Branch News May 24, 2026
Fellow Members- Before we dive into our usual content, let’s start with a few save-the-date reminders. The annual Lehigh Valley-Scranton Picnic is scheduled for Saturday, August 22nd from 1-7 PM. I’m still working out some details and there will be a post about it after some items are sorted out. Make sure to sign up and show up!! The semi-annual Branch Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 23rd at 10:30am. Details are on the bright orange paper on the Union bulletin board. You will be receiving ballots this week that will be asking you to vote for your representatives at the upcoming LIUNA National Convention. Please do not throw these ballots out. Vote for up to eight (8) people and return the ballots on time. Every vote counts in these elections, and the Lehigh Valley can be a deciding factor. Now on to our regularly scheduled nonsense. We will soon have an answer to where the Lehigh Valley Soc & Rec money has been going. I’ll keep you posted. Management has met with the Unions and has made it clear that their upcoming priority will be cracking down on cell phone usage on the floor. There is a cell phone policy in place and we all understand that. I, personally, understand the policy and don’t have a problem with it being enforced BUT under certain conditions. The conditions are: 1) the policy is enforced equitably, meaning that supervisory personnel have to be off their phones too. They all carry radios that they can talk on so they shouldn’t be talking on the phone or using it to contact Mail Handlers and 2) clerks or supervisors actually answer the 3268 number or registry room phone. I’m sure that discussions on the policy and its enforcement will continue until they roll it out at a town hall. Management is also negotiating with both Unions about the AWOL designations that people see on their times and allowing extra time for traffic and other conditions before charging people with AWOL. AWOL is absent without leave time and is charged for no call / no show situations. Once a consensus is reached on the subject, we will pass on that information, and I am sure it will also be the subject of the previously mentioned town hall. Speaking of AWOL, if you look at your paycheck or virtual timecard after calling out or being late and you aren’t being credited with the leave that you requested, please see a steward. You should fill out a 3971 as soon as you return from the absence for the leave that you requested. If the wrong leave is charged, then we can grieve that you didn’t receive the leave that you requested. Management cannot just decided to take your AL. Contact your steward and let them straighten this out for you or file a grievance if necessary. Don’t let them mess with your time or money. You should also check your pay if you are assigned to a higher-level position (driving or group leading). Many people are not being paid the higher-level pay rate, even if they swipe over to the proper code. The first step is to make sure that you always swipe the move when you are assigned to do higher level, then the second part is to check your virtual timecard or paycheck. If you aren’t getting paid for the work that you do, then please make sure to grieve it. Since there is a crackdown on attendance going on…make sure to get us any discipline that you are handed (or mailed) within 14 days so that we can grieve it. If you don’t grieve it, it is stuck on your record for 2 years and can be built on for future discipline leading up to a removal. We can’t grieve it if you don’t let us know about it! Exercise your rights. I am trying to push for the Lehigh Valley to be considered as the location for the future RP&DC site. I have contacted politicians and USPS leaders to pitch our case, but we seem to have a couple of obstacles. The first and major impediment is that the USPS often fails to consider logic, reason, and common sense when making decisions big and small; so, no matter how persuasive our data may be, the USPS will not let facts get in the way of their narrative and their chosen conclusion. The second roadblock is a perfect storm combination of our antiquated machinery, leadership (or lack thereof) in multiple departments, work ethics (or lack thereof) of many employees, and a mixture of indifference and ignorance by all parties. It’s hard to push and prove that we are the right spot for a large facility when maintenance doesn’t care if machines ever get fixed, when employees don’t care if the mail gets done, when transportation takes our mail to other buildings, and when management is fine with sending our mail to other buildings and not being accountable for anything. The circle of blame is wide and all-encompassing, but ultimately it begins and ends with management. I say it in this space very often, but it always bears repeating; we need to treat everyone the way that we would want to be treated. Everyone, management and craft alike, are responsible for their own personal behavior. We are all here to do a job and take home a paycheck. Please treat people and speak to people the way that you wish to be treated and spoken to. This isn’t high school and you aren’t children; carry yourselves better. That message applies to everyone no matter what level they get paid. Finally, with Bo’s retirement, I’m not sure who will be proofreading my rants anymore. I know that Luis just checks to see if he gets a mention and Rob Young scans the write-ups looking for Harry Potter or Star Wars references, but who will look for actual grammatical or spelling errors? Nancy Harvilla nabbed a slip-up recently, but who will consistently critique and contact me about a missing comma? I started doing what former MDO Mike Ryan called my “creative writing assignments” at former Mail Handler Bill Smith’s request to keep members informed and communicate with them. Sometimes I think more supervisors read these posts and that I could put my ATM pin up here and never worry about having a dime stolen from my account by a member, but Bo read the essays religiously and always provided feedback and retired MH Mike DeRoach still logs onto the Local 308 page to read them. Anybody catch the intentional spelling mistakes in this month’s rant? Stay United, Stay Strong- Sean Lehigh Valley-Scranton 2025 Picnic |
Branch President Sean Craig Your Union Representatives
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