This is the twenty-sixth FYI to be released to the membership. As always, I hope this FYI will provide you with relevant information on the Local’s activities. If you have any questions, feel free to convey them to the Local at 455-6400.

Safety Training has been developed by the Local and should be rolled out to the stewards in the near future. This program should assist in bring our representatives up to date on the impacts felt by OSHA as well as other safety related issues. It is hoped that through this training we can resolve safety concerns more quickly on the floor when they arise.

Computer training should be rolled out later this year. The main focus of this training will be utilization of the various programs and recourses available to our stewards. The tools available to our stewards through our homepage and other related sites are becoming almost a necessity in our need to represent all our rights. This training has been needed for sometime but do to lack of computer training stations we never got this training developed. Recently the Local purchased 5 used computer systems for $250.00 each that we hope will meet our needs in this training area. The training is intended for those with no basic computer knowledge

With the addition of the above-mentioned training programs we now have a total of nine locally developed training programs available to our stewards. It is hoped that as our stewards become more thoroughly trained the level of representation will improve as well.

Management seems to want to implement a withholding of positions, based on anticipated impacts that will be felt by new automation (mainly the Flat Sorter 100’s). Unfortunately it appears that they do not know how to accomplish this process. Since the beginning of the year the Local has receive a variety of withholding letters which for the most part seem to supersede prior notices. A few weeks ago a withholding notice was issued indicating managements intent to withhold 308 jobs in the Colorado/Wyoming District. That notice anticipated an impact of 285 clerk jobs and 24 Mail Handler jobs. Of the 24 Mail Handler jobs over half were anticipated to come out of the Colorado Springs office. Today another notice was received indicating that the number of 308 positions has been reduced to 54 clerk positions.

As most of you know, withholding in place or not, management will continue to under-hire/under-staff many of our operations. The reasons given range between, "we are over budget" to "we are at our compliment." Every now and then some supervisor might be honest and tell you that staffing impacts budget which directly impacts managements bonuses. Last year there were several managers that received bonuses over $10,000.00 in our district. It is also important to note that the average supervisor received over $2,000.00 in bonuses last year. All the while service has slipped and the workers who actually moved the mail went un-rewarded. How unfortunate, management has created a reward system, which drives a sweatshop mentality rather than a service mentality. Maybe management should look at rewarding those who move the mail rather than those who hinder it.

With the continuing introduction of a variety of automation, the working crafts continue to feel the brunt of the impact. Majority speaking, the pieces of automation being deployed are designed to eliminate people (even though in many cases automation does not allow for any reduction in staffing only the shifting of work). The craft that is supposed to incur the greatest harm is the clerk craft. This harm will be felt in the release of the new Flat Sorter 100’s (scheduled to arrive in the Denver GMF within the next two months). Each of these machines will replace three of the current Flat Sorters and their crews.

The downside to impacts on the clerk craft is management does not seem to know how to excess clerks from their craft so they just want to shift Mail Handler work over to the clerks. This practice here in Colorado seems to be primarily driven by Sam Ruden out of the GMF. Recently I attended a RI-399 meeting in Colorado Springs where management was proposing to take two Mail Handler operations and give them to the clerks while taking one clerk operation and giving it to the Mail Handlers. This meeting was held between the two Union’s and two Labor Relations Representatives. During our meeting we discussed the rules of RI-399 and management’s obligation to follow those rules.

The Labor Reps for the Postal Service responded by indicating that they understood the rules, and the fact the proposed changes violate the principles of RI-399. They further explained that they would advise management of their position and the liabilities involved. They explained that they would advise them that if they make these changes they would be paying the grievances that result. This is where our fabulous Mr. Ruden steps in, yelling at Labor Relations and Human Recourses about their position. Mr. Ruden as always appears to be getting his way as we have now been notified that there is going to be another meeting. During that meeting we expect to be notified of management’s intent to go forward with their intended changes, be damned the violations involved. For a budget driven company Mr. Ruden seems to not get the concept that money paid out in grievances is part of the overall budget (just not the part which impacts his bonuses).

Currently our Local has 32 cases on the jurisdictional (disputes over craft assignments) arbitration docket as well as a considerable log of cases pending meetings of the various Local Dispute Resolution Committees. Once these issues get heard in arbitration it is believed the Postal Service will have spent a fortune for no real work, just for the violation of blatant disregard.

Later this month the 2000 Convention Delegates for Local 321 will be meeting to develop strategies and possible submissions for the upcoming Convention. If there are any members who have suggestions or submissions that they would like considered by the Local Delegates please forward them to the hall no later than June 27, 2000. The elected delegates to the 2000 National Convention for Local 321 will be:

Cindy Hoehl-Rinker (GMF-steward), Jeff Morgan (GMF-Treasurer),

Mike Hora (GMF-Vice President), Ron Lucero (GMF- Administrative Vice-President),

John Meding (GMF-State Executive Board Member), David Ross (BMC-Local President)

Once again I have been asked and have agreed to serve on the Rules Committee for our National Convention. On this committee we are responsible for developing general rules that help keep the convention moving without being bogged down with delays.

This year’s scholarship program has been finalized. This is the second year for our Local Scholarship program whereby we awarded a total of $2500.00 to assist in the education of members or their families. This year we saw a considerable increase in applicants over last year and hopefully this trend will continue. This years winners were:

Earlier this year our National Office also agreed to develop and administer a scholarship program for the membership. The amount or scholarships and their denominations have yet to be established for this program. Once more information becomes available on this program it will be passed along to you.

We added two new copy machines last year and got rid of a couple of old worn-out ones. This brings our copy machines up to a good productivity level and should warrant no updating for a while. We have also purchased a couple of new computers. These have allowed us to update some offices while moving the older machines into some of the smaller offices. Last year we had the parking lot at the Union Hall resurfaced and re-lined. This year we will replace the carpet within the hall, which has become worn out.

Attendance at Branch Meetings continues to be extremely low. We continue to encourage all of you to check your local bulletin boards for meeting times and dates. These meetings are one of your best opportunities to keep yourself informed and to share your ideas or concerns with the Local.

The appointment of Don Gonzales as a full-time technical assistant for our Local is beginning to show its rewards. Since his appointment he has assisted many of our members with their problems/concerns in addition to developing our Local Safety Training and Computer Training programs. In addition his assistance is beginning to clear my backlog of work, allowing me more time to spend in the various offices around the state. As previously conveyed to you, we continue to watch our finances as it relates to this appointment to ensure that it is affordable and beneficial to the membership. With the elimination of our back tax liabilities, our local secretary (retired), and our custodial position we are seeing no drastic increase in expenses by this appointment. I do look forward to any feedback on this appointment that any member wishes to convey.

Our National, with the assistance of many of the Local’s, is in the process of developing arguments and strategies for the upcoming negotiations. Based on the submissions which were reviewed by the Field Negotiating Committee it appears that most of the membership is seeking better pay (be it through wage increases, holiday pay increases and higher Sunday premiums to mention a few). Obviously there was a host of other submissions not relating to pay, which would be of great benefit to our craft. Unfortunately we have been asked not to release specifics as it is ultimately not beneficial to let your opponent know what your game plan is until the game begins (August). It is anticipated that National will release a variety of posting keep us up to date on the status of the Negotiations once they begin.

As always, I can be contacted as follows: Office 303-455-6400, Pager 303-767-8293, Cell 303-520-7619 or at home at 303-451-7562.

David E Ross

President Local 321

NPMHU