Lehigh Valley

Bids Effective October 9, 2021

Bid Posting September 11-21, 2021

Branch News

September 25, 2021

Fellow Members-

It’s been a busy time with arbitration, all of the job bids mess, conversions, picnic plans, and a branch meeting; so I ask your patience with me and pardon for me in my dereliction of duty by not posting a bulletin board / web post since July 24th.

Now back to business; in my last posting in July, I wrote that the 41 new jobs would be posted August 6th “barring a HR nightmare mishap”. Well, August’s job bids came and went without the new jobs being added, but in September we were able to get them posted. Local management agreed with us and helped push them through. Those job awards, which take effect 10/9, are posted on the bulletin boards and will be posted on the Local 308 website (www.npmhu308.org). Being under Philadelphia’s jurisdiction is so much worse than when we were under Central PA and that isn’t just when talking about job bids; ask anyone who has ever had to deal with the Philly Occupational Health Nurse Administrator.

Speaking of that nurse, if you have had any conversations or dealing with her and feel that she was unprofessional, rude, or just downright horrible, please give us a statement. We will be pursuing action against her and the more statements, the better.

Everyone will see a little money in an upcoming paycheck as we close the book on the Chris Bruno era of grievances. The grievances were settled and the Labor rep will pay them as soon as she returns from training, if she has not already entered them as of this posting.

Those settlements do not end the grievances in this building though. If you see clerks or supervisors performing our work, make sure to write a witness statement. There are fillable forms available for each infraction in the Union office.

Grievance statements should also be written for instances where members of the supervisory staff are not being professional or when they are talking to or acting towards you in an unprofessional manner. We will be meeting with the Plant Manager and the MDO’s from each shift and I can guarantee you that this will be a topic of discussion.

While on the subject of dealing with people, let’s remember that we are all here to earn a living to support us and our families. Nobody knows what anyone else has going on in their lives and nobody comes here wanting to be treated like crap. Be kind to your fellow workers and keep yourself and your coworkers safe, free of harassment, and gainfully employed.

Segueing into the subject of being gainfully employed, we found out this week that zip 184-188 parcels were being sent to Scranton for them to process on their new machine starting today. Contrary to the fear-mongering gloom and doom being spread from some supervisors, this does not mean the imminent, immediate, or impending demise for either the Annex or the Plant. It means that there will be a shift in what mail that we process and hopefully upper management will reveal that plan to us in the near future.

EFEL and the liberal leave policies come to a close this week, unless there is a last minute extension to either of them. In other words, get ready for attendance reviews and attendance discipline if you are on the naughty list. For all of those who have been able to and have been showing up for work regularly throughout this pandemic, THANK YOU! Management will rarely say it, but we recognize the efforts that you make and the jobs that you do.

The Picnic was held August 28th. Seventy-four (74) people turned out for it despite the ominous skies. The weather held off and the food and fun was plentiful.

On September 14th, we had a Branch Meeting that fifteen (15) people attended at The Palace Restaurant. Treasurer Mike Rembelinsky made his debut at a Branch Meeting and it went off without a hitch. He and President Gibson both spoke about the continued financial welfare of the Local. President Gibson also spoke about the problems with the OHNA, upcoming CBA negotiations, the importance of signing up for the PAC, upcoming Local events, and the COLA. President Gibson talked at length about PMG DeJoy’s ten year plan and the initiative to wade deeper into the package moving market. If you have questions about the meeting or its discussions, see me for more details.

We received a COLA in this past pay period. For top step employees hired prior to 2/15/13, they will receive a 93cents an hour increase. Unfortunately, thanks to a decision by Arbitrator Das on a National Agreement, the pay scales for those hired after 2/15/2013 receive prorated COLA’s starting at 53 cents an hour and incrementally going up with each step.

If you are charged AWOL when you call off, see a steward and grieve it. We have 14 days from the date of an infraction to grieve it.

Finally, Greg Miller was announced as our Form 50 Plant Manager. We congratulate Greg and welcome the opportunity to work with him on not only sustaining operations here at the Lehigh Valley, but also in growing and improving the Plant. Greg is a familiar face and I have dealt with him on many issues. He is professional and actually treats people like they are human, which is a welcome attribute. His success depends on us and in turn is our success.

Let’s show up for work, scan what we need to scan, swipe when we need to swipe, and sign statements when it is necessary; these are the keys to keeping the jobs that we have, growing new ones, and to performing for our customers.

                                                                    Stay Safe, Stay United, Stay Strong-

                                                                                                      Sean