Expanding Paid Leave & Dependent Care Leave
Excerpt from letter from Mark Dimondstein, President of American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, along with referenced MOU documents:
Dear APWU Family,
Our first priority during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak has been ensuring the health and safety of our members and that of the public.
To that end, today the union signed two memoranda of understanding with the Postal Service temporarily expanding paid leave for PSEs and expanding the use of dependent care leave for postal employees with unexpected childcare needs as a result of the pandemic.
…
In solidarity,
Mark
Mark Dimondstein, President
American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
Temporary Additional Paid Leave for PSEs
Temporary Expanded Sick Leave for Dependent Care
Postal Worker West Newsletter
We have added a special edition of the Postal Worker West Newsletter on the website. It can be found under the menu item News >> Postal Worker West Newsletter, or click here to be taken to the newsletter.
Here is an excerpt:
BEING POSTAL IN A PANDEMIC
Since the March 1st reports of an infected postal worker at the Seattle NDC surfaced, the US Postal Service officials and Union officials have been proactive in dealing with the emergency that has engulfed most of the world.
USPS Hq officials responded quickly to the situation and in activating internal protocols. The same can not be said about all local management and work floor supervision. As in the past, directives emanating from Washington do not always filter down to or are acted upon by managers tasked with ensuring the nation’s mail is processed and delivered often hampered by short staffs. Safety is seldom first to the bosses.
“But now is not the time to point fingers, now is the time to partner and act as the postal family that has gotten us through so many other adverse times,” said Regional Coordinator Omar Gonzalez. “As Union Officials we tend to get frustrated and angered by the constant refusal of management to comply with the contract and their own safety and health rules on a daily basis,” he added.
APWU Meets with USPS on the Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The coronavirus, officially named COVID-19, originating in China, has now spread to over 65 countries including the United States. The APWU is continuing to monitor the situation and is in constant contact with the USPS about COVID-19. The Postal Service informed the APWU on Feb. 29, 2020, that an employee tested positive for the virus.
Last week, the APWU initiated a meeting with USPS leadership to discuss their response to the virus. On March 2, APWU President Mark Dimondstein, Industrial Relations Director Vance Zimmerman, the Directors of the Maintenance, Motor Vehicle Service, and Clerk Crafts, and the officers assigned to Article 14 met with the Postal Service and representatives of the other postal unions to discuss the Postal Service’s response and plans and the unions’ concerns and suggestions.
For the full article, and ways to prevent the virus from spreading, please click here for the full PDF version.
We Have a New Contract!
Of course this is big news…
Click the link below for the full details:
Sorting and Distribution of Priority Mail
Clerk Craft Members:
Based on the Step 3 settlement of a crossing craft violation grievance filed in 1999, which involved a twenty (20) year odyssey, the APWU has requested that all sorting and distribution of priority mail work being performed by mail handlers cease and desist immediately and that the work be assigned to clerks. The request was submitted to the Oakland P&DC Senior Plant Manager.
Fredric Jacobs
President
For a PDF copy of this announcement, click here
Deployment of the USS in the Oakland P&DC
Clerk Craft Members:
I have been advised by Sr. Operations Support Specialist, In-Plant-Support Shu “Kelvin” Zhang that the deployment of the Universal Sorting System (USS) in the Oakland P&DC will be sometime in August 2019. APBS #1 will be removed from the Oakland P&DC starting July 12, 2019.
According to Zhang, the deployment of the USS will not have an adverse impact on the clerk craft. Zhang also stated that the Priority Sacks Operation will not be phased out.
If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact your shop steward.
Fredric Jacobs
President
For a PDF copy of this announcement, click here
Special Edition of May Postal WORKER West
They’re Back !!
Washington DC — Management has begun the process of planning and executing involuntary reassignments.
Postal officials issued notice to Union HQ of their intent to abolish, revert or excess from BMEU and Mailing Requirement operations, including the Pacific and Western Areas. After almost a year of supposed evaluation and interviews management is gearing up for actual excessing (i.e., involuntary reassignments). The Union has been alerting locals of this eventual impact for some time and issued a Do’s and Dont’s listing for clerks to follow.
For the rest of the featured article and other important notices, please download the Special Contract Edition of Postal Worker West May 2019. Just click on the link. Or, click here to go to the Postal Worker West page.
PSE Conversions May 25, 2019
PSE Members:
Effective May 25, 2019, the six senior PSEs will be converted to career status. Preference letters are being sent to the PSEs.
Fredric Jacobs
President
For a copy of this announcement, click here
PSE Conversions Scheduled For May 25, 2019
PSE Members:
I have been informed by management that the next round of PSE conversions to career status will be effective on May 25, 2019. Preference letters will be sent out this week. So far, I have not been told how many PSEs will be converted.
Fredric Jacobs
President
For a copy of this announcement, click here
The San Francisco Region Sentinel April 2019 Issue # 5
FRIENDS, FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES…..LEND ME YOUR EARS
FROM THE DESK OF: JAMES SCOGGINS
In January of this year Sonia and I had the pleasure and honor to participate in the Los Angeles Teacher’s strike, which resulted from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s failure to negotiated a much-deserved collective bargaining agreement. Within a week or so after the teachers went on strike a negotiated collective bargaining agreement was reached. However, as important as this event was, that is not the subject of this article.
To get to this event we took the gold-line light rail from Pasadena to the Union Train Station in downtown Los Angeles where we had to transfer
and take the red-line light rail to our destination. While we were waiting on the platform proudly wearing our APWU gear, we were approached by a
young man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties and he told us that his father retired from the USPS and was a member of the San Diego Area Local. The gentleman went to tell us that while his dad was still employed and when he was a senior in high school that he applied for one of the APWU Scholarship Funds and he got it. He went on to say how that made such a positive impression on his life, which is why he was out supporting the striking teachers in their efforts. Oh yeah and let me back up a little bit, this young man is now a psychologist with the Los Angeles Unified School District and on this particular day it was raining cats and dogs, yet he took the time to come out and support the teacher’s union and their efforts.
For the complete article and other important news & opinions, click here.