EAP Announcement
The EAP Stands with You After a Disaster
Hurricanes, flooding, wildfires—the last few weeks have
presented a smorgasbord of disasters all over the country.
Nature at its most uncompromising has barreled through
neighborhoods, leaving ruined homes, lost possessions,
perhaps dead or missing pets and people. We are
overwhelmed with images of Houston families waiting to be
rescued by boat, of Puerto Ricans forced to drink river water, of
walls of flame chasing people from their houses in Northern
California. If extreme weather weren’t destructive enough, a
mass shooting took place in Las Vegas as an APWU
conference was getting underway. No one is safe.
EAP clinicians were deployed to all of these disaster sites,
and were gratefully received. The EAP is ideally suited to
provide help for postal workers overwhelmed by anxiety and a
sense of loss. Millions of people will be coping for years with the
after effects of these catastrophes. Postal workers have the
great advantage of being able to draw on EAP resources. If it
all seems like too much to handle, make the call: 1-800-327-
4968. The EAP is here for you!
Reasonable Accommodation and the Rehabilitation Act
Click the link below for more information:
Reassignment to Motor Vehicle Operator Position
Click on the link for more information:
ON The Move – Reassignment to Motor Vehicle Operator Position
April Meetings
Your Health Matters
APWU Members,
You are emphatically encouraged to immediately report all job-related traumatic injuries to your supervisor and on a Form CA-1, even if there is no lost time from work and / or medical treatment involved. Forms CA-1 can be obtained from your supervisor. Federal law requires your supervisor to complete the receipt of notice of injury attached to each Form CA-1 and that he or she gives the receipt to you for your personal records.
If the injury requires medical treatment, ask your supervisor to authorize medical treatment by use of Form CA-16. You may select the physician of your choice to provide necessary treatment. Take the Form CA-16 and Form OWCP – 1500/HCFA 1500 to the physician you selected.
If your supervisor refuses to give you a Form CA-1 to report your injury, the receipt of notice of injury, and a CA-16, if treatment is necessary, contact your steward or the union office.
Fredric Jacobs
Vote! (Yes, You!)
We’re in the middle of Even Year Frenzy—not because of the World Series
(the SF Giants were eliminated). No, it’s election season, with its overburdened letter carriers and ritual pestering about casting ballots that soon starts to sound like the ravings of your dental hygienist nagging you to floss. Here are reasons to take part in Votapalooza anyway.
—–Those who vote by mail, like the residents of Oregon, add revenue to our beloved employer, while avoiding lines at the polls.
—–Government by the consent of the governed still means something. Think about all the terrible laws imposed in this country on those who were prohibited from voting.
—–A handful of votes can determine an election. Many years ago, a president of this APWU Local was elected by three votes. President Obama noted that in 2008, the North Carolina precincts he carried were won by an average of two votes per precinct.
—–Even if you can’t support any of the presidential candidates this year, there are down-ballot candidates to consider. Here in California, we also have a number of state propositions on the ballot. This year voters get to weigh in on everything from drug prices to the death penalty. Think about it: a handful of votes could mean the difference between allowing the executions of the hundreds of people on Death Row and leaving them in prison for life, thereby avoiding putting to death some who might be innocent. You can’t say your vote doesn’t count.
It’s true that ballot measures are sometimes written so badly that it is hard to predict the long-term effects. Take Proposition 61. Voting to lower prescription drug prices sounds like simple common sense, given that the prices of medicines in this country are far higher than they are anywhere else. Yet only 12% of Californians would be affected by the measure, and there is no guaranteed way for one state to force large pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prices. Not so simple after all, is it? In a year with 17 ballot measures, getting ready to vote feels like doing homework.
Local candidates for transit boards and judgeships can be so unfamiliar that it is tempting to choose them randomly. The only recourse you have there is to read the candidates’ statements and hope they’re not lying their heads off. (One Texas candidate for a commissioner’s office is running a very amusing television ad showing his wife explaining that the man has no hobbies—he just wants to fix things.
“Please reelect Gerald. Please!” Win or lose, he will be remembered.)
As President Obama just said, “If you have time to get a free taco from Taco Bell, you have time to vote.”