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All dues paying members of Local 308 are invited to attend a summer get together on August 9, 2009 at Clementon Park. We are planning on making this an annual event that will rotate between PA, NJ, and DE. Please plan on attending and spend a day of fun with friends and family. For more information click on the above image.

Wilkes-Barre P&DF AMP Survey...UPDATE

The five month time frame as outlined in the PO-408 has come and gone with no results from the Postal Service. The Wilkes-Barre Branch filed one grievance on the Postal Service not following the PO-408 time-lines and by the looks of things another will be following. An unfair labor charge was filed against District Manager Ed Burke for failure to supply information as well. The new AMP guidelines were written IAW the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 to make the AMP process more transparent to the employees and the general public. Unless a brickwall is transparent, then the USPS has no idea what transparency means. The District Manager, had two months to complete his portion of the study and supply information to the stakeholders, well we are still waiting, the reason for the first grievance. Personally, I think some of this information will never be shared, so the fight continues. We know the Postal Service faces financial problems, but if they want to do things like consolidations, we have to make sure they at least follow their own rules. Plus, but this is just my opinion, PMG Potter, why don't you look at cutting some jobs of management who doesn't even touch the mail. Save the workers and the service we provide to the public, trim some fat from the top!

New FMLA Regulations & Forms

New FMLA regulations as posted in the Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 222 / Monday, November 17, 2008

New DOL FMLA forms WH-380E (Employee only)

New DOL form WH-380F (Employee's Family)

Sammy the Steward's helpful Advice

Tip #9 - 6 steps to make your job easier:

Know your co-workers. Maintain frequent personal contact with everyone you represent in the shop.

Know the contract and the grievance procedure. A big part of being a steward is helping people when they’ve been wronged. You don’t have to memorize the contract cover to cover, but you should familiarize yourself with the parts that are used the most. Grievance procedures often have deadlines; for instance, a grievance usually has to be filed within a certain number of days after the event occurred. Make sure you know these details.

Get the facts. Who’s involved? What exactly happened? When? Where? Why? Before you file a grievance or confront the boss, make sure you know exactly what’s going on. Talk to everyone involved, find witnesses—be a detective.

Inform and educate. Make sure to pass on information from the union office to all the members in your shop. Welcome new members. Ask people if they have questions.

Involve as many people as possible. Our power as a union comes from the involvement of the members. Leadership is not about doing everything for everyone; it’s about getting everybody to stand up for themselves by standing together. For instance, if you are filing a shop grievance, you might also want to get everyone in the shop to sign a petition to the boss; that way everyone has played an active role, its’ not just you filing that grievance for everyone else.

Ask for help. No one expects you to know the answer to everything. If you don’t know, don’t make it up and don’t blow it off—call your State Rep, or Branch President and ask her or him to help you.

Check out Sammy's past advice by clicking HERE

Some of the Steward Tips are taken from The Union Steward's Complete Guide by David Prosten, and the Shop Steward Manual put out by our National.