This is the thirty-first 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 303-455-6400.

On May 7, 2001 nominations were held at the Local Union Hall for delegates to the Laborers International Union of North America, our parent union. Based on the size of our membership here in Colorado we are entitled to send 5 delegates to this convention. Laborers conventions are held only once every five years and are attended by about four to five thousand delegates. It should be noted that unlike the Mail Handlers Convention there are no automatic delegates with the exception of the National Executive Board. Since the nominations meeting, the list of nominees has now dropped to 5, thus eliminating the need for an election. Below is a list of those delegates that will represent Local 321 at the Laborer’s convention later this year.

Current nominees (not including those who declined the nomination)

for the 2001 LIUNA convention are:

Mike Hora – GMF

John Meding - GMF

Phil Armendarez – Grand Junction

Cindy Hoehl-Rinker - GMF

Claude Ridley - GMF

 

I dislike publishing an update when there is nothing positive or new to convey on the subject of National Negotiations. Even though meetings are still being held weekly with the Postal Service in Washington, the outlook of the discussions resulting in an agreement is not good and ultimately we will most likely end up in arbitration. Unfortunately with the Postal Service choosing to go forward with the APWU first we have no real choice but to wait and talk. It is my understanding that the APWU is currently in fact finding and will then move to arbitration, possibly in June or July of this year. The Rural Carriers Union has initially opted for the mediation process in hopes of avoiding arbitration. Once the hearing with the APWU is concluded we should get our day in arbitration. Even though none of us like the waiting games, mostly because it equates to money, keep in mind that historically most arbitrators have retroactively applied raises and our COLA back to the expiration of the previous contract. With our wages being largely decided on pay comparability to similar work in the private sector, we should hopefully see a decent wage increase. One problem that we here in Colorado unfortunately have to deal with is that the cost of living in Colorado over the last year has been 3% higher than the national average. If pay is based on comparability (from a national view as it is a national contract) then we may subject to falling 3% below the Colorado economy.

Since the impact statements and specific numbers have already been shared with the offices, I will not bother reproducing those numbers here. Since the introduction of the new Flat Sorter 100’s at the Denver P&DC there has been considerable effort made by management to move flat’s processing onto these machines. Much of this processing is currently /or was previously performed in various offices around the state and is slowly being moved to the P&DC to be run on the flat sorters. Even though no actual excessing from these offices has occurred so far, it is believed that eventually some excessing will occur. But as time goes on the original estimated impacts to these offices seems to be dwindling. Originally it was anticipated that Littleton would lose as many as 14 Mail Handler positions with the same impact being anticipated in Boulder. Since the release of the original numbers we are now being told that the number for both offices is down to 7 or less. Brighton was also expected to reduce staffing by more than half at the end of May. They are still forecasting a similar impact but have now postponed the move until early September. In total it was originally anticipated that as many as 55 Mail Handlers were to have been excessed out of their office into the Denver P&DC. In reality the amount of Mail Handlers who will ultimately be excessed into the Denver P&DC will probably far less than originally expected and probably not enough to help with the understaffing in the P&DC.

Staffing problems are becoming a growing concern for most offices but is most evident in the Denver P&DC and the BMC. Both of these offices have suffered considerably from dwindling staffing numbers over the last couple of years.

For the BMC most of the impact has been the result of an alleged loss of volume versus previous years and an increased tightening of the budget. Even though management alleges a considerable loss in volume it is not really evident from the workroom floor. It is more likely that they now count the mail more realistically than was previously done. It appears that the BMC staffing issue may improve if the destinating priority mail is moved to the BMC later this year as planned. This also would be good for our craft as a whole because within the BMC most of the handling of this type of mail is done by the Mail Handler craft and not the clerk craft, as is the case at the MPA where it is currently worked.

For the P&DC the loss of staffing has been for different reasons than those affecting the BMC. The P&DC loss was felt during Mr. Ruden’s tenure as Plant Manager almost exclusively. These losses came from two main sources, (1) Management expecting people to do more with less, (2) Management taking bits and pieces of our work and giving it to the clerks. This piecing out of our work is not just local, but being felt everywhere. It appears the underlying reason for this methodology is that management doesn’t know what to do with all of the excess clerks since the introduction of the flat 100 machines. We have and will continue to file on each of these types of infractions as they occur. Fortunately, for the most part it appears the raping of the craft and the work force has slowed if not stopped since Mr. Ruden left.

As most of you know I was selected to serve as the Central Region Dispute Resolution Committee Member for the Mail Handlers Union almost two years ago. In that capacity I meet with various Regional Representatives for Management and the APWU. This committee covers an 11 state area of which we are part. Two years ago when I began that job, the system was almost ten years old and had a massive backlog (more than a thousand cases some going back as far as 15 years) at the Regional level. After two years and various meetings that backlog is now down to less than 100 Mail Handler cases, most of which are appeals received over the last six months. For Colorado we now only have about 6 cases pending at that level. As cases leave the Regional Dispute Process they are moved on to the arbitration docket of the various locals. Unfortunately we have been without arbitrators for this process until recently. Arbitrator Benn was recently selected to begin hearing these cases later this year. Even though one arbitrator will not solve the backlog of cases it will at least allow the system to move forward some. In the meantime the parties Nationally continue to meet in an attempt to find additional arbitrators for this forum. Ultimately this is the forum in which we must resolve disputes with the clerks and management over which craft performs which work. (During the time I perform work for this Committee, I am paid by the National union and must use either LWOP or annual leave from the Local union. All expenses the Local pays that involve this committee are ultimately billed back to National and our Local is reimbursed.)

Since the appointment of the second full-time officer I have been able to visit various offices much more frequently than in the past. Since the appointment of the second full-time position (a little over one year ago) I have made over 100 visits to the various offices around the state (detailed listing of office visits over the last 12 months or so to be included in the next newsletter). Unfortunately, too many of these visits occurred during tour 2 hours, as that is when the majority of the managers that I need to communicate with are present at work. Whenever I am in a facility for whatever reason, I try to make it on to the workroom floor. Obviously it doesn’t happen on every visit, but I do make a conscious effort. Even with the increase in visits, I still do not get around to all of the tours as much as I would like. To that extent I am currently considering altering my schedule at least one day a week to allow me more time on Tour’s 3&1. I currently don’t know what day this will be but after reviewing non-scheduled days for the craft and consultation with my family will make some decision shortly. On the surface it seems most likely that I will either alter my schedule on Monday or Friday, as this schedule would probably be easiest going into or coming out of a weekend. In the meantime I would like to remind all members, if you have a need or desire to speak with me personally feel free to page me at 303-767-8293 or call me at the hall at 303-455-6400 and request that I come see you and I will. Even though my hours are mostly focused on day shift I am always able to meet with a member whenever they ask.

The Local Union Council recently critiqued the new safety-training program for union stewards. The training program will soon be offered to stewards from various facilities around the state. The training covers various issues such as OSHA, discipline for accidents, and employer responsibilities. The intent is to educate stewards on how to better represent the employees in safety issues and concerns.

David E Ross

President Local 321

NPMHU