It is with tremendous excitement and a lot of personal admiration that I announce the retirement of former DMAL officer and steward ‘Sandy C’ Carruthers. Sandy will be leaving a legacy of competence personified. When Sandy announced late last year that she would not be seeking reelection, many asked, “What does Sandy’s job consist of?’ There are not many still around who know that Sandy is a Tour 3 Automation Clerk. She has been on detail for the last 12 years serving as the DMAL representative on its Automation Committee. This committee originally consisted of three members for the DMAL. Ironically, all three were not stewards of our local at the time of appointment. Sandy later became a union steward and an Executive board member when elected as Administrative Aide and later Assistant Director of Industrial Relations. After the other two Automation Committee members transferred to other installations, Sandy became the ‘Committee’. She has been the ‘DMAL’ in every administrative and contractual decision that has been made in the Denver installation. Every meeting Sandy has attended, a summary has been delivered to the President of this union in verbal and written manner. Communication was then dispersed to all those who needed to know. The summaries of all the work she has done has been securely filed away at our Headquarters Office for future reference. And in typical ‘Sandy’ fashion, it is filed by year and A-Z.

On July 18^th , Denver Postmaster Alan Catlin presented to the DMAL the Function 4 targeted staffing report. As expected, this plan includes adverse impact for a number of DMAL represented members. Anytime management presents an idea that affects us, our contract requires both union and management to minimize the adverse impact. In order to achieve that goal, input from the craft employees impacted is necessary. The union would be remiss to move forward without that input. Management and the union have agreed that a station by station review is in order since each station is its own section for the purposes of reassignments. The first station to be reviewed will be the Sullivan Station, to be followed by the GMF Finance Station and then the Downtown Station. At a glance, it is being proposed to abolish a total of six (6) jobs, two of which are part-time regular positions. Also being proposed are upwards of 20 jobs with Scheduled Day Off changes, which require reposting, either installation wide or in-section, depending on other circumstances happening in the section.

Hard to imagine, but it is time for national APWU elections again! The DMAL Executive Board will be considering endorsements for national office at our August 3, 2007 board meeting. There will be an announcement in the next Union News Express. To be eligible to vote, members of the American Postal Workers Union must have been “in good standing” according to the official records of the national union on June 15^th of the election year. Ballots are scheduled to be mailed to APWU members on or after Wednesday, September 12, 2007 but no later than Saturday, September 15, 2007. To be valid, ballots must be in the designated post office box by Friday, October 5^th at 2:00 PM. So watch for your ballot in mid-September and return it early so it’s received by October 5^th and can be counted.

On the most recent vacancy notice, dated July 26, 2007, there are a number of Clerk Craft vacancies that were reverted. Management contends these jobs are no longer necessary to the needs of the Service. The contract requires management to repost, or revert a position within 28 days of that position being vacated. A problem that went unattended has to be addressed prior to a settlement occurring. In our efforts to create as many higher level jobs as needed, some vacancies were ignored. The contract requires a full time job for all full time employees and we have excess jobs and no one to place in those jobs. There will be adjustments made that will allow a number of jobs to be reposted.

I thought it was time to remind those of you out there who may have forgotten that the National APWU has continuously, for the last 15 years, been in opposition to the Postal Service’s Voice of the Employee Surveys. The main concern is that the Postal Service has misrepresented the results of employee opinion surveys in the past, including during contract negotiations and interest arbitrations when it has used survey data to justify claims that employees supported its wage proposals. Regardless of what management tells you, please throw your VOE survey in the trash!

The months of April and May 2007 were designated as the local implementation period where locals are able to negotiate with local management on those items in Article 30 and other specifically designated issues in the National Agreement. The DMAL decided not to open negotiations in any of our installation within our jurisdiction. Since the new leadership had only been in office for one month, some questioned whether an informed decision had been made not to open discussions in any of our offices. I have always maintained that the LMOU’s in our local could match up with some of the best in the country. I can now say I have qualified that belief.

I am in the last phase of gathering information in the areas of retirement, veteran benefits, union benefits, and AFL-CIO resources for anyone who is interested. Once completed, I plan to spread this information within the local so everyone can have it available.

I am still finalizing committee appointments for all the committees required by the Constitution and By-Laws. We still have a need for members to be a part of our Safety and Health Committees in the GMF Finance Station, Thornton and Westwood Stations. Any APWU member interested please contact me or call APWU Safety Representative Ric Romero. Also, our Organizing Committee can never be big enough and we will consider those interested in expanding our efforts there too.

I have become the centralized point where all complaints come regarding abusive supervisors. I thought I had a handle on the few managers that were terrorizing the crafts that the DMAL represent. I was wrong! This article doesn’t just apply to the plant. The AO’s are not immune to the behavior that exists out there. I have made this an agenda item for the Labor Management Meetings I have attended, to no avail. I think the time is now to pursue other action. I have craft directors and stewards at their wits end on solutions to a problem that is spiraling out of control.

Be aware that here in the next few months, your OPF (official personal file) is going to Shared Services. This has a tentative date in mid October 2007. Once there if you wanted to look at it, you will need to have your pin number and log on to lite blue. If you find a mistake, you will need to call the 1-800 number and have someone there fix it from Shared Services. We have been told that management is going to go through the file and “clean them”. If you want to see them now, you need to call 303-853-6082 and set up an appointment.

When I last reported on the 4/10 it was in my Mountaineer article. Since then, the wheels have started to turn but ever so slowly, as I told you it would. I met with LMDO Jerry Morning and MDO Wendell Cody from the MPA two weeks ago. We discussed the 4/10 schedule and where it would work at the MPA. We agreed after a lengthy conversation to put the 4/10 plan on hold until the completion of the AMC closure. This is because there will be employees excessed into the MPA from the AMC. The closure is scheduled for August 28, 2007.

Please mark your calendar for August 12, 2007 to attend our Annual Membership Picnic. A lot of planning and preparation has gone into making this years event as successful as last years. We expect a number of elected officials in attendance this year since an election is coming up this year for APWU and next year for House and Senate races. The most expensive Congress race is expected to be here in Colorado. Come out and have fun and meet your Congressional representatives. August 12, 2007 from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at 11^th & Dayton in Aurora. See you there!