the requested procedure or treatment
If you do not have any of these conditions and you go ahead with a treatment or procedure, you may be liable for payment of such treatment or procedure. I know this is a “Catch 22”. You’re in pain, your doctor wants to resolve the condition, you want the pain to stop and resume your normal life. However, unless you can afford payment, you have to wait for a decision from OWCP. If you get a denial for any treatment or procedure, then most insurance companies will pay for it.
Please do not jump just because your doctor schedules a treatment or procedure. If you have any doubts, contact me at 303-365-1524 ext. 12, before your procedure, and we can discuss it. If you have your claim number, we can find out the status of your claim.
MVS Update
By Robert Helmig, Director MVS Craft
I would like to clarify part of my last article that I wrote. In it, I basically called out the Tour 3 Expeditors, and I have been told that I offended them. I apologize for this and want to correct this. I never meant to put the blame on the expeditors, or any other craft employees.
Let me give a little history; I wrote about how the HCR trailers are being loaded before PVS trailers, and how when our loads are finished being loaded, they are not being strapped in correctly. I wrote “I am tired of our own people (expeditors) who don’t care about their own brothers and sisters, and if they lose their jobs. It was stated out of frustration, and I apologize. I have gotten with the correct stewards for the clerk craft and we are working together to get this fixed. A big problem is that we do not have enough trailers and I agree. I am working on this to fix it.
In regards to the grievance to get the PSE’s their back pay; this grievance is at Step 2 and as soon as I get the denial, I will appeal it to Step 3. I do not foresee this grievance getting resolved soon.
The grievance for the Aurora’s and Arvada contracting out is scheduled for May 8th. I will be the lead advocate for the union. I will have help from national, as management has an attorney for their lead advocate. Our case is the lead case, which means it will go on unless management brings to the table an offer that the union can’t refuse.
As always, if you have any questions, get with your steward. If you need to speak to me, please contact me at 303-365-1524 ext. 15.
Clerk Happenings
By Ron Malunat, Director Clerk Craft
Well the political debates are picking up as it’s that time again. Democrat versus Republican, progressives versus conservatives and of course Obama versus Romney, etc. I want to take this opportunity to put some facts out there. Political extremists seem to avoid and/or distort facts that don’t fit their beliefs. Unfortunately, I see this on both sides of the political spectrum. First, I want to say that the USPS is totally self-supporting and take no tax dollars, simple and direct. Secondly, the following is from the U.S. Treasury Department. The question is, of the last five Presidents, who increased the debt the most? The following is the percentage of increase in public debt. They are in order from largest increase to smallest that was incurred during the President’s term.
Ronald Reagan 189%
George Bush Jr. 115%
George Bush Sr. 55%
Bill Clinton 37%
Barack Obama 16%
As Joe Friday used to say, “Just the facts.”
Unfortunately, the NTFT things that I said would probably happen after management rescheduled, is now happening. Management is doing more craft work to try and cover for the work that can’t get done because of short staffing. Also, some supervisors are scanning mail that is up when it really isn’t. Both of these issues have to be reported to your stewards or coordinators. This will not only get the members paid for the work done by management, but we also use this information to appeal the NTFT jobs. The information on false “up times” can also be used. Please promptly get this information to your steward or coordinator!
NTFT and Mandated Overtime
By Ron Malunat, Director Clerk Craft
A common question that is coming up is about being mandated for overtime when an installation or office has a NTFT job. The answer is, NO, MANAGEMENT CAN NOT MANDATE NON-VOLUNTEERS FOR OVERTIME AT AN INSTALLATION/OFFICE! The remedy is not only to pay the non-volunteer for time worked, but we are asking for additional things as it’s repeated. For Denver Stations, the installation is all of the Denver Stations. So if you have no NTFT’s at your station, you still cannot be mandated because of NTFT jobs at other stations. We have already won this grievance and it’s not hard to win because the NTFT Memo of Understanding makes the issue crystal clear.
Changing Hours
If management changes your report time, you must let us know as soon as possible! This, like the before mentioned issues, goes beyond the financial remedy (out of schedule pay). We need it as information for our appeal of job changes and losses. Management must understand that we are not to be treated as casuals and we want desirable jobs. Simply put, management can’t have their cake and eat it too!
Retiree Tracking
By Jean Daniel, Secretary
Below please find our new Retirees since the last issue of the Union News Express (03-30-12). The DMAL wishes all our Retirees a happy and healthy retirement!
San Chan 4/20/12
Lannaire Jackson 4/20/12
Martin Kimball 4/20/12
Benny Martinez 3/31/12
Deborah Slaughter 4/05/12
Attendance Incentive Award
By Rita Burns, Office Manager
At the conclusion of every membership meeting, an Incentive Award Drawing is held to encourage membership attendance. This drawing is designed to be randomly selected from the membership roster. The winner who is present will receive a $200 door prize. If there are no winners, the amount is increased $25 for the next month’s meeting. The 20 names are randomly selected by our office staff, and placed in a sealed envelope to be opened at the meeting. The names were read and there was no winner at the April Membership Meeting. The May meeting amount will be $225.
Denver Metro Area Local Website
By Rita Burns, Office Manager
Please be aware that the DMAL has a website that has been designed for you, the member. On the website you will find current legislation, pertinent information for all APWU members, contracts, downloadable forms, local contacts, political contacts, etc. Also available are local and national scholarships for union members and their families. Take a minute to register on our website and you will also be able to review the financials of the local, as well as minutes from Executive Board and Membership Meetings. There is a lot of information on our website. Take advantage of the resources available for members only! You can find us at www.denverapwu.com. Also, any suggestions, questions or concerns are most welcome! As always, think Union!!
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