Branch News
August 16, 2019
Brothers and Sisters- This posting starts with the news that we will be receiving a cost-of-living adjustment totaling $624 in September. This comes out to a thirty cent ($.30) per hour raise. The Picnic date (9/14) is fast approaching. If you haven’t come in to sign up to attend, stop in the Union office to give a headcount. Every year there is some sort of new fun and the food is always delicious. There will be games and prizes for the kids again; there will also be prize drawings for the members. This year we will feature face painting, a caricature artist, and a fortune teller to go along with all of our usual tomfoolery and shenanigans. Come on out and enjoy some food, beverages, and fun with your coworkers and families! In the last few postings, I have been on the soapbox about how we are all supposed to be treated with dignity and respect. Well, that sentiment goes for not only us as people and employees, but also for us and our Contract as Mail Handlers. When management constantly violates our rights and breaks our CBA, that is a sign of disrespect. When a supervisor does the work that should be done by a Mail Handler, that is a sign of disrespect. Management assigning clerks to perform our duties should be seen as a sign of disrespect. Do not let management continue to spit on our negotiated contractual rights. Stand up for your rights and your jobs! Write a witness statement when you see a violation of the contract and get it to a Union steward. Tell a supervisor that you want to see a shop steward and file a grievance. Let them know that we will not stand for being disrespected and having our contract disregarded. If we continue to let ourselves be treated as if we have no rights, then pretty soon we will have no rights. All of the tours have a full complement of stewards that are quite capable of filing grievances. We, as Mail Handlers, need to respect ourselves and our rights and we need to make management respect both also. Part of respecting ourselves is what I talked about last posting when I said that you should perform one job and work within one pay level. If we show that we don’t care about our Contract then why would management? Have pride in your job, in your Union, in your Contract, and in yourself. You wouldn’t stand for your supervisor treating you like a piece of s**t, so don’t let them treat your National Agreement like one. There is a new attendance control supervisor for the building. If you thought they weren’t keeping track of attendance here, hold onto your hats because they are really going to shift it into high gear now. As I say and say again, there is no gray area with attendance and you shouldn’t hitch your wagon to hoping that they screw up the discipline. Granted, management has found new ways to botch things up; but eventually it will be done right and you don’t want to be the person waiting at home to get your job back. Another tip is to keep those confirmation numbers! Since the last posting, former Mail Handler Evonne Werley passed away after a long, tough effort combating cancer. I worked with Evonne on the AI/AFSM and can say that, although she kept to herself a lot, I will always remember her infectious laughter. She also made damn good deviled eggs. Rest in peace, Evonne. I am going to keep the instructions on filling out an annual leave request form out correctly posted for one more month. Next posting, since holiday season is right around the corner, I’ll cover signing up for holidays and reading holiday postings. Job bids go up from August 23rd until September 2nd. There will be 12 bids. The possibility of an accelerated bid is looming for September’s round because management is getting antsy about all of the unassigned regulars. We will cross that bridge when we get to it. I am trying to get management to finalize a settlement about the remaining discrepancies in the seniority roster. Don’t forget to sign up for the Picnic by September 6th. Stay United, Stay Strong- Sean Let’s go over the procedures for filling out a 3971 and submitting it for an annual leave day. In order to protect your rights, you should always fill out three copies of the form for the day(s) that you are requesting. Make sure to fill in the box on the left of the 3971 marked “Time of Call or Request” with the date and time that you hand the slip to the supervisor. Copy number one should be signed, dated, and returned to you by the supervisor when you first hand them the slip. This is your proof that you properly submitted your request. According to our LMOU, the supervisor then has 2 hours to return a signed copy of your request to you either denying or approving your leave if the slip is for 8 hours or less of leave. If the supervisor does not return the slip within two hours, the leave is considered approved and you should see a shop steward to make sure that it is documented that the two hours were exhausted. Be sure to have that signed and dated copy from the supervisor stating when the request was received handy to give your steward. If the slip is for more than 8 hours, management then has 24 hours to act on it and it must be submitted at least 2 days prior to the first date requested. You must follow the above steps, though, in order to be able to fight and prove the infraction. The 3971s posted on the bulletin boards show the areas that you should fill in (yellow highlight), the areas that should be filled in by a supervisor on copy one which is handed back to you immediately (pink highlight), and the area that should be filled in by the supervisor on the final copy that you receive back (orange highlight). |
Branch President
Sean Craig 
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