Officer Election Completed – New Officers Sworn In At March 2004 Union Meeting
by Dennis Enderson, President
On March 22, 2004, the American Arbitration Association (the balloting firm hired by the local to conduct the officer election) completed the process of tallying votes for the 2004 Denver Metro APWU officer election. The results were declared official later that evening and are as follows:
President
Dennis Enderson 1028
Gene Sandoval 454
Exec. Vice-President
Jackie Fleming 517
Gary Scott 947
Dir. Industrial Relations
Christine Arellano 502
Tina Desautels 319
Paul Pearman 648
Executive Director
John Ancona 799
Sandy Garcia 627
Asst. Director Clerk Craft
Susan Kaminitz 657
Monica Lipscomb 484
Administrative Aide
Sandy Carruthers 995
Bonnie Hollomon 425
Recording Secretary
Sonda Goss 383
Gail Kirby 438
Martin Murphy 231
Joe Quintana 366
Director MVS
Buzz Knopp 48
Fred Morin 48
Director Clerk Craft
Bobby Rollins 569
Brian Thomason 583
The following candidates were unopposed and previously declared elected:
Director Maintenance Craft
Miguel Salazar
Trustee Clerk Craft
Lori Williams
Trustee Maintenance Craft
Tino Valle
The newly elected officers were sworn in at the union meeting on Saturday, March 27, 2004. The swearing in ceremony was conducted by John Kelly, a former long time National Business Agent of the APWU and a long time member of the Denver Metro Area Local.
The members have now spoken. It is time to put the campaign and the election completely behind us and get to work doing the jobs the members elected us to perform. I am humbled and honored to serve as local president. I thank all of you who supported me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make a positive difference. I take this responsibility very seriously and I pledge to do my very best to earn the trust you have placed in me. For those of you who did not support me, I ask you to stand with our union and help us to grow stronger. I promise to fight for every single member of our union. I am excited by the opportunities that lie ahead of us. I am convinced that there is no challenge we cannot overcome with our combined efforts.
The newly elected officers are busy settling into their new positions. It will take some time for everyone to adjust. Please be patient as we work through this process. In the meantime, the work of the local will go on. Our goal is to ensure that every member receives proper representation during our transition.
MVS Craft Director Election Results in a Tie –
Runoff Election To Be Held
by Dennis Enderson, President
The election for Motor Vehicle Craft Director ended in a tie of 48 votes for each candidate. The Chairman of the Election Committee, Steve Claeson, has given notice that a runoff election will be held over the next several weeks. Notices have been mailed to all members of the Motor Vehicle Craft that ballots will be mailed to them by no later than April 14, 2004. To be valid these ballots must be returned by no later than May 5, 2004.
“Local Informant” Retired –
“Union News Express” Is Born
by Dennis Enderson, President
The newsletter you are reading is the new official news bulletin of the Denver Metro Area Local APWU. The “Local Informant” is being retired after many years of service. We hope you like the new format and enjoy the content of the “Union News Express”. We hope to include news from every aspect and perspective of our local in this newsletter. I am requesting content from every officer, steward and member in every craft and facility throughout the local. Please contact me with your ideas about how we can make this newsletter and all of our local publications better and more useful. We want every single member to feel like an equal partner in our union. We are hoping to bring our union closer together by working to ensure that everyone is better informed about the issues facing all of our members.
Volunteers Wanted to Deliver Invocations to Union Meetings
by Dennis Enderson, President
Please contact me at the union office if you would like to volunteer to deliver an invocation at a future union meeting. I am hoping to have a variety of individuals from a variety of different faiths and cultures deliver invocations to help us acknowledge and celebrate the diversity that exists in our membership. You may contact me at the union office at 303-365-1524 ext. 114.
Voluntary Early Retirement Update – National Parties Agree to Timeline
by Dennis Enderson, President
As you may recall, on December 19, 2003, the national APWU and the Postal Service agreed to settle a dispute pertaining to the exclusion of certain employees from eligibility for Voluntary Early Retirement. The parties have now agreed to an implementation timeline. There will be four effective dates: 1) July 31, 2004 (early date for full-time employees), 2) August 31, 2004 (early date for part-time employees), 3) December 31, 2004 (mid-range date) and 4) June 30, 2005 (long range date). Employees will be allowed to retire on one of these four dates based upon staffing requirements and ability to back-fill positions as determined by the Postal Service. Those employees who qualify for Early Retirement should receive a Statement of Interest in the next few weeks. Please return the Statement of Interest as soon as possible if you have any interest in early retirement. Doing so is not a commitment to retire. Those who qualify will receive a formal retirement offer in the future, at which time a commitment would be required. This second round of VER offers is limited to those employees who were specifically excluded from earlier offers. In particular, this includes Maintenance and Motor Vehicle craft employees Level 6 and above and Retail Clerks. Please understand that the Postal Service reserves the right to determine which of the four effective dates is assigned to each eligible employee.
Be Wary of Giving Written Statements During a
Postal Investigation
by Dennis Enderson, President
We are aware that some postal supervisors are insisting that craft employees give written statements relative to postal investigations. The union acknowledges that all employees are required by postal regulations to fully “cooperate” with an investigation. However, “cooperation” does not require employees to make written statements. Such statements are strictly voluntary and should be given only after consultation with your union steward, if at all.
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