FOR YOUR INFORMATION

1. This is the eleventh FYI to be released to the membership. As usual it is hoped that this FYI will provide you with pertinent information on the Local’s activities. If you have any suggestions, feel free to convey them to the Local at 455-6400.

2. Since the last FYI the Executive Board has met on 9 occasions and the Council on one. During these meeting, the following issues were discussed:

A. Payment of Death Benefits

Our by-laws provide under Article III, Section 11 "Death benefits in the amount of $50.00 will be paid to the member, or the immediate family, for the death of an immediate family member, limited to spouse, children, mother, father, brother, sister or the member." This benefit is available to members who have paid dues within the 90 days immediately prior to the loss of one of the defined family members. This does not apply, if the member has resigned from the Union. The basis for the ruling was the provision under the National Constitution which allows members ninety (90) days to become current in dues before being suspended.

B. Pocket Calendars

Once again it was agreed to purchase pocket calendars for the membership for 1996. Due to the overwhelming satisfaction with the 1995 calendars we have ordered the same for 1996. These will be available in December of this year.

C. 1995 Annual Picnic

(Denver Metro)

Currently we only have three members who have volunteered to participate on the picnic committee for this year. Those members are Don Gonzales (BMC), Jeff Morgan (GMF) and David Ross (Local Pres.). After a lengthy investigation into the various parks around town it was agreed that we would hold this years picnic at Del Mar Park in Aurora (6th Ave. and Peoria St.). The reason for this determination is that we have always moved our picnics around the city yet we have never had a picnic in Aurora. The picnic will be held on July 8th from 11:00 to 19:00 with the ball game being schedule to begin at 17:00. As we get closer to the date of the picnic, fliers will be distributed to the membership through your office.

(Outlying Offices)

Currently Grand Junction is the only outlying office which has submitted their request for a picnic this year. It is intended to vote on this request once we

have all submissions on the table. It is understood that some Branches won’t make a submission as they would rather hold off until Christmas. We should have all submissions within a couple of weeks.

D. By-Law Revisions

The Council has had to revise our by-laws on several occasions in an attempt to get them to a workable and controlling level. It is hoped that we now have made the necessary adjustments and we can all feel comfortable that there is a good set of rules for which this Local will run by. The most recent of the revisions were voted on by the Council on April 28th, 1995. Once these changes are reviewed by the Executive Board for accuracy they will be submitted to the National President for his approval. It is hoped that these are approved in time for publishing in our next newsletter. Members need to keep in mind that the by-laws are those of your Local and all members are entitled to submit By-Law proposals to the Council.

E. Selling of Union Products

The Local has been developing some Union related items with our Logo on them for sale to the membership. As we are able to work out the bugs a few more items (e.g., jackets, tee shirts & aprons) may become available. Currently we are selling hats and wall clocks. These items will be displayed in the newsletter along with an order form, so if interested, watch for your next newsletter. There will still be occasions on which the Local will issue various products to the membership at no cost.

F. Finances

Our financial situations seems to be improving everyday. We no longer owe money on any loans, our convention fund is fully replenished, our tax liabilities to the IRS are current, and we are beginning to address the $68,000.00 (half of which is interest) in back taxes to the State for 1978 through 1992. This year’s audit is almost complete and will be available for review by any member, at the hall in the near future. We have also been able to meet the budget (in almost every category) that was developed for the Local. We are still refining the budget as it has only been in place for about 6 months. The Executive Board is now meeting once a month solely to evaluate expenditures and income, which allows for a better checks and balance system.

G. Branch Representatives

As you are probably aware our by-laws now contain a Brach Rep. clause. After much discussion it has been determined that the appropriate use for these positions (at least for now) will be to set up a structure under the GMF’s Administrative Vice-President. The AVP for the GMF is currently responsible for four separate facilities and about 650 people. We originally tried to reduce the amount of jurisdiction for this position, however, when the TA was separated from the AVP’s jurisdiction, the TA seemed to get left behind on several issues. We are now returning the jurisdiction of the TA to the AVP from the GMF and will soon be placing Branch Reps. into the GMF, TA and the AMC. This should improve representation greatly within these facilities and ultimately bring the duties of the AVP within a workable level. We will be evaluating this structure on an ongoing basis, so any input you as a member can offer will be greatly appreciated.

H. Casual Violations

As most of you are aware there was a settlement for the violation in AP 2&3. This settlement was for $43.88 to be paid to all Mail Handlers in the District (Colorado & Wyoming) who were on the roll’s by 12/09/94. It was discovered in mid March that management had failed submit the payroll adjustments for processing. These adjustment were finally submitted to Minneapolis on March 29. Also, submitted on March 29th were the payroll adjustments for the violation in AP 5. The violation for AP 5 works out $54.24 per Mail Handler for those who were on the roll’s by 2/3/95. It is anticipated that these settlements should begin to appear on pay checks by mid May, however, we do not vouch for management’s ability to pay in a timely manner.

Also, we are still pursuing a possible violation for Christmas in 1993 and 1994. It appears the grievance on this violation will end up in National as an Interpretive issue.

I. Newsletter

We are finally done with B&U Publishing as our publisher for our newsletter. Our next newsletter should be out in about a month or so, and with a new look. The newsletter will now contain some contractual type information in each edition and advertisement will be kept to a minimum. Other changes are anticipated.

J. Open Season Results

The final counts for the Open Season are in and we had a gain of 263 associate members within the state. This equates to a little over $7,500.00 a year increase in income for the Local. I would like to give a special thanks to the retirees and the secretary of the Local for their assistance during open season.

3. Just as a point of reference, the Council for this Local is comprised of the following positions: Local President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, State Rep., and the AVP’s from Grand Junction, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Boulder, GMF and the BMC. The Executive Board is comprised of the positions indicated above with the exception of the 6 AVP’s.

4. Our membership within the Local has increased approximately 25% in the last year and a half. We currently have over 1050 members in our Local, which is up from the 863 members we had when this administration came into office. For this increase, I would like to give a special thanks to the Union Reps and the membership as a whole. We have been able to make considerable changes with the added revenue this increase has offered.

5. Recently, approval was given to various offices for participation on a modified workweek (4/10’s). Just to clear the air on this issue, the offices which were approved were those offices which submitted requests back in the early 1990’s. Most of the requests which were submitted at that time were requests generated by the APWU. The only exception that I am aware of was within the BMC where we made the request. Then in 1994 management requested all offices which previously had applied finalize their proposals and submit them no later than September 1 of 1994. Submissions were made by the Mail Handlers at this time in all offices which were specifically listed in management’s 1994 request. These being the BMC, TA, AMC and the SPBS Operation at the GMF. These have now all received approval from the National. Apparently other requests were submitted that were not the one’s specifically indicated in the 1994 request. Some of these have also received approval. If your facility has received an approval for any craft on this issue it will be up to the AVP/steward from your facility and the manager to investigate this matter and determine if we can and want to participate in your respective offices. There can be serious harm to the test period if we have offices involved that show a negative impact by the implementation of such a program. Some offices just cannot accommodate a modified work schedule without it being a plant wide requirement. At this time participation is strictly voluntary on a person by person basis and there may even be a cap on the percentage of allowable participants in a given office.

6. The first advanced stewards training was held on April 26 & 27. The training was given to the Council members first, as it gave each of the Council Members the opportunity to offer feedback on the training. The training came off without a single problem and seemed to offer considerable knowledge to everyone. Now that the preliminary steps are complete the training will now move to the stewards level. It is currently intended to give this training to all stewards within the next several months. The main thrust of the training is how to write a grievance for arbitration and the weight an arbitrator gives to various types of evidence.

7. Recently, I was able to receive approval from the Executive Board to begin checking into the possibility of relocating the Union Hall. Unfortunately, we were not able to begin this process sooner. There was a greater need to make the Hall more efficient prior to any consideration to relocate, this is now complete. The reason for this move is multifaceted, ranging from hopeful improvement in attendance at General Membership Meetings to more accessibility. The bottom line is that we have almost 90% of our membership contained within the GMF and the BMC and it would be beneficial to relocate nearer to those facilities. You will be kept apprised of any developments in this area.

Thank you,

David E Ross

President Local 321

NPMHU