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 Updated: March 17, 2024 with April Announcment We hope to see you at the next monthly meeting!
The monthly APWU Local 5 meeting schedule is located on the Meetings page.
Open Season begins on November 13, 2023 and runs through December 11, 2023.Open season is an important time for employees to review their health care benefits, annual leave exchange, and more to ensure that their current benefits fits their needs and the needs of their families. This is a one time opportunity for employees to make the necessary changes to their FEHB Hhealth Benefits. Employees are only permitted to make changes outside of Open Season, unles an employee has a Qualifying Life Event (QLE) during the remainder of the year.  Anyone interested in participating in Open Season 2023, or simply curious about what is being offered you can download this PDF file for more information on what is being offered this year.
____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________   _____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  _____________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________ Emergency Information Update I wanted to remind everyone to go to your Liteblue and make sure your emergency contact information is correct. If there is ever an emergency at work, Storms, Natural disaster ETC., you need to have all your contact information correct so the USPS can contact you or your loved ones. So everyone please check and make sure all your contact and emergency contact information is correct. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President Nashville Tennessee ______________________________________________________    ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________ I just wanted to congratulate 36 more PSE’s getting converted to FTR no later than 9/10/2022. Congratulations!!! Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President _____________________________________________________        _____________________________________________________     _____________________________________________________  _____________________________________________________      ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  _____________________________________________________ I have been asked if I could reach out to all of you our Membership. There have been a lot of unscheduled absences over this weekend for the P&DC and MCA employees due to the weather that just happened in our area and first we all hope that everyone is safe. Upper Management has asked me to reach out to all the members that if you want to work a day off or both day offs for the P&DC or MCA, you are welcome to over the next 10 days. It’s the final big week of mailing before the Christmas season ends and everyone is needed to make this a successful mailing season for our customers so all the packages and Christmas Cards make it to our customers before Christmas. Remember all of us Postal employees are kind of like Santa Claus and without all of us our customers will not get their packages for Christmas and we all know that there are a lot of kids out there that if they don’t get their presents it will break their hearts. So please, everyone that can make it to work please do your best over the next 10 days to make it to work. Let’s show everyone that Nashville employees are a team and we have accomplished everything for our customers. Thank you to all of you and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________ It has been brought to our attention that wait times to speak to an agent at the HRSSC to reset PIN numbers and Postalease accounts have been abnormally long. I have been in contact with the Postal Service and they have informed me that they have added staff to handle the influx of calls. Also, it has come to our attention that HRSSC has also that HRSSC will be open Saturday and Sunday exclusively to answer calls to rest PINs and help people regain access to PostalEASE and Liteblue. The HRRSC will be open from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm Eastern Time for this service on Saturday and Sunday. If you are calling about anything else, you can opt to get a call back from Shared Services so you do not have to wait on the phone. You are given a general time when the call will be returned based on the current wait time. You do not lose your place in the queue. Please Disseminate. Vance Zimmerman Industrial Relations Director American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO 1300 L Street, NW Washington, DC 20005-4128 ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________  _____________________________________________________ I just wanted to let everyone know that OPM has finally come to a decision on how the USPS will handle EFEL. For those of you who have used EFEL management will be giving you paperwork to fill out immediately for your usage of EFEL. I know a lot of you have used EFEL for a couple of days after your 2nd vaccine which is making several of you sick for a couple of days. If you did use it I’m telling everyone to make sure you have your signed 3971 and a photo copy of your vaccination card and attached it with the 2 papers you must fill out that your Supervisor will give to you. Turn it back into your Supervisor immediately and make sure you keep a copy of everything since this deals with the Federal Government, remember this is not a USPS or APWU agreement this is a Federal Government agreement. Thank you, be safe. Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President _____________________________________________________    ______________________________________________________ PSE Conversions I wanted to say Congratulations to 86 PSE’s who will be Converted to Full Time Regular by March 27, 2021. This is a Big Settlement to Convert this many PSE’s to Full Time in Nashville!!! All the PSE’s being Converted to Full Time need to tell Director Joe Jolley and Assistant Director Steven Simms thank you. They both have filed countless grievances for work hours to get you converted. We are getting more PSE’s converted to FTR than almost anywhere across the Country and that is because of all the hard work Joe and Steven have done for all you PSE’s. So thank you Joe and Steven, I do appreciate all your hard work and dedication!!! AT A BOY!!! Congratulations PSES!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!! Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President Nashville Tennessee _____________________________________________________  ___________________________________________________ Attention Clerks It has come to the attention of the Local that numerous Clerk craft duties are being performed by other crafts (Carriers/Custodians) as well as EAS personnel. These duties include, but are not limited to throwing parcels, working box mail, lobby sweeps (Lobby Assistant), TACS input, working the window, distributing and collecting accountables, etc. It has come to my attention that several have questioned what the Union is doing about it. My answer is very little. I have filed numerous grievances regarding these issues and they continue to get shot down because I lack employee statements. I know a lot of the Clerks are burnt out and many do not want OT so they welcome the help. You are in danger of welcoming this help at your own detriment. You are giving our work away. I cannot succeed in the grievance process without your help. I can assure you, if the work is lost to another Craft, it is near impossible to get it back. I need people to not only provide statements to the Union EVERYTIME you witness someone doing Clerk Craft work, but to stand up and demand it stop, even if that means you have to do it. It’s a sacrifice that needs to be made, hopefully short term, to win this fight. The completion of Clerk Craft work should not require OT every day but until we stand up and prove that we are understaffed and need more positions posted, that will continue to be the case. Do not allow Mgmt. to rush you along. Work at a safe and steady speed. If the job doesn’t get done on time, that is their fault, not yours. You have to prove it. You need not kill yourself but DO NOT SLOW WALK THE MAIL! Our Credo is a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work. We earn a fair wage and we owe a fair day’s work. We will file grievances every time we receive a statement. We will ask for reimbursement to the Clerk Craft, but more importantly, we will continue to request more Clerk Craft jobs be posted. Joe Jolley APWU Local #5 Clerk Craft Director Nashville Tennessee ______________________________________________________  _______________________________________________________ The USPS is once again starting their attempts to get their employees “engaged”. It is Postal Pulse time again! Most likely you have received emails, direct mailings, stand-up talks, and have seen wall postings encouraging you to take the survey. The APWU wants to remind all employees that we advise against participating in surveys that the Postal Service conducts. Recent surveys besides the Postal Pulse have be used to attack our jobs. In the past surveys have been used against the APWU and those we represent in the bargaining processing. Postal Service surveys are not in our best interests. Collectively, our voices are stronger when we fight together to improve wages, benefits, and the working conditions at the Post Office. The Postal Pulse has now been conducted for multiple years and the APWU does not believe the survey has been beneficial to the membership. Do not let the promise of a pizza party or the promise of some inexpensive “award” lure you into participation. You have the right to refuse the survey and you cannot be instructed to participate. Vance Zimmerman Industrial Relations Director American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO 1300 L Street, NW Washington, DC 20005-4128 ________________________________________________________________________  ________________________________________________________________________  ________________________________________________________________________   ______________________________________________________ ELECTION RESULTS The Election count was done tonight at the Union Hall at 17:00 and here is the final count. I want to Congratulate all the winners and thank all of you for voting and the ones who did not win thank you for trying and making this a Great election. Clerk Craft Assistant Director A and B Steven Simms 69 Hanson Howard 63 Ron Armstrong 60 Steven and Hanson are the winners Clerk Trustee Barry Smith 64 KJ Johnson 33 Winner Barry Smith Legislative Director Shannon Gregory 80 Jim Schmidt 80 Tie Per our local constitution Section 9. (b) all Elected positions that are tied in elections will perform a run-off for their specific position. So there will be a run-off shortly. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President Nashville Tennessee _______________________________________________________________________   ________________________________________________________________________ I wanted to ask everyone to calm down during these tough times with the Coronavirus. I’m hearing a lot of rumors and like I always say don’t listen to the rumors. Nobody as of right now has been diagnosed with the Coronavirus in the Nashville Area Post Offices. If someone does test positive the Local Management must tell me. The Nashville area Post Office I have seen are doing a good job of keeping everything clean and safe for all of us employees, all of our Custodians are doing a Excellent job at keeping all of us safe and everyone of us should say thank you to them. Everyone needs not to Panic. We all together will get thru this so please don’t Panic. We are all lucky that we have a Union Job at the Post Office because we don’t have to worry about getting laid off like so many others are right now. We all need to count our blessings that we are lucky to have such a good job!!! We all need to be polite and help one another at work and your community. PSE’s we have a temporary agreement at the National level that if you come down with the Coronavirus you will get paid for up to 80 hours. You can look at APWU.org to read about this agreement and also child care agreement since the schools are shut down. I repeat no one at this time in our Local Post Office family has been diagnosed with the Coronavirus. If anyone needs anything please let us know. Thank you and God bless each of you and your family. Keith Pullen APWU Local President Nashville Tennessee _____________________________________________________ Election Ballots Reminder to everyone that your ballot must be postmarked no later than Monday 3/23/2020 or your vote will not be counted. Some of you have told us that you have not received your ballot, the Election committee will have it to you this week. So when you get it this week, make sure you fill it out immediately and have it postmarked by 3/23/2020. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local President _______________________________________________________________________ I just had a Conference Call from our National President for a little bit of the break down on our New Contract. PSE’s that are going to be converted to FTR will be converted within 60 days of the March 10th, 2020 settlement. PSE’s will be getting a pay raise. 2.3% 11/24/2018, 2.19% 11/23/2019 and the last raise will be 2.0% 11/2020. Also PSE’s get a $.20 cent hour raise 5/2020 and $.20 cent hour raise 5/2021. Level 5-8 FTR’s there will be 2 extra steps added towards your pay so you will make more money. FTR’s will be getting a 3.4% raise over the term of this 3 year contract, 2 COLA per year increases which totals about $790 a year. Back pay will be happening but the date is unknown as of right now. We should be getting a extra check for all back pay but it’s still unknown as of right now. Health Coverage, yes the FTR’s will have to start paying a additional 1% per year starting in 2021, and it’s about $75-$165 a year extra. Maintenance does have some changes to the Line H issues, but prevailed by still NO PSE’s in the Maintenance Craft. MVS still no new subcontracting. Still no lay off if you have your 6 years. No Excessing outside of 50 miles. Remember this contract went to interest arbitration, whenever you have to go thru interest arbitration you win somethings and you lose somethings, both sides never win it all. I want to say after looking at everything we accomplished I think we have a fair new CBA. We took care of our PSE’s by getting them raises and also the FTR’s will receive raises and COLA and we will get back pay and everything is retroactive. I think our National officers did a Excellent job and also 1 of our Local Officers Maintenance Director Jeff Stagner did a Excellent job in Washington D.C. to help the Maintenance Craft. Our new CBA is better than the Mail Handlers new CBA, we still only have a 20% PSE work force while Mail Handlers now have a 24% MHA work force. Our PSE’s received raises while the MHA’s didn’t. So in closing this is not a bad CBA effective date 2018-2021. Thank you for all being apart of the APWU Family. Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President Nashville Tennessee ______________________________________________________ We have a New Contract!!!! I want to congratulate the PSE’s that will become Full-Time Regulars per our New contract which it looks like 33 PSE’s will be converted to FTR. We kept our No Lay Off and no excessing outside of 50 miles. A raise of a little over 3% and 2 COLA raises per year for the 3 year contract. This is a Win for all of us HardWorking Union members. I will find out hopefully within the next week about when all the dates go into effect for our conversions to FTR and everything about our new CBA. Once I find out I will put the information out. You can go to APWU.org to look over our new CBA. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President Nashville Tennessee ________________________________________________________________________ If we have any Union Members that are displaced or need any help, please let myself or a Union Steward know. There are help funds available from our National Union. Everyone is in our prayers!!! Keith Pullen APWU Local President ______________________________________________________ I hope each and every one of you and your families are ok from the Tornados this morning that hit the Middle Tennessee area. Please be safe and cautious, and if you can’t make it to work call out Administrative Leave and if Management denies it ask for a Steward and write a statement and file a grievance. Take pictures around your neighborhoods so we can use them for our grievances. God bless each and everyone of you. Keith Pullen APWU Local President _____________________________________________________ Postmaster General visit to Nashville The Postmaster General is going to be at the MCA and the P&DC on Tuesday 2/18/2020 for the opening ceremony of the MCA at 14:00 and supposed to be at the P&DC at 16:00 to talk to all employees. I’m asking everyone to show our APWU Local #5 strength by wearing your Red Union Shirts to show our strength. ________________________________________________________________________ Attention Members I wanted to let all Members know that the Ballots for our Local Election were mailed tonight for the positions that were contested. I’m urging everyone when you get your ballot to please vote!!! Vote for who you think is the best qualified for the position. This is the time to make your voice heard to try and change things for the future. Please Vote!!! Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President _________________________________________________________________________ http://www.apwunashville.org/jpegs/Aug2020.JPG  _______________________________________________________________________ My name is Pamela Smith. I am the new National Business Agent representing Alabama , Mississippi and Tennessee, replacing Jerry McIlvain, whom I miss dearly but recently retired. Please don't panic, Billy Woods is still in the office and has been training, mentoring, and guiding me along the way! Together we will continue to process grievances at step 3 and arbitrate cases as expeditiously as possible. I began my Postal career in 1995 as a PTR, working 20 hours a week as a mail processing clerk on the CSBCS. Later, when I became a regular in 2000, (yes that was 5 years), finally, I became an FTR SSDA with 40! I remember selecting a residual bid; this was a significant step in my postal career. Now I could afford to purchase a home, have a 40-hour guarantee a week schedule, start saving for the future, and provide a stable income for my family. This is what I strive to achieve for all our membership! In 2011, I started as a Union steward in the Birmingham Area Local and later the Clerk Craft Director and finally the Vice President. Also, during that time, I served as the District 3 Vice President for the State of Alabama members at large. Serving in these positions have taught me a lot. During this time, I learned that my passion is helping our members. I have experienced a lot during my postal career, and I want to be there when the members need someone who can relate to their issues. As a new NBA, I have been attending a lot of training and seminars to prepare for my new role. I will be out of the office regularly, so if you call and have a question, please be patient. I will respond by email or by phone as soon as possible. I don't know it all, but I will do my best to represent the membership to the best of my ability. Yours in Union Solidarity Pamela Smith National Business Agent Memphis Region, APWU 140 Oxmoor Blvd, Suite 170 Birmingham, AL 35209 205-940-6293 (Office) 205-940-6294 (Fax) 205-382-3899 (Cell) _______________________________________________________________________  _______________________________________________________________________ Nashville Area Office Line H Nashville Local #5 will begin filing Line H grievances for all of the Area Offices represented by the Nashville Local (Dickson, Franklin, Hermitage, LaVergne, and Smyrna) starting November 6. I don’t expect a large settlement like Nashville P&DC, but there may be some monetary settlement. Just remember that this may be a long process, so we will try and keep the Area Office custodians informed through our web site and newsletter. Chester Edwards _______________________________________________________________________ Management Being Cowards I just returned from vacation and that is why I was not at the Town Hall meetings with Plant Manager Roger Crawford. You all probably heard lie after lie from the Plant Manager. That’s all he has been doing is lying about everything about the MCA and bid jobs. I met with the Plant Manager before I went on vacation on Thursday the 26th September and he told me that the Annex and AMC would all be closed up by the end of November. While I’m on vacation I get several phone calls and emails from you members about you losing your bid jobs at the Annex. If you didn’t hear about it, the Plant Manager abolished everyone on tour 2 Annex bid jobs on Tuesday and tells them to Report to work on Wednesday as a Tour 3 employee. This was totally wrong and just shows you that Management is a bunch of Cowards to do something like this without any notice to you employees. This just shows what management thinks of your hard work and what they think about you and your families. As soon as I heard I tried Calling the Plant Manager on his Cell phone and office phone and he did not answer and I sent him a Email and still no response 3 days later. This whole process of the New building shows how screwed up Management really are and have NO clue about what is going on. They have not communicated one thing with us the Union and when they do let us know something they lie about that. The simplest way would have been to Abolish all jobs at the Annex and AMC on the same day at least 1 week before the jobs came out to bid today Friday the 11 October so everyone would not be wondering what is going on and when everything would happen. I’m telling each and everyone of you FTR’s from the Annex and AMC bid on these jobs now, you have until Monday the 21st to Bid. Don’t let these jobs pass you by because if you don’t get a bid job then you will become a Unassigned FTR. Well back to Management lying to you and treating you the way they do, don’t let them do this anymore!! Every time Management violates the Contract ask for a Union Steward and file a grievance. Management can’t handle all the grievances that are being filed daily and we are getting a lot of settlements weekly. Stand up against Management and Fight Back!!! Don’t let your Supervisor continue to lie to you and treat you wrong!!! All of you from the Annex and AMC employees have done a great job and being very professional thru the tough time of transition to the MCA!!! Management could learn something from all you employees if they just closed their mouths and pay attention. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President ______________________________________________________ MCA Update I just wanted to let everyone know, don’t listen to the rumors. Yes, the Plant Manager next week will be doing town hall meetings with employees in groups to discuss about what is going to happen. 1st not all bid jobs will be abolished. The only bid jobs that will be abolished are the affected buildings which are the Annex and AMC. The only jobs that will be abolished at the P&DC are some of the expeditor jobs. Everyone else at the P&DC and City Stations will not be abolished. We your Union are keeping a close eye on everything that is being done and we will continue to file grievances on all violations. Management will start in the next few weeks abolishing jobs at the Annex and AMC, and they will start posting jobs to bid on for the MCA starting in October. So keep a eye on the bid jobs that come out on the 2nd Friday of every month. This is all the information I have for the time being but once I get more information I will pass it on. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President _______________________________________________________________________ MCA Meetings I just received a call from Plant Manager Roger Crawford about the MCA. The Plant Manager said he is going to start to talk to all employees in little groups to let you know about what is going to happen. Just letting everyone know we the Union were not invited to the Meetings and in fact he is doing them on my off days, so if anybody has a question please get with your union steward. We all know that Management has lied to each and everyone of us about the MCA and they will probably lie during the meetings with all of you. We still have no clue of what is going on because Upper Management will not communicate with the Union. We will continue to file grievances on all of the Violations that Management are doing at the MCA with all of you employees that are affected by the MCA. In the meetings ask a million questions and please take notes and let your Stewards know what is being said so I can address everything. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President Nashville, Tennessee _______________________________________________________________________ Employees from the Annex and AMC are wondering what is going on with their jobs and the new building. We are having a Labor Management Meeting on Thursday to discuss what is going on. As of right now, we have no information because management has not given anybody any information. So quit listening to the rumors and don’t listen to the Mail Handlers because they don’t have a clue either. Nobody from either Union has received any information about what and when everything is going to happen. Come to the Union Meeting on Tuesday August 6th at 11:00 am and hopefully we will have information to put out on the New building. Everybody will have a Job so quit listening to the rumors that you won’t have a job. Thank you, Keith Pullen APWU Local #5 President _______________________________________________________________________  ______________________________________________________ Attention: Postal Support Employees Watch the Bid Board At the P&DC For PTF Positions That You Can Bid On ______________________________________________________ Wounded Warriors Leave There have been some questions coming from the field concerning the continued eligibility of a 30% disabled veteran who has previously established that they are eligible for WWL. I have verified with the USPS HQ that once a veteran has established their 30% eligibility and remains 30% or more disabled they will receive a “fresh” allotment of WWL each leave year. Balances remaining at the end of any previous leave year are not carried over, but an employee will start with a fresh 104 hours effective the first day of each leave year (assuming the employee is still eligible for WWL). Eligible new hires will receive 104 hours of WWL upon hire (as required by law) to be used for the remainder of the current calendar year. Each January, all disabled veterans with a 30% or more combined disability rating will receive 104 hours of WWL to use during the calendar year. At the end of each calendar year, any remaining WWL will be forfeited but, assuming the employee still has a combined disability rating of 30% or more, he/she will receive a new 104 hours at the start of the new leave year. Any unused WWL is not rolled over to the next year, nor will it be paid out if the employee leaves. Initial Eligibility Newly hired eligible employees or those returning to the Postal Service will be credited with 104 hours of Wounded Warriors Leave following the Postal Service's receipt of documentation supporting the employee's eligibility. Wounded Warriors Leave will be available for use retroactively to the first day of their enter-on-duty date, or the current Leave Year, whichever is later, for use through the end of the Leave Year. Additional Eligibility Eligible employees will be credited with 104 hours of Wounded Warriors Leave on the first day of each Leave Year and the leave is available for use until the last day of the Leave Year. ________________________________________________________________________ Management is trying to harass all employees by telling every employee that if they call out sick or even FMLA that they must bring Documentation and that all employees in Nashville are on the Dems Desirable list. This is a violation of the CBA and also the postal ELM. If you call out and Management asks for Documentation ask for a Union Steward immediately so we can file a grievance and also so we can file charges against management with the Department of Labor. We want everybody to come to work but if you have to call out don’t let Management harass you!!! Thank you Keith Pullen APWU local President  ______________________________________________________________________ Below is a statement from APWU President Mark Dimondstein on the White House plan to privatize the United States Postal Service. http://www.apwunashville.org/jpegs/Aug2020.JPG The White House proposal on restructuring the federal government released today, “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century,” delivered nothing but misinformation and, if implemented, would end regular mail and package services at an affordable cost to 157 million addresses every day. Furthermore, the White House plan is an attack on many federal agencies and the public services they provide. The White House’s plan states, “Like many European nations the United States could privatize its postal operator…” What’s left unsaid is European nations charge substantially more for mail services delivered in a much smaller area. They also regularly raise the cost of delivery. For example, the cost of sending a letter in the United Kingdom has increased 80 percent over the past decade. By comparison, the U.S. has the lowest postage rates in the industrialized world. Eliminating the universal service obligation, as the plan suggests, would hurt business and individuals alike, and would be a dagger aimed at the heart of rural America and undermine e-commerce. The draconian plan uses “burdening the taxpayers” as justification to promote the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service when the truth is USPS is self-supporting and receives no tax dollars for postal operations. And, while letter mail volumes are lower, package delivery is up substantially. No institution is better suited for the e-commerce revolution than USPS. The public postal service serves each and every person and belongs to the people of this country. According to recent surveys by Gallup and the Pew Research Center, it enjoys the highest level of satisfaction and trust of any government service or agency, rating the highest among young people. Privatizing the Postal Service is not in the public interest or the interest of postal workers and would be nothing more than a raid by corporate pirates on a national treasure. This outrageous White House plan should be a wake-up call to every postal worker and APWU member. The threats of postal privatization, the threats to decent union jobs, the threats to good services, are real. The American Postal Workers Union stands with the people of the country and our many allies in the ongoing fight to ensure a vibrant public Postal Service for generations to come. More information and calls for action will be forthcoming. 1300 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 | www.apwu.org ______________________________________________________ DEFINING THE WORKPLACE BULLY + : Someone once told me “I have never worked at a place that tried to get rid of you as soon as they hired you”. Not until years later would I understand what he meant by this. I believe he meant the atmosphere that management has created. The abusive humiliation and intimidation tactics postal management uses on the work room floor is something supervisors and postmasters have learned from their managers, or the proudly self-proclaimed “LEADERS”. While some supervisors and postmasters want the best for our customers and fellow workers, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They try to do the right thing involving their employees but are constantly under pressure to make arbitrary and unrealistic goals. During volatile daily telecoms and weekly ‘leader’ meetings, upper management uses this as a platform to intimidate and belittle frontline EAS employees in front of their peers. This is where a narcissistic senior manager deflects their unrealistic plan and leadership inadequacies and places them onto the “TEAM”. This is clear and blatant harassment and middle school style bullying. This is where this unacceptable management style is normalized, learned and repeated. It is no wonder this unrealistic and abusive style of management is now repeated commonly amongst front line supervision. We, the workers who must implement a severely flawed business plan, know that management has understaffed our pay locations, lowered service and alienated our customers. Stop and think about just how stupid and self-defeating that is… simply it is business suicide. Even with rampant and forced overtime, at the end of a shift we realize that required work is not finished. PSEs being the most vulnerable under our collect bargaining agreement are being pulled in every direction, like a favorite rag doll in a day care center. Many PSEs are intimidated to violate the contract when it does protect them, while some unknowingly respond to every whim. We have supervisor texting instructions to personal cell phones while many are using their own private vehicles. Supervision knows this is not proper – instructions are to be given at your workplace – you - the employee are not on-call! Transportation being used to go from one workplace to another one in the same day is management’s responsibility – not the employees! This has been in the JCIM for over 20 years. (Page 222 in the 2017 JCIM). Additionally, over 4 years ago in a Labor Management Meeting (where Union and Management sit down to discuss issues dealing with employee’s rights) : Etravel was agreed to be set up for all PSEs in Postal One. If employees were to choose their own vehicle (APWU and your personal insurance company does NOT recommend this as without commercial coverage they will not pay for damages) management is to pay the employees at the GSA POV rate per mile if you do use your vehicle. Always log and report your time, don’t give away your rights. Seek a steward if you find management’s resistance to this or any rule immediately. All the while, President Trump and his team are thinking of ways to take away our pensions, healthcare and even injury compensation. Instead of trying to satisfy and add to our customer base during an e-commerce boom, it seems we are constantly shooting ourselves in the foot to try to cut service and turn business away. The ivory tower function schedulers generated in DC are a joke and management has admitted to them being biased and unrealistic. Mail is continuously delayed while the OIG turns a blind eye and reports that they will ‘give the Service time to recuperate with better scores.’ All the while more and more customers are being forced to use our competition. Parcels are not getting scanned when the customer expects as they are told on the front lobby window, APCs and from their home computers printing their postage from our employer’s site. Why? Because then the extent of the delayed mail would be there for all to see. More important to USPS management is that the truth may interfere with their bonuses. So truth be darned and onward with falsification, deception and misleading of the public. Be a part of the solution not the problem. Report violations and delayed mail to your supervisor and document. Ask for your union steward if the problem is not immediately corrected. Career employees need to mentor and help protect our PSE’s because that is what a UNION is all about. Cassie Williams Vice President Nashville Area Local 5 ______________________________________________________ Importance of Union Meetings: YOUR VOICE: HIGHEST RANK While some of us hold elected positions of authority, the real power of our local Union is the individual member, how the individual member exercises that power over the direction of our local Union is at Union meetings. This is where YOU tell us what to do, not the other way around. Regularly scheduled Union meetings are a sign of a vibrant, democratic and organized union. Do you know that we have had very few that have made a quorum?? (quo�rum: the minimum number of members of an assembly or society that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid). The Union meeting has many purposes. It provides members the opportunity to regularly: meet as a group, learn about the Union, exchange ideas, meet the leaders and fellow members, debate and make decisions, air gripes and argue, make proposals and have input, get updated on events, socialize, etc. Yet, the most common refrain that is heard is “no one comes.” The regularly scheduled meeting establishes that the union as an organization exists and has structure. And, as with any democracy, it allows the members to attend and participate or not to attend (which has been a big problem). This is YOUR Union – YOU pay for US to work for YOU, YOU are to hold US accountable for what the job we do for YOU. WE need YOU to attend the meetings and we need you to educate us on what violations are going on. Even if you don’t like the regular schedule meetings – show up to a meeting and make a motion to change the schedule. Cassie Williams: (Your) Vice President ___________________________________________________ Dear APWU Members Yesterday National Business Agents, APWU and Labor Relation Specialist, USPS had Joint APWU/USPS training on the JCIM(Joint Contract Interpretation Manual). Local Officers and Stewards with Management attended the training. Jointly prepared by the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, and the United States Postal Service. The manual provides a mutually agreed upon explanation on how to apply the contract to the issues addressed. When a dispute arises, the parties should go to the JCIM to determine if the issue in dispute is addressed. If it is, the parties are required to resolve the dispute in accordance with this manual. Below is link for the online downloadable copy. Click to download the JCIM Thank you, Keith Pullen Nashville APWU Local President _____________________________________________________ Click on the newsletter button above to read the latest edition of the Music City Notes ____________________________________________________ ATTENTION APWU MEMBERS AS WELL AS ALL CRAFTS IN THE POSTAL SERVICE: Every parcel that we fail to scan IS a customer that does not get the service they paid for and one we will most likely lose. Management instructs us to forgo scanning and distribute the mail. Consider this. This is a service that the customers pay for and ALL our competition provides at a high level. When a business fails to perform a service that is promised to the customer – integrity is lost. There are many options available to the consumer, especially in today’s market. FED EX and UPS are continuing to expand scanning and providing customer service access. A Walgreens and FedEx store on virtually every other block advertising the “ACCEPTED HERE -Return service packages” banners and signs SHOULD be a constant reminder of the customer service business we are in. This should also serve as a reminder of the highly competitive marketplace OUR jobs depend on. Unfortunately, management is blind to the needs of our customer. With newspapers, first class, periodicals as well as standard mail being left behind for days beyond the customer’s expected date of delivery, management relies on Article 3 of the CBA (Contract) and their service standards stating, “management has the right to manage” to excuse their lack of productivity expectations. Standards changed back in 2011 but timeliness of the mail has gotten increasingly delayed. First class promised in 1-3 days is just not happening. This further frustrates the public - driving business away. We must stand up for our customers, our jobs and restore the trust of the American People in the USPS. Delaying mail is not up to management’s discretion. Contact the USPS OIG about intentionally delaying the mail and refusing to scan packages to protect our jobs. REPORT DELAYED MAIL TO: OIG.GOV SITES TO VIEW: https://uspsoig.gov/document/delayed-mail-validation https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2015/NO-AR-11-008.pdf In Solidarity, Cassie Williams, Vice President ______________________________________________________ ATTENTION: We Need Your Help! INFORMATION FOR THE MEMBERS ON JOBS: The Attack on jobs by Management has been in full force against the Clerk Craft especially in the last several months. Headquarters developed ‘Dashboard’, ‘Craft Complement’, ‘CSV’, ‘Huddle board’, ‘ Function 1 & 4 Schedulers‘ - from a quiet office merely based on biased statistics and most disappointingly falsified information in order to obtain what they propose to be the ’Future Ready Postal Service’ – their stated new five year strategic plan for the new fiscal years 2017-2021. You, the MEMBERS play an important role not only as APWU members but also valued postal employees. You see the real side of the Post Office, you work it daily. You see the mail that is ‘curtailed’ every day. A lot of GPs, OTRs, house trucks loaded with mail two to three days old – placards still left on them or some changed with fraudulent dates. You shake your head and think of the customer, someone just like you – wanting their mail. Nowhere to ‘stage’ it except in plain sight seen every day on your way in and out of your bid work sections. Anyone with limited business sense would know that these decisions made by management are indeed not inclusive of a customer service ran business. You expect your Union to fight for these jobs. Jobs that pay our bills, take care of our children and allow us the stability to live productively. Our job is to get the mail out- to satisfy our customers- to keep our promise to both the sender and receiver. To succeed in keeping the jobs we have and fighting for the ones that Management is constantly trying to abolish; BUT to do this WE need your help. UNITY is a very strong word, without it – we are weak. Please report all delayed mail to your steward or Union official in the section. If there is not one available, please document and use our website to email/contact your APWU at www.apwunashville.org to report. In Solidarity, Cassie Williams Vice President APWU Nashville Local _____________________________________________________ MESSAGE FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT, Cassie Williams: Your Local needs your help in fighting for your rights! Be Active and Vocal so We Can Fight For YOU! The biggest fight we can fight is for OUR jobs! We need you to help report these violations! Seek out a steward OR demand a steward if one is not in your facility or in your section. Strength lies in our UNITY. Postal Service is Blatantly Violating the Contract The APWU and the USPS agreed in Article 37.3.A.1 of the CBA that, “Every effort will be made to create desirable duty assignments from all available work hours for career employees to bid.” This includes hours worked by PSEs. This provision was part of an overall agreement for more APWU jobs. However, the Postal Service is now ignoring that part of the agreement and instead of utilizing “all available work hours” to create duty assignments, the USPS is now attempting to utilize what they call “earned hours” and “earned duty assignments” to determine the number of duty assignments. “Earned duty assignments” is what the USPS would prefer the number of duty assignments to be and has no basis in the contract. “We are gearing up for a large fight,” said President Dimondstein. “I know that if we stick together and stay united, then – just like the Stop Staples and contract campaigns – we will be victorious.” USPS Actions are an Attack on Service The Postal Service is reducing duty assignments and issuing excessing notices despite the fact that Postal Service is already understaffed as evidenced by the following issues, taking place in many offices around the country: Long lines for postal customers at the window Delayed mail Thousands of Postal Support Employees averaging over 30 hours a week High amounts of overtime One worker instead of the agreed upon two or three workers staffing DBCS machines As postal workers and postal customers know from experience, in most offices, the Postal Service is seriously understaffed and causing poor service to the community. Some installation heads are acting with integrity and resisting the unreasonable reductions in duty assignments and service, but many are going along despite the harm to postal workers and the community. APWU is Fighting Back The APWU has been implementing a plan to fight back that includes meetings with management at every level, informational pickets to inform the community, and utilization of the grievance procedure. “I salute the National Clerk Craft Officers for taking the lead on this, with assistance from the Regional Coordinators and the National Business Agents,” said President Dimondstein Meetings at the national level, including meetings with Postmaster General Megan Brennan, have emphasized the blatant reduction of duty assignments across the country when the duty assignments are clearly needed and also the unprecedented nature of the amount of excessing notices at one time. Locals are already getting into the fight on the streets. The Baltimore APWU Local held an informational picket at the Main Post Office in Baltimore on June 10 that was attended by postal workers and community members. Other Locals are also preparing for similar actions. Locals wishing to conduct informational pickets should contact the Clerk Craft Division to receive assistance. The APWU has been conducting Max Duty Assignment Tool (MDAT) training across the country on how to demonstrate new duty assignments whenever management tries to eliminate duty assignments or excess employees. We have designated National Business Agents (NBAs) in each area that are working under the direction of the National Clerk Craft Officers to work with Local and State organizations to develop strong grievances, coordinate our actions, and put our best foot forward in addressing these issues. A Call to Action As postal workers we must fight together against the Postal Services ongoing willingness to blatantly violate the contractual agreements they made with us. It is important that postal workers attend their local union meetings where we can learn from each other and work on strategies to slow or stop management’s plans to reduce service to the community and disrupt the workforce. If we come together in an organized manner, we can win a better Postal Service and a better workplace. ASK FOR A STEWARD NOW if you see any of these violations! ____________________________________________________ Have You Suffered A Work-Related Injury? Please click HERE to download Guidance for a Claim of Traumatic Injury (CA-1) _____________________________________________________ Does the Union have your current address? We now have the ability to change members' addresses on the National roster. If you have moved and are not receiving APWU correspondence from National, it may be because your old address is still on their list (which is provided to them by your employer- USPS). So, if you or any member you know is not receiving APWU newsletters, etc., please contact me with your name and current address. This is really easy to update now and will be important for upcoming elections. Robbin Atchley Secretary/Treasurer email: Roknrobbin@aol.com text: (615) 584-0279 _____________________________________________________   Click this link for more information APWU Web News Article #: 142-2013 ________________________________________________ How to Calculate PSE Overtime To calculate PSE overtime, take $14.89/hour and multiply by 2,000 to get $29,790. Divide $29,790 by 2,080 to get $14.3173 (carry out to five digits and round to four digits). To get the overtime rate, multiply $14.3173 by 150 percent and the result is $21.47 per hour. Please note that 150 percent of $14.89 would be $22.34 per hour. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees be paid no less than 150 percent for work over 40 hours in a week, so management must pay that amount for overtime for PSEs. Pay adjustments will show up as an FLSA adjustment at the bottom of an employee's paystub. Since the FLSA hourly rate may include night differential, the FLSA adjustment ends up being a complicated calculation that can produce unexpected results. |
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Nashville APWU P.O. Box 290033, Nashville, TN 37229 Phone: (615) 885-2833 Fax: (615) 885-0844 |
