Branch NewsLehigh Valley-Scranton 2022 Picnic
September 11, 2022
Fellow Members- School is back in and summer is drawing to a close already. It’s unreal how fast time goes by. My mom always said that once you reach thirty years old, the years just go by faster and faster; as usual, mom was right. First off, I missed posting last month and, therefore, didn’t get to give Kevin Zotter his proper send-off. Kevin retired at the end of August after spending the last 26 years here in the Lehigh Valley after transferring from Harrisburg. My favorite memory of Kevin is how absolutely irate he could make supervisors like Justin Weaver and Pete Marth. Kevin served as a shop steward for a period of time and also served as an OJI for a considerable amount of time. We thank Kevin for all of his service and wish him the best in his retirement! Yesterday, twelve (12) of our coworkers were converted from MHA status to full-time regular. Congratulations to all of them and good luck in their career positions. Two of those conversions were due to residual jobs in the last posting and the other ten were a result of a National MOU that was signed. The Union at all levels continues to try and get buildings properly staffed and to expedite conversions. This building is still about 15 FTR and a whole lot of MHAs short of the number that we should be at to run efficiently. Most of the jackets are in and have been distributed. There was a little mix-up in transportation and also a shortage on some sizes. I will get and hand out the jackets to those of you who haven’t received them as soon as practicable. Job bids are up and close tomorrow, 9/12. Don’t forget to sign your bids and put them in the BLUE box outside of the Union offices. Scanning in the building and especially on the west dock continues to be abysmal. I don’t know how often I say it, (I’m pretty sure that it’s every post), but scanning is one of, if not the, most important factors in keeping and creating job bids. It shows how much mail is arriving, departing, and getting processed here. It can show who is doing work and how much work they are doing. Please make sure that all scanning is getting done, hell, scan stuff twice if you need to be sure. The Annual Lehigh Valley-Scranton Picnic took place on August 28th. The weather was the best that I think we have ever had for the picnic; however, the turnout was the worst that we have ever experienced with only 67 people attending. The good news about the attendance was that we had more Scranton attendees than we ever have had before and even a member from Pottsville showed up. There was a nice mix of retirees and current members. I believe that everyone who attended had a good time, even though I didn’t get a big enough cake this year and that led to the shedding of tears by some children and Bobby Flecksteiner. The food was not as good as when the Fairview Catering business was under the previous ownership; I will explore other options for next year if we choose to do this again. The caricature artist had a slow start but then stayed busy for the rest of the day. I’m hoping that if we move back to Saturday next year then attendance will increase again; having it on Sunday was my fault this year because I forgot about calling right away to book the date and when I did all of the Saturdays were taken. Anyway, good times were had, the kids all won prizes, and there were the following prizes given away also: TV: Orestes Masdeu (Scranton) Target gift card: Tim McDonald Amazon gift card: Kim Yoo “Happy Moments” eat/shop gift card: George Davis (Scranton) NPMHU 308 Essential t-shirt: Chelsea Laudenslager “Let’s Eat” dining gift card (for retirees): Dave Ramsay There are some in management who still continue to affix an AWOL designation to your leave requests even if you call off in advance of not being at work. Please make sure to bring this to the Union’s attention so that we can grieve this nonsense. Attendance related discipline is on the rise, so make sure that you are showing up and showing up on time. Attendance, as I have always preached, is the hardest thing to defend. You are either here or you are not; there’s no gray area. Make sure to keep your address of record updated. Management has taken a liking to sending discipline in the mail. Again, I run my mouth (and fingers) about this all of the time; management has no obligation to inform the Union of discipline that is given to you. Informing the Union is YOUR responsibility. Make sure to tell the Union every time that you receive discipline; otherwise, if it doesn’t get grieved within 14 days then it is on your record for 2 years! Finally, something that sometimes gets lost in remembering the September 11th attacks is that there were fellow postal workers who were infected, some of whom lost their lives, in the anthrax attacks that took place in the weeks following the attacks. Some may not consider the jobs that we do to be taxing or dangerous, but tomorrow is never guaranteed for any of us. With peak season approaching and more new employees on the way, please make sure to work safely and treat everyone like you would want to be treated. We are all here to do our jobs and get home safely to our families, friends, pets, or whoever/whatever that we go home to. Nobody knows what anyone else is going through and nobody should bring their problems here or take their problems out on fellow coworkers. Everyone’s business is their own unless they want it to be minded by others; that’s each person’s choice. We are all here to get the mail moved and collect a paycheck, just be cognizant of that and mindful of other people. Please work safely, which includes beeping your horn and stopping at stop signs if you are a PIT driver, and treat each other with respect. If someone, including and especially supervisors, treats you in a demeaning, unfair, or abusive way, make sure to write a statement and give a copy to the Union. Stay United, Stay Strong- Sean |
Branch President Sean Craig Your Union RepresentativesLocal Memorandum of Understanding |