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Lancaster PA Update
March 10, 2021 I would like to begin by congratulating the 20 MHA employees who are being converted to career effective March 13, 2021 and at the same time acknowledging the outstanding work by our National office to secure these conversions. The additional staffing was certainly overdue in our plant and I am hopeful that many daily staffing issues will be improved if not eliminated. There are many changes coming to the plant and carrier annex in 2021. The Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV’s) have yet to be fully deployed and you may have noticed an attempt to utilize these vehicles recently. My belief is that a realization of the limits of these vehicles in our plant has finally been perceived by those tasked with implementing the AGV’s. What was apparent to the Mail Handlers and Union from the start, that too many vehicles were brought to Lancaster and that the cost of these vehicles far outweighed any operational benefit, now seems so obvious that only the most obtuse manager can deny this fact. The Lancaster Carrier Annex is scheduled to have an SDUS installed beginning May 10, 2021. The SDUS is a small package sorting machine designed to fit into delivery units. I have observed the SDUS already installed in York. In York, the machine is staffed entirely by clerks. We are awaiting a National craft jurisdictional determination on this piece of equipment and when issued, will enforce these assignments at the annex. The plant is slated to receive an ADUS. Deployment date is September 27, 2021. Just today HQ personnel were in the plant conducting initial layout measurements and planning. There will be some building modifications required to install the ADUS and I urge everyone to stay safe and use caution when working in areas where these modifications are taking place. There are 20 new duty assignments being created in conjunction with the March 13 MHA conversions. These jobs should be posted for bid on April 2. I met with management at the end of February to discuss the new positions and after very extensive negotiations, the parties agreed to each new duty assignment. It was my focus during these negotiations to increase the number of Equipment Operators on each tour and restore certain duty assignments which were abolished in October with the plant restructuring. On these fronts we were successful. The Carrier annex reversion cases are scheduled for arbitration in April and the case involving principal assignment areas at the plant is tentatively scheduled for May. We continue to push back against those managers and 204b’s that do not respect the Agreement and the work that Mail Handlers do, and as a result, more than $5000.00 in grievance payments were adjusted in Pay Period 6 to Mail Handlers who have supplied statements or have been harmed by these violations. I am optimistic that we will soon be able to resume in-person Branch meetings and it is my goal to schedule a meeting as soon as practicable. As information becomes available, I will share. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to see any steward or myself. If you are not yet a member of our Facebook page and you would like to be, please send me a request at NPMHU 308 Lancaster PA. In Solidarity, Shelby |
Shelby Root, Branch President Your Union RepresentativesLocal Memorandum of Understanding- PlantLocal Memorandum of Understanding- AnnexSeniority RosterMHA Relative StandingArchived reports |