APPs Job Realignment Process Underway
by Dennis Enderson, President
Job realignments caused by APPs implementation at the Denver Mail Processing Annex are underway. Management provided its staffing plan to the union a couple of weeks ago, and we worked with postal officials to come up with a realignment process that would both minimize the impact on affected employees and fully comply with all relevant contractual provisions. Standup talks have been completed on all Tours to notify affected employees about the results of this planning process. SPBS staffing has been reduced to no more than 18 clerks on all three tours. This caused excessing and abolishing as well as in-section bidding on Tours 2 and 3. (There was no immediate impact on Tour 1.) The in-section bidding was necessary because management chose to realign scheduled days off for the remaining employees on each Tour. The initial bidding is being conducted in-section because excessing and abolishing triggers retreat rights which, in accordance with the contract, requires all bids in an impacted unit to be posted in-section so long as retreat rights exist.
The Tour 2 manual unit was eliminated altogether, so all remaining incumbents in this section received excessing and abolishing notices. The Tour 3 manual unit experienced no staffing reductions, and ultimately, no job realignments at this time. All excessed and abolished employees were afforded an opportunity to “opt” for temporary FLSA schedules offered by postal management. Unless these employees obtain actual duty assignments, they will assume these FLSA “assignments” until they voluntarily bid or are assigned to residual vacancies. All such unencumbered employees are strongly advised to carefully review the available vacancies and submit bids to avoid involuntary assignments to less desirable jobs. All excessed and abolished employees are also advised that they retain retreat rights to residual vacancies in their former sections and tours, and that to protect such retreat rights, they must bid all such vacancies, not just those with the same days off. All changes detailed herein are schedule to take affect on Saturday, January 21, 2006.
With regard to in-section bidding, some employees have asked why all remaining duty assignments in the impacted sections are not being re-posted during this process. The response to this question is that our contract prohibits “bumping”. There is no contractual mechanism that allows a more senior employee whose job is being eliminated to take a non-affected job away from a more junior employee. Reasonable people can debate whether this is “fair”, but allowing a “bumping” process would be a clear contractual violation, whether or not it has ever occurred in the past.
All efforts have been made to minimize the adverse impacts on affected employees. Originally, management proposed realigning remaining jobs on Tour 1 SPBS and the Tour 3 manual operation. This would have required in-section bidding in both sections. However, largely through the determined efforts of Clerk Craft Director Brian Thomason, management was persuaded to leave the existing staffing structure in place.
Administrative Aide Sandy Carruthers spearheaded the union team that sorted through management’s staffing proposal and negotiated the process being used for the job realignments. Sandy received assistance from Director of Industrial Relations Paul Pearman and Brian Thomason. I thank Sandy and her team for their excellent efforts on behalf of our members. We fully understand how disruptive and difficult these types of changes are for employees. However, please remember that such realignments are totally controlled and driven by postal management. We always have and always will do everything we can within the boundaries of the contract to protect the rights and interests of the employees we represent. We are facing more big changes in the year ahead. Please stand with us as we work through these challenging issues. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
More Big Changes Coming
by Dennis Enderson, President
As previously reported, we are scheduled to receive two modifications to the AFSM 100 machines at the Denver General Mail Facility next year. It now appears that the Automatic Tray Handling System (ATHS) could begin arriving as early as February 2006. Deployment on all machines could be completed as early as late spring or early summer. This system will eliminate the need for one of the two sweeper positions on each machine. The Automatic Induction System (AI) could begin arriving as early as late spring or early summer of 2006, and complete deployment by late summer or early fall. This system will probably eliminate the need for all three loading positions on each machine. In addition, due to space limitations, it will probably be necessary to remove one of our eight AFSM 100 machines to accommodate all of these modifications. We are anticipating possibly drastic staffing impacts in this operation on all Tours. It appears that ATHS will not immediately cause staffing reductions, but that AI could cause deep cuts when fully deployed late next year. As always, these deployment schedules are subject to significant changes.
We are communicating with other large offices that have already received ATHS to help anticipate what we are facing. AI is just now being deployed so very little information is available. We will continue gathering data and forming plans to help deal with this operational change when it does occur. We will keep you informed as information becomes available and do everything possible to minimize adverse impacts to employees.
Another system coming our way is DIOSS, which stands for “Delivery Bar Code Sorter Input/Output Subsystem”. Our 13 multi-line OCRs will be replaced by only five DIOSS machines. An additional five DBCS machines will be modified to receive DIOSS capabilities. This represents a net loss of eight pieces of equipment in the Automation unit. While this should not cause excessing and abolishing, it will result in fewer available work locations. It will also greatly reduce opportunities to avoid working on the DBCS machines. This could seriously impact light duty employees.
This system could begin arriving as early as late Spring of 2006. Again, we will monitor this process and keep you informed. 2006 promises to be a very busy and difficult year.
Denver MPA to Receive a Security Fence
by Dennis Enderson, President
We have received information that the Denver Mail Processing Annex will receive a security fence beginning early next year. This comes as welcome news to employees concerned about parking their automobiles at the facility. While this fence is intended to secure mail within the MPA, it should serve as a deterrent to vandalism and theft as well. We applaud the excellent efforts by the Colorado NPMHU which helped to bring about this positive development for Denver MPA employees.
Good News on Mail Volume
Burrus Update #14-05, Dec. 8, 2005
Despite predictions of gloom and doom, the Postal Service has announced that total mail volume and total revenue reached all-time highs in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. First-class volume grew in 2005 as well, after three years of decline.
Only a short time ago, the avid supporters of postal “reform” predicted that mail volume, especially first-class volume, was threatened by advances in technology. Without legislative intervention, we were told, the Postal Service was destined to begin a deadly cycle of declining volume and increasing postage rates.
The American Postal Workers repeatedly cautioned that the downturn in mail volume in 2002 and 2003 was caused by a combination of an economic slump, the terrorist attack of 9-11, and the anthrax attacks.
The financial results, released Dec. 6, 2005, demonstrate that improvements in technology will not have as severe an impact as was anticipated on the use of mail.
Despite the warnings of those who began every conversation about mail volume with dire predictions, the 2005 audited financial statement looks pretty good.
COPA Committee Report
by Tina Desautels, Political Director
Well folks, with the end of the year upon us, I’m making my final report on our COPA fundraising for the year. This was the first year that we have had a concerted effort to raise funds for COPA. For just starting out, the members of the committee have done a GREAT job. Our total raised from the I-Pod drawing was $1276! There was a $300 investment from the local and we more than tripled our investment.
I would like to thank the committee members, especially Chris Arellano and Muriel Ponder. Next year we will do even better!
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please contact any member of the committee or you can contact me on extension 437. Again, thanks to everyone for the great year and looking forward to next year and more fun!
2005 Children’s Christmas Party a Success
by Rita Burns, Office Manager
Christmas songs filled the air as the children began filling the DMAL union hall in anticipation of Santa Claus. The children were playing carnival games, eating cookies, drinking punch and waiting in line patiently to receive a tattoo. Laughter and fun filled the hall as people greeted old friends they had not seen in awhile. The hall was buzzing with excitement.
Suddenly, bells began ringing and the familiar sound of HO HO HO filled the air. It was Santa Claus. He arrived to greet all the APWU children and listen to their wishes for Christmas. Santa and Mrs. Claus, along with Rudolph, greeted the children. Hugs and smiles and wonderment filled the room. Santa and Mrs. Claus told the story of the Night Before Christmas and they sang and danced with the children. It was a sight to behold seeing the joy and happiness on the faces of the children. All children were able to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas and to have their picture taken with jolly ole Santa! As the last child sat on Santa’s lap, the party began to wind down and Santa and Mrs. Claus, along with Rudolph, made their departure to visit other children. As they left, you could hear his bells ringing and saying HO HO HO…Merry Christmas to all!
Help Us Protect Your Work
by Dennis Enderson, President
We are facing an all out assault on our job security by Tour 1 supervisors at the Denver General Mail Facility. Every time a supervisor does our work, our jobs are threatened. Please help us to protect your work. We need you to observe such violations when they occur. We need you to document these violations (by writing a brief statement) and provide this information to your union stewards. Only by grieving these violations and making them too expensive to continue can we put a stop to this erosion of our job security. I have communicated our concerns to management and insisted that our contractual rights be respected. However, it is impossible for me and other union officials to be all places all the time. We need your direct involvement and your assistance to police this issue. Please get involved and help us save your jobs!
Local Negotiations Completed
by Dennis Enderson, President
All local negotiations are completed. New LMOU’s have been signed for several offices, including Greeley, Denver, Estes Park, Louisville, Lafayette and Longmont. Copies of the newly negotiated LMOU’s are available upon request. Copies of the new Denver LMOU are being mailed to all Denver stewards. We believe we have made significant improvements in a number of areas, while solving problems that could have become serious issues in next year’s full-blown local negotiations when the contract extension expires. Special thanks go to Joe Quintana and Tina Desautels for serving as Chief Negotiators in Associate Offices.
AMP Surveys Spread Into Denver District
by Dennis Enderson, President
We recently reported that studies are underway to determine the feasibility of consolidating mail processing operations in a number of installations around the country. Now this process is starting to hit close to home. The Postal Service has given notice that Area Mail Processing surveys will be conducted to study the possibility of merging Glenwood Springs into Grand Junction and Wheatland, Wyoming into Cheyenne, Wyoming. This could result in serious staffing realignments in these offices. It is highly likely that additional offices will be added to this list in the near future. We will continue to monitor this process and keep you informed.
2006 Moe Biller Scholarship
Applications in Mountaineer
by Dennis Enderson, President
Application forms for the five $500 Moe Biller Scholarship Awards are contained in the latest issue of the Mountaineer, which should arrive in your mailbox very soon. Please carefully review the rules for these scholarship awards and carefully complete the application form. These awards are given in memory of former APWU President Moe Biller, and are available to members and/or their children.
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