FROM THIS MONTH ON, I WILL ONLY BE DOING A NEWSLETTER
EVERY OTHER MONTH.
I WILL SEND OUT UPDATES
TO THE LIST AS NEEDED, BUT NEWSLETTERS WILL ONLY BE DONE EVERY OTHER MONTH.
AFTER THIS, MY NEXT NEWSLETTER WILL BE IN JUNE...
I am going to let my musing column go towards gaining support for
the petition
to the NRLCA to protect the members from increased volume
due to the USPS "Summer Sale"
Don Cantriel National Rural Letter Carriers' Association 1630 Duke Street Alexandria,
Virginia 22314-3465
TO Don Cantriel
President, NRLCA
The members of the NRLCA
that have signed their names to this document, demand you and the Officers of the NRLCA take action to protect all members
of the Rural Craft. The USPS plans to offer discount mailings in an effort to raise volumes without fair compensations
to the rural craft members. As our elected and paid officials, it is your duty to represent the interests and desires
of this association to the best of your abilities.
It is time this craft stand up and be counted. Each dues paying
member of the NRLCA should affix their name to this document, to express our concerns to the NRLCA about this issue.
Let our numbers show our resolve in prohibiting continued loss of pay and positions through Management’s manipulation
of the evaluation pay system.
And, for the first time, we have a candidate for National President willing to participate and engage the online community.
Alan VerValin is running for President of the NRLCA this year. He has agreed to answer your questions about what direction
he will try to move the NRLCA should he be elected. A great big thanks for Alan. No candidate has EVER been willing
to engage with us online, and I believe that says a lot about him and his intentions. Way to go Alan..
The NRLCA received notification that the Postal Service has extended the current Voluntary Early Retirement Authority
(VERA) to rural letter carriers which was to end tomorrow, March 31. The new deadline to apply or withdraw your application
for the (VERA) is May 15, 2009, with effective dates of your retirement if approved of May 31, 2009, June 30, 2009 or July
31, 2009. Enclosed is a time line fact sheet concerning the new, extended VERA dates.
Click here for all of the latest on early outs Early Out Info
Mail Count
It is all said and done. Seems
that the average loss was about 3 hours from those that have reported their results to me. It is all over but the crying.
How many have had increased volume since the count ended? Or has your volume stayed the same?
Be sure and check
out my After the Count page. It has lots of information. Also, be sure and check out the Q and A on guidelines of handling consolidation and sub standard route conditions.
In case you missed my last update,
there has been a settlement on the 2008 National Mail count Grievance. You can see that in all it's glory HERE
Opportunity to sign the RDWL
The
next opportunity to sign the RDWL is coming up on April 25th.. Click here
COLA and EMA
The
next opportunity for additional COLA will be with the release of the July 2009 Consumer Price Index.
EMA
decreases 1.5 cents
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released the February 2009 CPI-W Private
Transportation Index. Based on this release, the Equipment Maintenance Allowance (EMA) will decrease by 1.5 cents to 51.5
cents per mile on April 11th, 2009. Click here
PRESIDENT CANTRIEL'S TESTIMONY AT POSTAL OVERSIGHT HEARING
The Accounting Help Desk is ready to help you with payroll questions.
There is even a toll-free telephone number: 1-866-974-2733.
You will
need your I.D. Number and your USPS PIN Number.
Your I.D. number is on the right side at the top of your earnings
statement (pay stub). It is an 8 digit number. The Postal Service is no longer using Social Security numbers
for I.D. numbers.
Your USPS PIN number is the same one you use to access PostalEASE. If you have forgotten
your PIN number, or if you never got one, dial 1-877-477-3273. Your PIN number will be mailed to you.
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PMG Potter tells
managers to honor Union contracts
Postmaster General John E. Potter,
in a February 23 letter to USPS Officers and PCES Managers, said he wants them to honor the terms of collective bargaining
agreements with postal unions, and sees compliance as a critical factor in fostering labor-management cooperation during the
difficult economic period facing the Postal Service.
PMG Potter went before the Federal Oversight Committee on March 25th, 2009. All of the leaders
of the USPS unions and management associations testified also, along with many others. Potter was questioned on the
future and current state of the USPS. He also was questioned on his salary and bonus, along with questions about his
current mortgage with Countrywide. He continues to ask for the option to cut delivery days. You can read all of
the testimony from the hearing HERE
USPS has released an updated timetable for employees affected by the recently announced staffing reductions
and district closings and for those who are considering the Postal Service’s voluntary early retirement (VER) offer.
Click here
US Postal Service To Cut 1,490 Jobs In Three States
The U.S. Postal Service announced it is shuttering three mail processing centers and cutting about 1,490 jobs in
West Virginia, Indiana and Arizona, but not due to the current economic woes. Click here
USPS Closing Six districts
The Postal
Service is closing 6 of the 80 district offices, eliminating 521 positions across the country and offering early retirement
to nearly 150,000 employees nationwide (excluding Electronic Technicians, MPE Maintenance Mechanics, Part-time Postmasters)
Click here
USPS offering retirement to 150k
Battered
by the economic downturn, the U.S. Postal Service is offering early retirement to 150,000 workers, cutting management and
closing offices, the agency said Friday.
The
Postal Service has abandoned plans to outsource the work performed at 21 Bulk Mail Centers, and instead will revamp the BMC
network, the USPS Senior Vice President for Operations told the APWU Click here
USPS lost $658 million in February
The
US Postal Service losing streak continued in February, with the agency reporting a loss of $658 million, bringing the year
to date loss for the fiscal year to $1.8 billion.
Letter Carriers' Annual
Food Drive Set for May 9 Throughout Nation The National Association of Letter Carriers
(NALC) announced today that the nation's largest food drive to combat hunger will be conducted this year on Saturday,
May 9. On that day,letter carriers will collect non-perishable donations from homes as they deliver mail along their postal
routes. Click here
U.S. Postal Service Wins Prestigious Environmental Award
The U.S. Postal Service has added to its list of more than 70 environmental awards by accepting a
Climate Action Champion Award. The U.S. Postal Service is one of only two organizations recognized for leadership in advancing
climate policy. Click here
Postal employees salary
and more available online
If you
havent seen it, your salary and job information is available to anyone that wants to see it. It seems that this information
is public information since we are officially federal employees. Check it our for yourself...
And Below is what the NRLCA is recommending steps to take when requesting a formal DPS Review
IMPORTANT
INFORMATION REGARDING THE POSTAL SERVICE’S IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGES TO SECTIONS 541 AND 535 OF HANDBOOK PO-603
As you may be aware, on June 13, 2008, the Postal Service notified the NRLCA of its intent to implement changes to Sections
541 and 535 of Handbook PO-603. The NRLCA believes that the Postal Service’s changes to Sections 541 and 535 violate
the current National Agreement, the 2004 National Level Arbitration Award issued by Arbitrator Richard I. Bloch, and Federal
Labor Law. The NRLCA has challenged the Postal Service’s decision to implement these changes by submitting an appeal
to national arbitration. The appeal serves to cover all rural carriers who may request a formal review of DPS letter mail;
therefore, it is not necessary for an individual carrier to file a grievance contesting the method of the review or the application
of the results of the review. However, if management rejects a request for a formal review, it would be necessary to file
an individual grievance challenging management’s decision.
Furthermore, it is the recommendation of the National
Board that any rural carrier requesting a review of his/her DPS percentage make that decision based on the provisions of Sections
541 and 535 as they exist today and the Bloch award rather than on the Postal Service’s changes to Sections 541 and
535, which become effective tomorrow, June 28, 2008.
Rural carriers making requests for a formal review of DPS
letter mail should keep copies of all related paperwork. Additionally, copies of all related paperwork resulting from management
generated formal reviews should be retained by the affected rural carriers.
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This month's editorial is by Jay Milliner
My Colleagues,
I need to address with you a subject that will
be of bitter debate, but because of it's importance we need to bring this to the forefront , especially in this time of
Resolutions that we will be addressing at our District, State and then hopefully National Conventions. There are so many
that need be addressed but quite honestly today I don't have that much time as I've just returned from my Spring Booster
and am still trying to assimilate the information gathered there. I will tell you this much if you were unable to be there.
During the informational stage of our meeting with State Steward sharing information, then subsequent question and answer
period you missed out on information that could and very will be affecting those of us that have seen significant decreases
in our evaluations, but I digress.
I want to start with, after a discussion with Ronnie Stutts shortly after the
count and I must add prior to all the figures being released it looked as though the largest impacted routes were the L-Route
profile or High Density High Volume routes. Please bear in mind that once again these were preliminary reports.
Now
the debate begins, my point of view. I have for to many times expressed the view, that the USPS and the NRLCA, have through
what seemed like good ideas, turned out to be devious schemes to divide our Association, into a Leadership that has to balance
itself on whats best for the L-Route or the Non L-Route or brother against brother and sister against sister. A Civil War
if you will. There is no question that we have been divided because it has become impossible to bargain for what's in
the best interests of the members of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association because they are fractioned by what at
times can be only determined as fate. Of course I'm referring to whether you have chosen to start work in offices with
the L-or Non L- Profile or even been without a choice.
It is my belief that we are left with no other option than
to open the 2010 Negotiations with the intention of the NRLCA going to a Hourly Rate of Pay. The evaluated
system has leaned towards the benefit of the USPS without a question, and the continued MOUs and decisions handed down there
is no doubt that the current system is a failure on behalf of the membership. Of course I myself can give you a whole list
of why I like the evaluated system and for many years made a good life, but with the continued and what must be remembered
loss of mail in the system and the impact of automation we will not be able to realize a rebound to our glory days.
I will once again make this statement " The USPS does not want and is dreadfully afraid that 80,000 members of
the NRLCA will go to an hourly rate of pay"
American President Theodore Roosevelt in a speech in Chicago,
Illinois in 1903 he said. There is a homely adage which rings: " Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far". What bigger stick could we go into negotiations, than the unwavering idea of advancing the Rural Craft, and that through
the introduction of a new way of compensation for our craft. In this we must without any diversion argue that the USPS already
has an established time system that they have endorsed and most recently complemented with a 5 year 9% increase in wages that
of the NALC. Thus your BIG STICK, to be proficient a carrier in the other craft is required to process 18
letters and 8 flats per minute. I hope you know the multiple time standards you are required to perform to as this is quite
simple, first there is raw letters, then sector segment ,then DPS, certainly it can't get any simpler than that and now
we look at FSS and raw flats also COAs and 3982s plus Parcel Pickup Requests and parcels picked up the size differences between
letters, flats, parcels, that all are interpreted by management. Can you begin to see the insanity?
I've heard rumors of a modified evaluated system but before we go there we must ask ourselves in this world of ever
increasing online everything, would even a modified system of evaluation last long in this ever decreasing world of mail?
I think not, our future was determined when Al Gore invented the internet! (LOL) No we as a membership must
ignore the pleas of those cemented in a system that will drag us all to the bottom, and begin to look forward to the Postal
Service of tomorrow. One that will incorporate a smaller much more efficient workforce that will be paid at an hourly rate
of pay. It is our responsibility to leave to the next generation a better world and not one of outdated methods of compensation.
When you look at that Resolution Form or Constitution form then you must think of the future of our craft and
not the past. We must encourage our National Leaders of the fact that the continued losses in time standards have doomed this
archaic system of pay, and go into these negotiations, that we are already preparing for and the USPS has been preparing for
since the implementation of our last contract, with the history lesson we were reminded of earlier on. Like it or not the
time for change is upon us and we as a Craft and a Nation can either rise to the occasion or bear the consequences of inaction.
