May 2016 Color.qxp - Southwest Florida Area Local

Southwest Florida Area Local
11000 Metro Parkway, Unit 8
Fort Myers, FL 33966
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Fort Myers, FL
Permit No. 139
Alva, Bokeelia, Bonita Springs, Captiva,
Chokoloskee, Estero, Everglades City, Felda,
Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Goodland,
Immokalee, Labelle, Lehigh Acres, Marco Island,
Naples, Palmdale, Pineland, Placida,
Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Rotunda,
St. James City and Sanibel
May 2016
Volume 26 Number 5
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AREA LOCAL AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION
We Are Working To Identify
Management Bullies
E-MAILS - TEXT MESSAGES PHONE CALLS
Sam Wood
President
SWFAL APWU
While I understand that many of
you have questions or concerns
that need to be addressed, there
are many e-mails, text messages
and phone calls that we receive
that could be resolved by simply
filing a grievance. Gone are the
days
when
local
officials,
Presidents or NBA's can simply
make a phone call to resolve issues.
IN THIS EDITION OF
THE EAGLE’S EYE
We Are Working To Identify
Management Bullies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Bait And Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Overtime List “Sign Off Sheet” . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Progress At The VMF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
An Overview Of The
Principal Assignment Area (PAA) . . . . . . . 4
Thank You From A
Former Ft. Myers P&DC Employee. . . . . . 4
24th Biennial State Convention
And 2016 Spring Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Management’s Mail Stream Slow Down . . . . . 5
Union Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
SWFAL Membership News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Accessing Your TSP Account Safely . . . . . . . 8
PROUD
MEMBER
Local representatives are being
bombarded with grievances about
staffing issues in all crafts, subcontracting, discipline, other crafts
performing APWU work, PSE's
being converted to career, seniority issues, principal assignment
areas, one person on a machine,
employee confrontations, etc.
We would love to go back to the
days of being able to address concerns immediately; however, there
is not enough time in the day to
address every issue. Our local
represents
17
different
Postmasters and over 30 offices
all over Southwest Florida. If there
is a delay in getting back to you on
your concerns, please understand
the work load that has been placed
upon us and reach out to us again.
We are here for you and your concerns.
MANAGEMENT BULLIES
I am currently looking for statements about management bullies.
Anyone who can provide me statements concerning supervisors who
are harassing individuals in their
offices, the SWFAL-APWU would
like to have them.
I want to begin a filing system
tracking all members of management and how they manage (or
mismanage) their employees. I will
be looking to go after each one,
through their superiors, the
Department of Labor or via the
Federal Court System.
If employees do not want to file
individual statements, a general
statement with employee signatures
will
be
sufficient.
Documentation in any form is
needed to root out this type of
behavior.
If you see something, document it
immediately and write down the
date and time that the incident
occurred. As employees, we
should not have to tolerate this
type of behavior and within the
Southwest Florida Area Local, we
intend to stop this behavior.
FAIR DAYS WORK FOR A FAIR
DAYS PAY
I laugh when I hear that employees are told that they are working
too slow or too fast by other
employees, supervisors or postmasters. Many of us have been
told this at some point in our
career at the USPS. However, I
have not heard of one employee in
25 years who has been successfully terminated for working
(whether it be too fast or too slow)
unless it pertained to a safety violation. As long as you are working
and not standing around doing
nothing, management will not prevail as long as you are working to
the best of your ability. Understand
that everyone works differently
and at different speeds. Don't be
intimidated by management's tactics.
FORT MYERS RI-399 UPDATE
We have been working diligently,
to update the list of those employees who are to be paid for the Fort
Myers Installation RI-399 $5.2 million grievance settlement. In this
edition of The Eagle’s Eye I have
provided the updated list of
employees who have been identified to be compensated. If you
know of anyone not listed, have
them contact the Union Office at
(239) 275-1007 by May 31, 2016,
so we can add them to our list.
PSE'S BEING HARRASSED
AND DISCRIMINATED AGAINST
We are receiving claims by PSE's
of being harassed, belittled or discriminated against by management. It should not be tolerated. If
you or someone you know is being
treated in this manner, please
send me an e-mail about the situation and I will forward it to the
proper authority. This does not
mean that management can't
See: List Of Employees
Continued on Page 6
THE EAGLE’S EYE
2
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report
Felicia Gluhareff
Southwest Florida
Area Local, APWU
11000 Metro Parkway, Unit 8
Fort Myers, FL 33966
239-275-1007
Open 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday
WEBSITE ADDRESS
www.swfloridaapwu.org
PRESIDENT
Sam Wood
[email protected]
239-823-APWU
VICE-PRESIDENT
Dan Gray
[email protected]
239-834-2736
SECRETARY-TREASURER
Felicia Gluhareff
[email protected]
CLERK CRAFT DIRECTOR
Paul McAvoy
[email protected]
MAINTENANCE CRAFT
DIRECTOR
Mickey Szymonik
[email protected]
239-834-2900
MOTOR VEHICLE CRAFT
DIRECTOR
Joe Fracek
[email protected]
EDITOR
Kathy Moyer
[email protected]
TRUSTEES
Daniel Carinci
Grace Baer
David Grant
SAFETY & HEALTH
COMMITTEE
David Grant
Wendy Skaff
CONSTITUTION COMMITTEE
Dan Gray, Chairman
Grace Baer
Daniel Carinci
Felicia Gluhareff
David Grant
Paul McAvoy
Kathy Moyer
NATIONAL MAILING ADDRESS
Per Capita Section
APWU, AFL-CIO
1300 L Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
FLORIDA POSTAL WORKER
The Florida Postal Worker
P.O. Box 8363
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310
www.apwuflorida.org
MAY 2016
General Membership
Meeting Minutes
April 24, 2016
CALL TO ORDER:
9:30 a.m. There were 14 members in attendance.
THE PLEDGE:
The pledge of allegiance was led
by Annette Vivona.
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:
Felicia Gluhareff performed the
roll call of officers. Present were
Sam Wood, Dan Gray, Paul
McAvoy, Mickey Szymonik, Joe
Fracek, Kathy Moyer and Felicia
Gluhareff.
MAP:
Barbara Carr told a couple jokes
in honor of Charles Glennon.
Barbara also reported on
Charles’ wife, Rose. Rose fell
recently and hurt her hip, she is
currently in rehab and still pretty
sore. Barbara said that she
hopes there is better news to
report at the next meeing. Rose
will be 97 on July 29th.
NEW MEMBERS:
Welcome Nick Zengel.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
MINUTES:
We discussed ongoing grievances at the plant and stations.
We also talked about stewards
at the VMF. The RI-399 and the
APWU national elections as well
as the state convention were
touched on. Jamie Robertson
was elected as a state sponsored delegate to the national
convention. Sam said that we
should have a signed contract in
June or July. Everyone needs to
remember that management
cannot instruct you to do anything unsafe or illegal.
SECRETARY/TREASURER’S
REPORT:
Paul McAvoy made a motion to
accept the minutes as reported
in last month’s Eagle’s Eye. The
motion passed. Our LM-3 and
990 reports have been completed and filed.
REPORT/SELECTION OF
COMMITTEES:
None
REPORT OF CONVENTION
COMMITTEES:
Dan Gray, Sam Wood and
Danny Carinci all reported on
the state convention. Jamie
Robertson will be the District 8
Business Agent for the next two
years. Jamie and Danny Carinci
also served on boards at the
convention. Sam talked about
some contract updates that he
learned at the convention. Sam
thanked our delegates for the
work they did at the convention.
Our RI-399 lawyer, Richard Lara
of Mase Lara, P.A. spoke to the
Florida State Convention body
and received a standing ovation.
The president of Broward local
#1201, Jeff Riddell, recognized
our local and our success with
the RI-399. Sam Wood wants to
thank the membership and the
board members for being brave
enough to hire a lawyer.
REPORT OF TRUSTEES:
Possible audit on May 20th if all
parties are available. Danny
Carinci arranged a few estimates to fix the back door and
surrounding area at the hall. The
repair will cost around $2,000.
The trustees will get together
with the Treasurer and choose a
company that we would like to
do the work.
COMMUNICATIONS:
There was a union leadership
meeting invitation. A clerk submitted a request to become a
steward. Mark Dimondstein and
Sue Carney asked us to support
the carriers in their “Stamp Out
Hunger” drive. Sam would also
like for our local to get involved
with a local charity. Possibly a
food bank such as Harry Chapin.
There are a couple consideration for conversions sent by
management. Sam offered the
sign off agreement for the 5.2
million dollar settlement to those
who would like to read it.
UPDATE OF GRIEVNCES:
Former employees have until
May 31, 2016 to call the union
office or contact a steward at the
plant to have their names added
to the RI-399 settlement. Sam is
still trying to contact 160 folks or
their families who may be entitled to part of the settlement. He
thanked Dan Gray, Paul
McAvoy, Grace Baer and Danny
Carinci for helping him work on
the list of those to be included.
OLD BUSINESS:
None
NEW BUSINESS:
When the RI-399 settlement
appears in our paycheck or mail
we need to offer all non-members a sign-up form for our
union. If you know a non-member, offer to sign them up to be
part of our family. Annette
Vivona spoke about custodial
issues in Lehigh Acres. There
are
TL-5
problems at
many
stations. Sam
received some ideas while at the
state convention on how to deal
with those issues. If you are
unclear exactly what your bid’s
tasks include, ask to see the
form 4852 for your bid. If you are
being forced to perform tasks
not on this list you can ask to
see a steward. There may be a
situation that you can file for a
higher level pay.
LABOR/MANAGEMENT:
Sam’s time has been consumed
by working on the second part of
the RI-399 grievance so there
hasn’t been labor/management
meetings.
GOOD AND WELFARE:
The winner of the COPA 50/50
drawing was Mickey Szymonik.
The total netted was $58.
Mickey won $29 and the other
$29 will be sent to COPA. The
name drawn for the member’s
incentive award was Sandee
Beckler. Had she been present
she would have won $70. The
pot will be $80 at the next general membership meeting.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
AND DELEGATES:
None
LEFTOVERS:
Robert Nowall asked about the
wording of the RI-399 settlement
in the case that we are unable to
locate everyone entitled to part
of the settlement. We received
advice from our lawyer to ensure
we are legally compliant. Sam is
going above and beyond to contact all those he can. We are
also posting requests for contacts at the stations and plant as
well as The Eagle’s Eye. If you
are aware of someone who may
be entitled to part of the settlement who is not on the list then
please speak up asap! If the
deadline is missed they may be
forfeiting their share.
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:
Felicia Gluhareff performed the
roll call of officers. The results
were recorded.
NEXT MEETING:
Robert Nowall moved to hold the
next meeting on May 22, 2016,
at 9:30 a.m. at the union hall.
The motion passed.
ADJOURNMENT:
Robert Nowall moved to adjourn
at 10:36 a.m. The motion
passed.
MAY 2016
THE EAGLE’S EYE
3
Bait And Switch
The USPS is
doomed.
No
longer
does Postal
management
care
about
good service
and customer
satisfaction.
Paul McAvoy
It
has Clerk Craft Director
SWFAL APWU
become
a
deceitful
sneaky numbers game. Ever since
the Operational Window change
came into existence, the Post
Office has gone downhill like
Sonny Bono skiing.
It seems as though managers
have degrees in crash and burn.
Management has gotten to the
point if the numbers don't work
then lie about it.
Before the Operational Window
Change it used to be every piece
every day. Now it has become a
constant lie about what is commit-
ted and what is delayed.
GPC's that are committed for 7am.
4 hours for the list.
The most recent example of this
was yesterday when MDO
Tweedle decided that waste mail
was more important than customer’s medication.
When the Tour 1 clerks left at 7am
there were still 6 to 7 committed
GPC's of waste mail that were
delayed. Not only did we put medicine on the back burner so to
speak we did not clear anyway.
It used to be in waste mail that
every tray had a machine printed
label in it. Not anymore. Now they
have red pieces of paper that just
say waste on it.
A handful of clerks, including
myself, were finishing up priority.
All that was left was some bundles
of supposedly committed 2C and
standard and a hamper with medicine in it. They needed this mail on
the dock within 20 minutes and the
supervisor asked Tweedle if we
were going to finish the little bit of
mail that was left.
Now it would have taken all of 5 to
10 minutes, still leaving time to get
to the dock and onto the truck
timely.
Tweedle in his infinite wisdom
said, “No” - just do the bundles of
2nd class and put the medicine off
to the side. It is almost 5 o'clock
and I need those clerks in waste
mail ASAP because we have 11
You would think management
would maximize the ODL to get it
out. Nope - there was to be no
penalty overtime issued.
When I asked a general clerk the
next day how much mail was
delayed, she told me Tweedle told
her not to put down any delayed
mail.
I information requested the
Delayed Mail Count Report for that
day and yup, no delayed mail was
reported. This is not only devious
and a lie, it is falsifying a government document.
Soon after Tour 1 left for the day,
Tour 2 clerks were ALL given overtime. Two hours for the non list and
Why did they do that you ask? The
machine generated labels had a
date and time the label was printed. Now management can simply
change the date and or time on the
placard on the GPC and - poof delayed mail all gone. Gone are
the days of clearing every piece
every day and getting every piece
of mail out of the building without
delay. Now it is if we don't finish it
we will just lie about it and call it
non committed mail.
I am sure this is happening at stations and branches also. Say hello
to the new Post Office with management experts at the art of BAIT
AND SWITCH.
To all you moms out there, HAVE A
VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
Overtime List “Sign Off Sheet”
Recently
I
have
had
s e v e r a l
employees
with an “OLD”
OTDL sign off
sheet.
from the Pre-tour, Post-tour and
for N/S (Non-Scheduled Day) are
listed.
Because we share the same sign
off sheet with the Mail Handler
Craft, it can be a little confusing for
someone new.
The
old
sheets, which
Jamie Robertson
should
no
Tour 1 Steward
longer be in
Ft. Myers P&DC
use,
have
SWFAL APWU
three choices
that you can circle to sign off the
overtime list.
The options for removing yourself
The Clerk Craft only has a
Pre/Post list and a N/S day list.
The Pre and Post are on the same
list; therefore, you cannot choose
to remove yourself from just one.
It is all or nothing.
If you are signing off of one you
are signing off for both because
Progress At The VMF
us about changing the start times.
The Ft. Myers
VMF has now
moved
the
second tour
to join the day
shift.
We still have
two
start
times,
but
they are 6am
and 9am now
instead of the
previous 6am
and 2pm start
times.
Joe Fracek
Motor Vehicle
Craft Director
Ft. Myers
Lead Steward
Page Field
SWFAL APWU
In December the Union had suggested to management that this
move would be beneficial to everyone involved. The employees most
definitely wanted it. Last week
Management finally agreed with
Hopefully, with more technicians in
the shop, we will curb the use of
contractors by management. With
USPS using less contracting,
there should be less grievances.
The result of both of these
changes will help keep costs down
and create less paperwork and
less stress for everyone.
We still have a vacancy for a technician at the VMF. With these
hours and weekends off, perhaps
more interest will be generated in
these positions. Anyone interested
might wish to look into it. Go to Ereassign. Sign up for the test.
Good luck to those of you that
decide to apply for this position.
they are one list. The reason that
the old sheets had three separate
lists to sign off on was because the
Mail Handler Craft at one time did
have three lists. They no longer
do. They now have two just like us.
ting the new ones back out.
Management was supposed to
have “NEW” OTDL sign off sheets
with the proper OTDL’s listed. Of
course somehow the old sheets
keep making their way back to the
floor confusing some employees.
One key thing to remember is, if
you sign off the list you are off the
list and your name does not carry
over to the new list for the next
quarter. You will need to re-sign up
for the next quarters list to put your
name back on it. Your name only
carries over to the next quarter if
you do not sign off any of the list.
So if you see an old sheet ask for
a new one and let the union know
that the old sheets are circulating
again and we will see about get-
Usually you can find an OTDL sign
off sheet on the outside of the
General Clerk’s office in one of the
holdouts on the window.
In Solidarity
THE EAGLE’S EYE
4
MAY 2016
An Overview Of The
Principal Assignment Area (PAA)
Remember to
please clock
to the correct
operation you
are working.
It is very easy
to clock in on
your
base
operation and
never move
to the correct
operation,
since in most
cases in does not
this rule is if an employee with a
scheme in his/her duty assignment
has not reached the current minimum 30-hour sortation requirement in an AP. In that instance, a
more senior employee may be
moved out of the “PAA”.
Daniel M. Gray
Vice President
SWFAL APWU
affect your pay.
This does more than effect BPI.
This helps the Union in grievances
to properly document where you
are working. Remember the Union
has the burden of proof in a contractual grievance.
Also, by being on the wrong operation, management uses this information to state we have too many
bids in specific operations. If you
are sent to work in a manual operation but stay clocked over to your
Automation base, we cannot prove
we need more manual bids.
If you are on your base of 030 and
you are in the Registry Cage, it
shows no need for a Registry bid.
We continually have Automation
Clerks and Manual Clerks that fail
to clock over on a nightly basis to
the
correct
operation.
Management is continually trying
to
eliminate
Manual
and
Automation positions, or any position at the Plant, stating we have
too many employees.
An issue that seems to continually
raise its ugly head is the Principle
Assignment Area or “PAA”. The
Mail Processing Clerk Position
Memorandum of Understanding
between the USPS and APWU is a
question and answer memorandum that explains the rules when it
pertains to your “PAA”.
Your bid should have listed a
“PAA” and this is where you should
perform the majority of your work.
When management must move an
employee out of their “PAA” to
another operation it must be done
by juniority. The only exception to
A recent Step 4 sign off concerning
an interpretive issue involving the
Mail Processing Clerk MOU and
which was mutually agreed to by
both the Union and management
determined that a light or limited
duty clerk who does not hold a bid
in the area they have been
assigned light/limited duty due to
their restrictions to work and/or are
not the senior employee in that
PAA must be moved as the MOU
requires without exception.
The Union is requesting a fifty (50)
percent premium for all time an
employee is improperly displaced
from their PAA. One thing I have
noticed - groups of employees filing a grievance when only one
employee is improperly working in
a PAA. The only employee in this
case would be the most senior
PAA employee who is then
improperly displaced.
PAA displacement is factor one
person, per person improperly
being improperly displaced. So if
you have two light duty employees
working in manual letters and
management then sends six manual letters PAA clerks to priority
only the two senior manual letters
PAA clerks have a valid grievance,
not all six. This violation would not
be for all employees within the
PAA, just the senior displaced
employee.
Also if you are brought in for your
non-scheduled day or designated
holiday you do not hold entitlements to your “PAA”. Example for
your holiday - it is done by Tour
and skill for staffing and overtime
is done by section. So in these
instances you cannot displace an
employee on their normal scheduled day. Remember this MOU as
well as all handbooks and manuals are available on the APWU
national website wwwapwu.org.
Many times people think they have
a grievance when in reality it is just
a gripe. A gripe is a simple complaint that is not a contractual violation. Issues such as, how come I
have to work with this person or on
this machine. A grievance is a violation of the contract. Where a
Step One is the grievant’s grievance, after Step One the Union
now controls the grievance and
determines if it is an actual contractual violation or just a gripe.
When you do have an issue a
steward will try to guide you to
determine if a violation of the collective bargaining agreement did
occur.
Please do not start yelling or getting angry with your steward if they
do not agree with you. It is the job
of the steward to correctly guide
you as to if a grievance legitimately exists. The steward knows they
must file your grievance at Step
One regardless if it is a violation or
not. If the steward tells you it is not
a violation they are not doing you a
disservice, but being honest with
you.
As stated if at Step 2 it is determined that no legitimate grievance
exists the Union will withdraw it.
When I withdraw a grievance at
Step 2 you are free to ask me why
and I will explain how I made my
determination. If your grievance is
withdrawn at Step 3 typically the
National Business Agents will
attach a comment sheet to the
withdrawal explaining their decision.
Please completely read and verify
before signing your PS form 3971s
Request for or Notification of
Absence to make sure the information on them is correct. When
you sign your PS Form 3971 you
are agreeing that the information
on the form is correct.
Once again, please review the
3971 prior to signing it. If you do
not agree with what is on it (i.e.
leave type, dates, scheduled,
unscheduled, FMLA, etc.) correct
the information or have your
supervisor correct it. If your super-
visor refuses to correct the disputed information, politely refuse to
sign the form and ask to see your
Union Steward. Simply signing the
PS Form 3971 with incorrect information may come back to haunt
you in the future.
Also if you call in and want to use
FMLA, you must request FMLA. If
you fail to do this your PS form
3971 will state “Not FMLA”. During
an investigative interview for attendance is not a good time to find out
you failed to request FMLA and
you signed your PS form 3971
agreeing to such.
Remember nothing restricts you
from writing in the comments section such as FMLA requested or
documentation supplied - months
after the fact does not help you.
The recent RI 399 settlement for
$5.2 million from Arbitrator Hales
Award which covered the period of
2000-2006 only is being calculated
to determine what employees
within the Fort Myers Bid
Installation are entitled to be compensated. Sam has been diligently
working and going to great lengths
to contact and make sure everyone who should be included, will
be. Sam has spent a lot of time off
the clock on his own time getting
this completed.
Remember this is only one third of
our fight to win back our work. Our
local is still continually and diligently fighting to be awarded back
the work on the AIs to include all
back pay owed for the rest of 2006
until present.
To win back the work lost is as
important, if not more so than the
money owed. This is especially
true for the employees who have
years left in their postal career.
Where there is no guarantee that
we will finally win in arbitration, our
local will put up a good fight as we
always do for our members.
Remember if you have any questions or concerns ask to see your
steward.
Thank You From A Former
Ft. Myers P&DC Employee
Sent: Sun, Apr 24, 2016 1:21 pm
Subject: Fort Myers APWU Team
Sam,
I just want to take a moment to
draw attention to what a hardworking team you and all the stewards
are at the Fort Myers Plant. I was
a longtime employee of the Plant
and have since retired from the
Orlando MP Annex, which has
now been renamed. You know the
old saying, “You don’t know what
you have until it is gone” applies to
you and the APWU team in Fort
Myers. Once I transferred to
Orlando, the differences in the
unions were like night and day. It
was as if a contract did not exist in
Orlando or was basically ignored.
I was shocked by the blatant violations that constantly took place.
Upon speaking to other employees at nearby Plants, it seemed
status quo at their locations as
well.
You and your team are totally dedicated to protecting the rights and
well-being of all the employees like
no other I have encountered. Your
tireless dedication to pursue what
is right should be commended. I
hope all the employees in Fort
Myers realize what a treasure they
have and appreciate you going
over and above to protect them. It
is a thankless job and I, for one,
would like to take this opportunity
to say “thank you” for a job well
done!
Phyllis Hamilton
MAY 2016
THE EAGLE’S EYE
5
24th Biennial State Convention And
2016 Spring Seminar
Recently
returning from
our
State
Convention I
find
myself
reflecting
back on how
truly proud I
am at being a
part of such a
fine Local.
Danny Carinci
T2 & T3 Steward
Ft. Myers P&DC
SWFAL APWU
I wish I could
convey the
words that would enable every
member to understand just how
inspiring of an experience it has
been.
From the moment I arrived I could
sense the focus from the National
Representatives and other local
delegates. You could feel it in the
air.
We are the Southwest Florida
Area Local. The shakers, the ones
who fought back and wouldn't give
up; the ones who stood fast
against the odds and were victorious.
A surreal moment came when the
President of the Broward County
Area Local asked if he could
address the floor. He then took the
time to congratulate our Local on
such a huge win.
With every greeting and handshake came a look of respect at
what we had accomplished.
He stated, "The Southwest Area
Local is leading the way". With his
speech came a standing ovation
from the entire Convention. Our
SWFAL APWU President, Sam
Wood, Vice President Dan Gray,
Delegate Jamie Robertson and I
were seated in the center of the
Convention floor. It was a humbling and heartfelt moment of
which I will never forget.
Our win of the RI-399 Arbitration
and settlement was a feeling of
victory shared by all. It gave hope
to others showing them that persistence and perseverance is the
key.
Although recognition of what we
had achieved might have been
played down by some of high
stature I believe it was to hide the
embarrassing fact that, "We did
this alone!"
I also had the privilege of being a
member of the Resolution
Committee during the Convention.
Although no new resolutions were
put fourth I enjoyed the learning
experience on how the whole
process works.
After the Convention I was able to
attend an OWCP class during the
first day of the Seminar. There was
quite a bit of information presented, much to soak in. I will try to
share it with all of you in my next
article.
Finally, I would just like to thank all
of our members and our Executive
board for allowing me the privilege
once again of representing our
"Great Local”.
This is our time to shine so we
can’t stop now. If you see a violation FILE and if you're not a member JOIN!
In Solidarity
Management’s Mail Stream Slow Down
My
experience as a
postal customer
has
been
confirmed.
This confirmation comes
from
none
other than the
P o s t a l
Regulatory
Commission (PRC).
Kathy Moyer
Editor
The Eagle’s Eye
SWFAL APWU
In a recent March 28 Annual
Compliance Determination Report
(ACD) the Commission stated “the
Postal Service failed to meet the
majority of service performance
targets in fiscal year 2015. In addition it was noted that service performance remains “substantially
below their targets”.
The USPS lowered service stan-
dards in January 2015 - and has
failed to meet the newer degraded
standards.
At my home, delivery of first class
mail averages 3 days later than
before the reduction in service
standards. I have had more than a
few occasions when mail was 6
days later. When I mail first class
letters, on the items I can actually
track, I am noticing the same slow
down in my outgoing mail.
Postal management has really
messed up the USPS. All of the
processing plant closures and the
loss of so many postal jobs are
taking their toll on mail service.
The Union warned the USPS that
closing processing plants and
eliminating postal jobs would negatively affect postal customer service. All the postal management
number crunchers cannot deny
how wrong they were.
Union Matters
Inspired by
Clerk
Craft
Director Paul
McAvoy’s
article in last
month’s The
Eagle’s Eye,
“Pet Peeves
a
n
d
Ramblings of
an Old Man”,
Mickey Szymonik
I decided to Maintenance Craft
Director
vent a few of
SWFAL APWU
my own pet
peeves relating to the RI399 clerk
craft award.
First off, let me thank and congratulate Sam, Dan and Paul for the
stellar job they did pushing this
grievance through and retaining
the law firm of Masa/Lara to aid in
our victory. Eligible employees will
be sharing in the 5.2 million dollar
award secured by the Local’s win,
and you would think that no one
would have cause to complain
(except the Postal Service), but
you would be wrong.
I have heard so many employees
looking a gift horse in the mouth
that it’s astounding to me. We all
know that greed rears its ugly
head when money is involved but
honestly I am appalled by some of
the comments I’ve been hearing.
Why was a current EAS employee
included in the payout? Why would
the Union solicit names of retired,
dead or missing employees due
remuneration, further cutting into
my slice of the pie? Why would the
Union allow the Masa/Lara law
firm to throw us a party, taking
more money away from me?
Let’s start with that last question
first. No, a party thrown by the
excellent law firm we engaged is
not coming out of your pocket.
Your local entered into a legal contract with Masa/Lara. Like our own
CBA, a contract is a binding agreement (well, it’s supposed to be,
anyway).
The right thing to do is honor the
agreement that you entered in to.
Masa/Lara facilitated a big win for
us and certainly earned their pay.
If we hadn’t won, they wouldn’t
have seen a dime. Now they would
like to award our patronage by
hosting a party. This is a huge win
for us all and their willingness to
throw the Local a bash shows their
largess in giving back to us - on
their dime, not yours. Also, this celebration affords all our Local’s
members a chance to celebrate
this win, not just the people that
will be financially enriched by the
award.
Working back to the prior questions I heard: Why would the Union
try to find former employees that
could be entitled to a share of the
award? Answer: Because that is
the right thing to do. Any clerks in
the bid cluster during the years
encompassed by the award have
a legitimate stake in the claim.
Why are some EAS employees
included in the payout? Same
answer: They are entitled to a
share of the award for the time
they were in the eligible craft position, barring any time spent as a
204B.
Why are non-union members
included in the payout? Ask yourself that one if you are not voting
for pro-labor representation in our
government. Florida is a “right to
work” state and Unions are mandated to represent non-dues paying employees equally.
You know, I have been a
Maintenance steward for over 10
years and have never received
any sort of monetary award.
That’s not what I do it for, but I’ll
damned sure have my dancing
shoes on for the party hosted by
Mas/Lara. It’s an astonishing win
for our Local and instead of
bitchin’, you should be putting on
your dancing shoes, as well.
Solidarity, Prosperity, Peace
THE EAGLE’S EYE
6
MAY 2016
L to R Danny Carinci, T2 & T3 Steward, Ft. Myers P&DC, Jamie Robertson, Tour 1 Steward, Ft. Myers P&DC, Richard Lara, of Masa/Lara
Law Firm, our Local’s attorney in the RI-399 case, Dan Gray, Vice President, SWFAL APWU and Sam Wood, President, SWFAL APWU
LIST OF EMPLOYEES
Continued from Page 1
move PSE hours around each
week as some may feel is harassment. Although employees may
feel this is retaliation (which it may
be), management can move PSE
schedules to fit their needs of the
service. Part Time Flexible
employees who have had over
25+ years of service have their
schedules moved constantly and
they are career employees.
MANAGEMENT LOGGING IN
ON POS/RSS SYSTEMS
In many offices management is
logging into the POS/RSS system
in order to perform Clerk Craft bargaining unit work. It is the APWU's
position that once a Postmaster or
Supervisor logs into the system,
they are performing bargaining
unit work until such time as they
log out. Those offices who have
the
POS1
system
where
Postmasters or Supervisors are
logged in should be grieving those
instances as well.
On the NAPS website, it states:
"NAPS was notified by USPS HQ
that starting Thursday, April 14,
2016 the End of Day (EOD) Report
will be temporarily disabled for the
next 30-60 days. This report is
being suspended to investigate
improper use of the data that negatively impacts visibility and postal
customers' tracking experience. It
was explained to NAPS that the
End of Day report is intentionally
unavailable and there is no system
defect. In addition, employees are
not to log a Help Desk ticket for
this change."
If no End of Day Report is avail-
able because management has
temporarily disabled them, then
the APWU will consider management performing bargaining unit
work the entire day. The National
APWU has also filed a dispute on
the issue so we should hear more
about this very soon.
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS
ACCIDENT BENEFIT
ASSOCIATION (APW-ABA)
Earlier this year, our local invited
the APW-ABA to come to our facilities and educate our members on
the benefits they receive from
being a 100% ABA local. The
SWFAL-APWU pays for every
member of our local to be enrolled
into the Value Plan. This plan pays
$12 per day for disability from a
covered accident. It also pays a
$6,000.00 benefit for a member's
death caused by an accident. It is
important to continuously review
and update your beneficiary on
your ABA plan. To update or name
your beneficiary, call the ABA
Headquarters at (603) 635-5597
as soon as possible.
Members can also enroll in various
Unum Plans (including whole life,
term life, critical illness, extended
accident, off the job accident, or
wage replacement insurances). If
you have questions in one of these
plans, you can call Unum directly
at (800) 635-5597. If you already
have coverage and wish to add,
change, increase or decrease your
current policy, simply call them.
RI-399 SETTLEMENT LIST
Name
Allman, Jean
Almas Lewis, Debra
Anderson, Larry
Anderson, Nancy
Arrebola, Luis
Baer, Grace
Bailey, Silvia
Baisden Smith, Tammy
Baldwin, Keith
Balinski, George
Bard, Peggy
Barnes, Deborah
Bartrem, Mark
Battle, Senoritta
Beatty Kirkland, Elaine
Beckler Cornell, Sandra
Beeler White, Staci
Beeler, Boneda
Bell, Joyce
Belloga, Rene
Bergman, Jolene
Bielecki, JoAnn
Billups, Randall
Black, Janice
Bohall, Sharinda
Bonham, Lori
Bowen, Lyle
Bowman, Julie
Boyle, John
Brandich, John
Brazzel, Robert
Brent, Dorothy
Brocious, Robin
Brooks - Stewart, Marina
Brown, Corey
Brown, Sophia
Brown, Thomas
Bryan, Kenneth
Burke, Mary Ann
Burney, Donna
Busscher, Della
Calhoun, Cyrus
Campbell, Tammy
Cannon, Angelia
Carinci Karmeris, Janna
Carinci, Daniel
Carlson, Roger
Carpus, Donald
Carr, Jamie
Carr, Barbara
Carroll, Diana
Carwile, Lisa
Cash, Gail
Cates Parbs, Karen
Cerin, Linda
Cesarino, Vincent
Cespedes, David
Cespedes, Kathleen
Childs, Crystal
Clark, Barney
Cleaver, Kathryn
Clinton, Samuel
Cobb, Cathy
Coello, Cecilia
Coleman Corcoran, Karen
Coleman Hedges, Betsy
Collins, Roger
Condon, Janet
Connor, Lori
Cook, Kathleen
Cooper, Scott
Coover, Carol
Corrado, Diane
Crabill, Joyce
Cram, Lynne
Crews, Della
Crouse III, Clyde
Cruz, Rufina
Currier Brock, Margaret
Curtis, Tameka
Daniels, Brenda
Daniels, Richard
Davis, Clarice
Davis, Tawana
Deguzman, Jr. Benjamin
Delpi, Colin
Depasquale, DeAnna
Devarona, Stephen
Diamond, Cathy
Diamond, Jane
Diaz Williams, Kathie
DiBenedetto, Laura
Dimase, Eileen
Dinkins, Jaudon
Dinschel, Michael
Druzisky, David
Dulal-Whiteway, Louis
Dunna, R.
Eagan, Mary
Eben, Joan
Edwards, Elsadie
Edwards, James
Eid, Marianne
Elek, Diane
Eliopoulos, Jeanette
See: List Of Employees
Continued on Page 7
MAY 2016
LIST OF EMPLOYEES
Continued from Page 6
Ellis-Ortiz, Chris
Embury Witt, Lisa
English, Gale
English, Penni
Ennis, Julia
Erickson, Richard
Espinosa, Ricky
Eyzaguirre, Aldo
Fair Wilkinson, Lorraine
Farano, Paul
Farris, Linda
Faulkner, William
Favata George, Heather
Feldmaier, Richard
Fenicle, James
Ferguson, Sandra
Fermin, Josefina
Finley, Vivianne
Fitzpatrick, Crystal
Flores-Staniec, Dina
Flynn Burns, Linda
Fracek, Joseph
Franks, Dora
Fraser, Patricia
Fraser Sr., Paul
Gahafer, Laura
Gale, David
Garcia-Irene, Heriberto
Garvis, Vincent
Gaunt, Margaret
Gendron, Patrick
George, Donna
Getman-Gradwell, Leslie
Gibbs, Dwayne
Gilkeson, Tamara
Gilvey, Thomas
Girard, Christine
Gleason, Rodney
Gluhareff, Felicia
Gobeil Steward, Denise
Gobeil, Martin
Gonzalez, Luis
Gorman, Kathleen
Gradwell, Doug
Graf, Donna
Granderson, Linda
Grant, David
Gray, Daniel
Grebey III, Alvin
Grebey, Kay
Green, Barbara
Greenberg, Richard
Griggs, Anthony
Griswold, Lisa
Grout, William
Guerra, Richard
Hagie, Pamela
Halko, Linda
Hamilton, Ana
Hamilton, Mark
Hamilton, Phillis
Hamouma Husebye, Stephanie
Handly, Robert
Hanisch, Steven
Hanners, Michael
Hansen, Mary
Hardiman, Patrick
Harkcom, Richard
Harmon, Annette
Harper, Kip
Hartley, Sr., James
Hartman, Kathy
Hartwig, Glenn
Harwig Lentz Haiber, Rhonda
Heese, Richard
Heinrich, Lynn
Hentkowski, Bonnie
Herlovich, Michelle
Hernandez, Jose
Hervey Nunn, Virginia
Hill McLarry, Patricia
Hillabrant, Stephen
Hines, Catherine
Hoerner, John
Hofer Furtado, Dawn
Hofer, Jr., Robert
THE EAGLE’S EYE
Hogrefe, Cassie
Honchar, Rosalie
Hoover Smilovitz, Helen
Hoppe, Penny
Horton, Jerry
Howard Hartwig, Darla
Howard, Lagonda
Hunt, Dennis
Huston, Robert
Huston, Steven
Husz, Devant
Hutton, Douglas
Hyatt, Margaret
Ireland, Ralph
Jackson, Vicky
Jacobs Rotolo, Michelle
Jacobsen, Norman
James, Barbara
Johnson Leos, Susan
Johnson, Ann
Johnson, Deidre
Johnson, June
Johnson, Martha
Johnson, Oscar
Jones, Gwendolyn
Julien, Arnold
Kantaris, Dorothy
Kantaris, John
Karch, Susan L.
Karmeris Bodensky, Linda
Keister, Merri
Kelberer, Alex
Keller, Karen
Kelly, Joyce
Kelmar, Douglas
Kendera Yeugelowitz, Ann
Kennington Dinschel, Deborah
Kersey, Alice
Ketchmark, David
King, David
Kirkwood, David
Koerner Nelson, Nancy
Krampen, Joyce
Kuhn, Peggy
Kyllo, Mark
Lacy Jr., James
Lafountain, Gary
Lampitt, Kathleen
Landis, Michael
Lane, Patricia
Lang, Eugene
Larson, Debra
Larue, Mark
Lawhon, Stella
Leavor, Phyllis
Lee II, James
Lee, Beom Hyun
Lee, Kum
Lee, Maria
Leobrera, Joselyn
Leobrera, Leo
Ley, Glenn
Linger, Virginia
LoBianco, Andrea
Loewel, Charles
London, Sharlene
Loyola, Carlos
Luttrell, Mary
Lynch, Deborah
Ma, Betty
Maier, Fred
Malavenda, David
Manning, Laura
Marino, James
Marlet, Carol
Maros, Debra
Massolio, James
Mattice, Kathy
Mault, James
Maxilom, Elaine
Mayer, Sharlene
McAvoy, Paul
McClaskey, Lori
McFarland, Harold
McGowan, Brian
McGurk, Hope
McLain, Kevin
McLoughlin, Kimberly
Medina, Glenn
Mefford, Wanda
Melcer, Carol
Melvin, Gary
Mey, Michelle
Meyering, Kurt
Meyers, Timothy
Michalski, Carl
Mikovich, Kathleen
Mikusek, Ronelle
Miller, Debbie
Miller, Lenna
Mitchell, Jennifer
Morang, Joanne
Moreno, Kathy
Morin, Claude
Morin, Linda
Mosely, Vicky
Moser, Donald
Moyer II, Chris
Mozdzonek, Agnes
Mueller Bezdek, Dianne
Neraal, Nils
Newman, Linda
Newton, William
Nicely, Armida
North Perkins, Debra
Nowall, Robert
Nowlan, Jan
Nunez-Lopez, Angel
Nurse, Devorah
Oler, Danette
Oliver, Peggy
O'Neal, Coyle
O'Neill, Deborah
Osman, Margaret
O'Toole, Patricia
O'Toole, Suzi
Overhultz, James
Pajares, Patricia
Parker, Carolina
Parker, Michael
Paschal Murray, Carla
Pavichevich, Bronko
Payne, William
Pendarvis, Patricia
Petrick, Linda
Petrie, Robert
Petrillo Jr., George
Philipovich, Connie
Pigott, Pamela
Pique, Cynthia
Pique-D'Auria, Priscilla
Pitasi, Felicia
Pointer, Gregory
Popkey Spice, Donna
Prawl, Angela
Pritchard, Charles
Quigley, Andrew
Quigley, Steven
Quinones, Frank
Quintana, Manuel
Rakocinski, Charles
Ratliff, Candace
Ravellette, Chrystell
Raybourn, Angela
Redavid, Mathew
Reilly, Sandra
Rice, Wayne
Rickman, Gary
Rickman, Lori
Rico, Jamie
Ringsmuth, Jean
Rivers, James
Robertson O'Neill, Jamie
Robertson, Judy
Rock, David
Rock, Karen
Roe-Elliott, Tina
Rolland, Peggy
Rucker, Charles
Rydecki, Diane
Sacco, Lucille
Salters, Dewitt
Sandt Stevens, Rosemary
Sandt, Timothy
Sass, John
Sasso, Doreen
Sasso, Dominick
Scott, Wardell
Wiser Scott, Melanie
Scurry Wilson, Debora
7
Sears, Al
Shelor, Diane
Sheppard, Michael
Sherman, Angela
Shorter, Melanie
Shultes, Candace
Siemers, Jessica
Siggs, Brenda
Simmons-Moore Nash, Amethyst
Skaff, Wendy
Skeen, David
Skeen, Laura
Skinner Brillhart, Helen
Slattery, David
Smith, David
Smith, George
Smith, Warren
Snell, Warren
Snyder, Mary
Sparks, Tracy
Spicer, Clyde
St Cyr, Arthur
Staeb, Richard
Stafford, John
Stella, Nicholas
Stella, Vicky
Stoner, Robert
Strunk, Jeremiah
Strunk-Fuller, Diana
Stuckert, Pamela
Summa, Duane
Swindler, Barbara
Terrell, Brenda
Theriault, Jeffrey
Thomas, David
Thomas, Marilynn
Thompson, Deborah
Thompson, Diana
Thompson, Gary
Thompson, Michael
Tidmore, Steven
Traylor, Laura
Tripp, Kathleen
Ujlaky - Kriz, Elizabeth
Urbina, Joeseph
Valentine, Robert
Vanduzer, Richard
VanHall, Timothy
Vivona, Annette
Vogal, Paul
Vozzella, Karen
Walcott, Samantha
Wallace, David
Walthall, William
Warecke, Patricia
Weaver, James
Weaver, Kimberly
Welch, Michael
Wells, Terry
White, Jean
White, Lisa
Wiatr, Kamil
Wilder, Marty
Wilkinson, Maureen
Williams, Daniel
Williamson, Daniel
Wilson Maines, Cheryl
Wilt, Walter
Winn, Mark
Wiser, Scott
Withstandley-Loyola, Dawn
Wojtecki, Marion
Wolff, Sherri
Wood, Julian
Wood, Joseph
Wood, Sam
Woodbury, Ellen
Wooten, Darrell
Yacca, Kenneth
Yeomans, Marvin
Yost Jr, Isaac
Younger II, Robert
Zbieranowski, Mark
Zengel, Erin
Zengel, Nick
Zeske, Judith
Zorrilla, Digna
THE EAGLE’S EYE
8
Your Elected
Officials
President Barack Obama
Web Site:
www.whitehouse.gov
E-mail:
[email protected]
Phone: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202-456-2461
Capital Address:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Senator Bill Nelson
Web Site:
www.billnelson.senate.gov
E-mail:
[email protected]
Phone: 202-224-5274
Fax: 202-228-2183
Capital Address:
716 Hart Senate Office
Building
Washington, DC 20510-0905
District Office:
Tallahassee, FL
District Phone: 850-942-8415
Senator Marco Rubio
Phone: 202-224-3041
Fax: 202-228-5171
Capital Address:
524 Hart Senate Office
Building
Washington, DC 20510-0903
District Office:
Tallahassee, FL
District Phone: 813-207-0509
Our members live in several
different districts. For your
representative’s information, go
to www.congress.org. Enter
your zip code and the web site
does the rest. You can e-mail
most of your representatives at
once with a click of your mouse
at this web site. Their voting
records are also available here.
Check it out! Let them know
how you feel, it’s your DUTY!
Southwest Florida Area Local
Membership News
We wish to extend our welcome to
all new employees coming on
board at the United States Postal
Service by inviting you to our next
SWFAL APWU meeting at the
Union Hall located at 11000 Metro
Parkway, Unit 8, in Fort Myers.
Meetings are held once a month
on Sunday at 9:30am. Stand
strong and be united, protect your
job and discover the many benefits
of becoming a member of the
SWFAL APWU.
Join us at our next local meeting united we can make a positive difference in our workplaces. We
look forward to seeing you there!
For those of you that have
recently retired who wish to
continue receiving The Eagle’s
Eye newspaper, please email the
Editor at [email protected] or call
Karen at our SWFAL APWU office
at 239-275-1007.
We encourage members to email
information to the editor regarding
marriages, graduations, special
events or achievements of our
employees, or their families.
Please email information to The
Eagle’s Eye at [email protected].
We will be pleased to include as
many member announcements as
possible.
Accessing Your TSP Account Safely
I was at the
2016
state
APWU convention and
spring seminar in Ft
Lauderdale in
April. A lot of
great info was
talked about
and
great
Brad Pate
q u e s t i o n s Federal Retirement
And Benefit
were asked.
Seminars
One question
that I received from the president
of a local made me think.
Question: Is there a mobile app for
the TSP?
THE EAGLE’S EYE
I did not know if there was a
mobile app or not out there on the
internet, so I started my search.
Here is what I found out and it’s
funny, you don’t think about things
like this till someone asks you a
question that makes you “look outside the box”. So I did my search,
typed in all the right key words, yes
I know, TSP apps is not hard to
search, even for me. I found, not a
lot of apps, but I did find some.
Some looked legit, and they may
be BUT, read what the TSP says
(and I have to agree with them).
EDITORIAL POLICY
Here is the statement from TSP:
The Eagle’s Eye is the official publication of the Southwest Florida
Area Local, APWU, AFL-CIO. The
editor has the right to determine
whether the material submitted
shall be printed, and has the right
to edit as needed. It is the policy of
this newsletter to disallow any
attacks on individuals. Opinions
expressed are those of the writers,
and not necessarily those of the
Executive Board. The deadline for
submission of all articles is the day
of the monthly membership meeting. You must be an APWU member to submit an article. Name may
be withheld upon request. All articles may be reprinted with proper
credit given. Captions/cartoons
may only be reprinted upon written
permission of the editor.
MAY 2016
Learn to Identify Bogus
Smartphone Apps
There are a number of mobile
applications that reference the
Thrift Savings Plan and may
prompt you for your TSP account
credentials. These applications
are NOT sponsored by the TSP.
The TSP cannot endorse any
information or advice provided by
third-party applications. More
important, providing your TSP
account credentials to third-party
applications may jeopardize the
security of your account.
I am glad the local president asked
me this, some of these web sites
look official and NO I am not going
to give any of these sites any “free
ads” or point members in the
wrong direction.
Here are some other statements
from the TSP:
How the TSP Contacts You
The TSP will never contact you by
email, telephone, or mail and ask
you to provide sensitive personal
information.
Communication by Mail
The TSP contacts participants primarily by mail. The mail is sent
from Birmingham, Alabama. Any
letter that you receive from us will
have your account number printed
on it. This number is the TSP's
means of identifying you. If we did
not have this number, we could not
contact you, by mail or otherwise.
So if you receive any kind of communication asking you to "verify
your account number," you can be
sure that it is not legitimately from
the TSP.
Your Web password and PIN are
your business, and no one at the
Thrift Savings Plan will ever need
to know those numbers for any
reason.
Note: If you send a letter to the
TSP or call the ThriftLine, you will
need to provide your account number to identify yourself. If you write
a letter to the TSP, you may also
use your Social Security number
to identify yourself if you have lost
your account number. These
instructions are included in all letters from the TSP.
Communication by Email
The TSP will email you only to
confirm an account transaction
performed on the Web, and only if
you provided your email address
during your transaction.
Communication by Telephone
A TSP Participant Service
Representative or an official from
the Federal Retirement Thrift
Investment Board may call you on
the telephone, but only in
response to communication that
you have initiated by submitting a
form, or by calling or writing the
TSP.
Learn to Detect Fraud
Criminals will attempt to confuse
you and convince you to share
sensitive personal information or
visit malicious websites. They
may:
• Threaten a negative action or
outcome ("Your account will be
closed if you don't...");
• Offer you a positive action or
outcome ("Your account is
eligible for a bailout..."); or
• Create a sense of scarcity ("The
first 100 to respond...").
Typically, these types of illegitimate communications also provide
you a "convenient" way to perform
the requested action. For example, an email threatening to liquidate your account might contain a
link to what looks like the TSP
website or give you a phone number to call. The criminal relies on
your desire for simplicity to get you
to click on the link or call the provided phone number, rather than
look it up. Don't do it.
Learn to Identify Bogus
Websites
Unfortunately, it is very easy for a
criminal to create a website that
closely mimics a target site, such
as the TSP website. If you have
followed a link to what you think is
the TSP website, stay vigilant and
practice these verification techniques before you submit sensitive
information about your TSP
account.
Hope this helps.