Voter Registration Deadline Alert
By Steve Claeson, Associate Editor
The voter registration deadline was incorrectly reported in the September/October Mountaineer. The actual deadline to register to vote is Monday, October 4, 2004. If you have not registered yet, please be aware that this deadline will soon be gone, and then you will not be able to vote.
Furthermore, I implore you to strongly encourage at least one unregistered friend or family member to get registered. Take the registration form to them, watch them fill it out, mail it in for them. Get them to sign up to vote by mail at the same time. (The union has all the forms. Call 303-365-0094). You can multiply your voting power by influencing people who know and respect you. The participation of those who usually don’t bother to vote could be the difference in this closely contested election.
We cannot let the White House or the Senate be controlled by those who will steal our paychecks and retirement – just so they can enrich their billionaire supporters. We must break all voter registration records, and we must do it by the deadline that is almost upon us – October 4, 2004!
2004 Denver Metro APWU
Organizing Drive Still Going Strong
By Dennis Enderson, President
Since our 2004 Local Organizing Drive began, 31 new members have joined our union. While this is very good news, we need to continue the positive momentum. Our current organizing drive runs through December 31, 2004. You still have a chance to collect $100 for every new member you recruit to join, and win great prizes by signing up the most new members. The recruiter who signs up the most non-members will win $500. Second prize is $300 and third prize is $100. Any recruiter who signs up at least ten new members will also win $200 worth of union merchandise, or cash if preferred. New members signed up during the drive are automatically entered into a drawing to receive $100 worth of union merchandise at the conclusion of the drive. During the drive, drawings will be held among each month’s new members and recruiters. One person from each group will win $50 worth of union merchandise. As you can see, there are many ways you can win prizes for helping us to sign up new members. Please request the form you need from your union steward, or call the union office. Thank you for helping your union to grow stronger!
USPS Agrees to Cancel Hallmark Program
By William Burrus, President
As I announced at the APWU National Convention, 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 September 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. On May 10, 2004, I wrote to Hallmark’s Chief Executive Officer, Donald J. Hall Jr., expressing the union’s concerns about the pilot program, and asked that he reconsider the company’s decision to participate. I told him about the pride postal workers take in the service they provide to the American people, and of the extensive training retail clerks receive. I also reminded him that when Sears embarked on a similar plan in 1989, the APWU responded with calls for a boycott, and the program was discontinued.
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. In a May 27, 2004 response to my letter, Hallmark’s CEO expressed surprise at our concerns, and said he had contacted postal officials to address them. Today’s letter from the USPS confirms that the program will not move forward.
APWU Officer Election Ballots Are in the Mail
By Dennis Enderson, President
Ballots for the 2004 National APWU Officer Election are in the mail and should arrive very soon. Please remember our Get Out the Vote Drive and be sure to return your completed ballot. You could win up to $2004 just for voting in this election! Please refer to the previous Express Bulletin for more information about this election, along with a list of those candidates endorsed by our membership. Make your voice heard in this election!
Volunteers Wanted for Safety Programs
By Rick Romero, Safety and Health Coordinator
The postal service has signed an agreement July 12, 2004 on implementing the Voluntary Protection Program Participant Association (VPPPA). Our Plant Manager, Tal Middleton along with our President Dennis Enderson has agreed to implement VPPPA at the GMF/P&DC. Our facility is in the process of preparing for the application.
Much like (ERRP) Ergonomic Risk Reduction Process, there will be a committee and members will be of craft union members and management. The members will consist of core team members from ERRP and new members. As soon as our facility is ready to implement VPPPA, then I will be accepting names for the committee. For the GMF/PEDC facility, I am now accepting names to add to the ERRP core team. The need will be two clerks and one maintenance personnel for Tour 2, two clerks and one maintenance personnel for Tour 3 and one clerk for Tour 1.
Thanks to the P&DC, ERRP core team producing the stats of improving the (I&I’s) illness and injuries our management now wants to implement ERRP at the MPA. I will now be accepting names for the core team committee. I will need one clerk and one maintenance craft member from each tour. Once the selection is made, you will be notified when you will start. Please contact me at 303-853-6885. Say your full name and then spell it. Leave the name of your supervisor and your tour. I’m requesting members with good communication skills, a good relationship with employees and management, computer skills and some knowledge with Word and Excel. I will need a contact number. Last but not least, when meeting with the core team committee, you leave all issues not pertaining to ergonomics outside the room.
How to “Arrest” Supervisors
Who Are Stealing Our Work
By Steve Claeson, Chief Steward/Coordinator
We all know that 99.9% of the time, supervisors are contractually prohibited from doing clerk craft work. Yet they are doing our work in some stations. Helping customers at the window and boxing mail are two areas where supervisors have been ordered by higher management to do clerk work. Regardless of who orders it. supervisors cannot contractually do our work. When they do, the answer is a grievance.
There are two important things you can do to improve the chances of a grievance being successful:
1. Notify the steward in a timely manner (within 14 days, and please don’t wait until near the deadline)!
2. The violations must be adequately documented. This means witnesses, violator’s names, places, dates and precise times. For example, you could write, “I (your name), witnessed supervisor Edwards distributing mail into the P.O. boxes from 9:15 AM until 10:00 AM on September 9, 2004 at the Main Office.”
The usual remedy for management doing bargaining unit work is payment to members of the bargaining unit. If you help your steward with his/her case, you will be protecting all of our jobs in these times of staffing reductions and there’s a good chance you might also be enriching your own paycheck! Eventually, your efforts might even lead to another job being posted; so take good notes and notify your steward when management is doing craft work.
Maintenance Skills Development
Program Continues to be Successful
By Dennis Enderson, President
The Maintenance Skills Development Program (MSDP) recently concluded its second successful run in the Denver office. Thirteen participants graduated from this on-the-job training program and are now eligible to apply for promotions into skilled maintenance craft positions. The new graduates are: John Vigil, Brian Wales, Faauli Faauli, Melanie Ross, Nancy Stevens, Joyce Tenorio, Robert Etherington, Thomas Umland, Gerald Boes, Daniel Adams, Kent Arnold, Timothy Talarico, and Gilberto Machado.
We congratulate these individuals for their outstanding achievement, and thank them for their hard work and dedication. The MSDP exists because the American Postal Workers Union negotiated a memorandum in the National Agreement calling for on the job developmental training opportunities to allow APWU employees to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to qualify for promotions into skilled maintenance craft duty assignments. Successful implementation of the MSDP requires a high degree of Labor-Management cooperation. We appreciate the excellent cooperative relationship we have with Maintenance Manager Nimrod Salazar. His commitment to the MSDP has ensured that we have the resources necessary for the success of the program. We also thank our excellent facilitators, especially Rodger Moeller and our former Maintenance Craft Director, Dave Villalva for their tireless devotion to the MSDP. It is primarily through Dave Villalva’s vision and determination that we have the MSDP in our local. The Denver Metro Area Local, APWU is firmly committed to the continued existence and ongoing success of the MSDP. We will do everything in our power to make the program available to every interested member of our local.
Moe Biller Scholarship Winners Announced
By Dennis Enderson, President
Our Local Scholarship Selection Committee has announced the five winners of the Moe Biller Scholarship Awards sponsored by the Denver Metro Area Local, APWU. The five successful applicants are Leslie P. Russell, Colleen Elaine Collier, Bituin M. Perez, Jisha Jacob and Jackie Smith. Each winner has received a scholarship award of $500 from our local. All five scholarship recipients have been invited to attend our next union meeting on Saturday, September 25, 2004, so we can honor their achievement in front of our membership. We offer our congratulations to these deserving individuals, and we wish them the best of luck in their future educational endeavors. We also thank our Scholarship Selection Committee members (John Kelly, Ron Gorman, and Jim Deden) for their excellent efforts in making these difficult choices.
Update on 2003 St. Patrick’s
Day Blizzard Settlement
By Dennis Enderson, President
The union and management have been working hard to process pay adjustments for the 2003 St. Patrick’s Day Blizzard grievance settlement. These adjustments have proven to be a challenging task involving the collection and processing of hundreds of call in logs and clock rings to ensure that the correct employees are identified and properly compensated. Please watch your paycheck over the next several pay periods for an appropriate adjustment. We are working to create a list of these employees who are scheduled to receive an adjustment to help us reply to your inquiries. We will appreciate your patience as we continue to work through this process. Many thanks to Tour 3 Denver GMF steward Shane Allen for his hard work in helping to finalize these adjustments.
2004 Membership Picnic a Great Success
By Gary Scott, Executive Vice-President
The hundreds of members and their families who attended the All American Picnic on September 12, 2004 at Clement Park had a great time. It was enjoyable to see all the children so engaged in the entertainment created by the games wizard, moon bounce, bungee run and watermelon eating contest. By all accounts, this year’s event was an outstanding success. Hopefully, some of you out there with the passion for organizing such an event will step forward and take on what could be a lengthy planning period to produce a quality membership picnic in the future. Please contact your steward if you have interest in participating on such a committee. See you at the next union organized event coming near you!
Other News Items
By Dennis Enderson, President
Our next Executive Board Meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM on Friday, September 24, 2004.
The next scheduled regular General Membership Meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00AM on Saturday, September 25, 2004 at the union office. We expect a number of congressional candidates to attend. Please be there!
There’s a new radio station in town with news and analysis from the “other side” of the political spectrum. It’s called “Air America,” and you can find it on the AM dial at 760. Give it a try. We think you’ll like it!
/jd
opeiu #5
afl-cio
