National Day of Observance

By Isador Ramirez, Director Maintenance Craft

Have you taken your day of Administrative leave?  According to the ELM 519.4 and a Memorandum of Understanding Agreement Re: Clarification of Regulations for National Day of Observance you still have time to request a day of Administrative leave if you have not done so already.  President Donald J. Trump proclaimed Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, as a National Day of Mourning in remembrance of former President George H.W. Bush.  This is just a friendly reminder for those of you who have not yet taken your day of Observance, you do have until the end of the Fiscal Year to take your day of Mourning.  There is not much time, so hopefully this reaches you in time if you have not yet done so.

General information on a National Day of Observance from the ELM:

519.4 National Day of Observance

519.41 General

In the event that the postmaster general or designee determines that the Postal Service will participate in a national day of observance (for example, National Day of Mourning) subsequent to the declaration of a national day of observance by Executive Order of the President of the United States, administrative leave is granted to employees.

The policy shown below applies to executive and administrative schedule (EAS) employees, Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) employees, and other employees not covered by union agreements concerning national days of observance and is consistent with the agreements developed for that purpose. Employees in the following unions should refer to the memorandums of agreement or understanding between the Postal Service and their unions regarding regulations for national days of observance:

1. American Postal Workers Union, AFL–CIO.

2. National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL–CIO.

3. National Postal Mail Handlers Union, AFL–CIO.

4. National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association.

5. Fraternal Order of Police, National Labor Council, USPS No. 2.

What's Happening Now?

By Lawanda Davis, Executive Vice-President

As you read this Express I wanted you to be aware of your surroundings. We are aware that you are still working alone and working under abusive management. To this we say WE HEAR YOU and we're doing everything we can to get management to hire. Our national officers are working on a plan to deal with those abusive supervisors. A plan will be rolled out shortly!

We were honored to have the National APWU ask for our Director Human Relations to help with this program. So to all of you abusive supervisors, we see you and we will be coming after you, just like you attack our members!!  You no longer have the "power to abuse" us and we know that if we stand together, you will not continue this behavior!!   To our members, keep writing up the 1767's and statements.  We have to prove that you are constantly ordered to work alone and are constantly being harassed!

Now I want to share a nightmare that is currently happening to our brothers and sisters.  Picture this...you are told today that your contract expires and you will now pay 27% more on your health plan, there will be no more COLA'S (Cost Of Living) raises to offset the cost of living in Colorado, and if you don't like it, go on strike and we will hire casuals to do your work for $10 an hour.  Oh yeah, let's not forget that while you're  out we will no longer pay your health plan!  You're not eligible for unemployment because you will be considered employed but we're not going to pay you!  You have no layoff clause so the abusive supervisor can now send you home without pay anytime they feel like it.  When the company was going through hard times, you went without raises to keep yourselves employed  while your Postmaster pocketed a measly $1,100 an hour,  which equaled to $120,000,000 a year! Eventually your company pulls itself out of the red but management wants more from you!

The Union says WE CAN'T  GIVE UP ANYMORE! WE MUST STRIKE FOR THE MONEY AND BENIFITS THAT OUR MEMBERS DESERVE!  You go on strike knowing that you will only receive $250 a week, but you stand to lose a lot more without the strike.  How will you SURVIVE! You would have to depend on outside agencies to help you and your family. You feel embarrassed to not be able to support your family as you have in the past!  You now have no health care!  Your children may have to leave college because there is no money to pay their tuition!  Do you choose to keep your lights on and barely keep food on your table or do you buy food or medication?  Do you pay your house note or pay your car insurance?  These are horrible decisions that are being made by our brothers and sisters every day. These brothers and sisters are the UAW (United Auto Workers) and they need our help.  Put yourself in their position and we would need their help too. The defeat of any Union is a defeat to us all!!

What UAW is asking of us is to donate an hour or more to walk and picket with them to let the Corporate Managers know that although they are not rich and making $1,100 an hour, they are still standing strong! They need donations for food and help to keep their families going through this horrible time.  If you drive by picketers honk at them and let them know you care and that we realize their struggle! 

WE STAND TOGETHER UNION STRONG AND WE WILL STAND FOR ALL OF US TO RECEIVE THE BENEFITS WE DESERVE!! 

If you would like to help picket, contact  Rita or Lindi at 303-365-2524 ext. 11 or 10. If you would like to donate food or cash, bring it to the DMAL/APWU Office (15677 E. 17th Ave.) between 7:00 AM and 4:30 PM.  We will keep you informed of their progress.

Thanks in advance for all you do.

Are You In Need of a Notary?

By Rita Burns, Office Manager

Notary services are available at the Denver Metro Area Local offices, located at 15677 E. 17th Ave. in Aurora, CO.  Lindi and Rita are both notaries and are available Monday through Thursday from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM and on Friday from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.  This service is free of charge to all DMAL/APWU members.  It pays to belong to the APWU!

Incentives Offered to Locals,

Retiree Chapters to Get Out Vote

APWU News Bulletin Vol. 49 No.14 - Sept. 10, 2019

The APWU is urging union members to vote n this year's election of national union officers.  To encourage participation, the union is sponsoring a competition that will reward locals and retiree chapters whose members vote in the highest percentages.

Ballots are being mailed to all eligible APWU members Sept, 10-15, and must be returned to and received in the designated post office by 2 p.m. on Oct. 7.

The incentive for participation in the election process will be payments to the locals and retiree chapters to be used on behalf of the membership.  The top three locals in each size category will receive cash awards based on the number of members:

 1000 and above:  $4,000

            500-999:  $2,000

            100-499:  $1,000

                 1-99:     $200

The top three retiree chapters also will receive awards:

            500-999:  $500

            100-499:  $250

                 1-99:    $50

To be eligible, locals and retiree chapters must reach a voter participation level of at least 50 percent.  If more than three in any category generate 100 percent participation, all "100%" locals and chapters will receive awards.

High Density Universal Sorter (HDUS)

By Laviena Vargas, Director Clerk Craft

The APWU has not received any Official Notification on any level about the new HDUS machine. This lack of notification includes the National level of our Union. The Denver Metro Area Local has been inquiring and trying to get information on this new machine since July 2019. Our RI 399 LDRC (Local Dispute Resolution Committee) has not received any information regarding the HDUS either.

As the HDUS began to take shape on the work room and the assembly started, our President Bobby Rollins requested a meeting with the GMF Plant Manager. At this meeting the Union Officers had multiple questions regarding the HDUS machine. The following information was provided verbally and the Denver Metro Area has not received any of the information in writing, however we do feel it is very important to share the only information the Union has received regarding the HDUS. Per management:  The HDUS machine will be installed on the GMF workroom floor. They (management) anticipate the machine to be up and running by next month, October 2019.  They will run a 30 “testing/burn in” period and plan on having that completed by mid or late November 2019.

Management has a planned “acceptance” date of December 7, 2019 for the HDUS machine.  They claim the machine will be predominately mail handler work with one or two clerk bids for keying.  They said the installation of this machine will affect all Spyder bids and that the Spyder will “go away.”

They plan on running the HDUS and the HTPS machines for 20 hours a day. The machines will run on all three tours at the GMF.

The contractors installing the machine will train the Postal maintenance employees for service and maintenance on the HDUS.  This is all the information the Union has been given on the new machine.

Please know that the National APWU Officers are also trying at the National level to obtain information about the HDUS. As the Denver Metro receives any new updates, the information will be shared with the members right away.  It is conflicting to try to put information out on the floor when there is no official information in writing given to the Union. However, the Clerk Craft does appear to be looking at being impacted in a negative way. The Denver Metro Area is working diligently to try to eliminate and minimize these negative effects.

HTPS Changes:

In this same meeting, The officers also asked about the “rumors” of modifications being done to the HTPS. Management confirmed that the “rumors” are true and said that yes, they are planning on adding a modification to the HTPS machine. No tentative date for this modification was given but some vague information was provided. The modifications to the HTPS would essentially “wipe out” the clerk bids on the HTPS as it would then be automated induction.  The elimination of clerks on the induction points will be reduced to two (2) clerk bids for keying.  The modification will result in excessing and abolishment of clerks in the HTPS section.

This excessing will go outside of the GMF Plant, but not outside of the Denver Installation.  This would mean that the junior HTPS clerks may potentially be excessed to the Denver Stations.  The Denver Metro area officers are already working on trying to minimize the excessing out of the plant and have begun to look at other options that we can locally negotiate to avoid any clerks from having to leave the plant.

This modification would also need to be discussed and presented the LDRC RI 399 committee. There has been NO information given to this committee as of yet.   *Again, we have not been given any official notification of exactly when and what this modification will look like and how it will be affecting the Clerk Craft.

It is very Important that each and every Union member understand and know that the Union is trying everything possible everyday to try and obtain official information on the above GMF issues.  If management does not give the Union any information, the Union has no information to give to our members. There is a scheduled LDRC RI 399 meeting set for September 26, 2019. We can only hope that management will provide the information at this meeting.

We would like to remind every member to be sure to make the correct operational move on the clock. This is very important as the Union will need to be able to justify how much time and work is being done in each area/section, should management want to eliminate bid jobs. The Union knows how hard every member is working on a daily basis and The Union will FIGHT FOR EVERY JOB!!

Stay Strong and Be Safe! Thank you to all our members of the Denver Metro Area Local!

/rb

opeiu #30

afl-cio