From APWU Industrial Relations Director Charlie Cash: It had been brought to our attention that the Postal Pulse survey contained Employee Identification Numbers on them. The Postal Service has admitted that this is the case and they are blaming Gallup for the error. Of course, the APWU has always recommended that employees DO NOT TAKE THE SURVEY! It is even more imperative this year to get the message out as it appears that both Gallup and the Postal Service can identify who submitted the survey. The Postal Service is instructing units that still have the surveys to destroy them or send them back to Gallup. They are also instructing employees to destroy their surveys—something the APWU whole-heartedly agrees with. However, the Postal Service is in the process of reprinting the surveys without the EIN information and resending the surveys.  THE APWU STILL RECOMMENDS YOU DESTROY YOUR SURVEY AND NOT TAKE IT!

Better yet, turn your survey into the local office or your steward for a chance to win in our quarterly drawings.

There is another rumor being spread on the workroom floor that all of the PSE’s will be laid off in September. We have spoken with the Service multiple times in the last few days and been assured that there is no plan to lay off PSE’s in September.  If you know of a manager or supervisor who is telling PSE’s they will be laid off in September, please provide their names to the Union office and or your steward.   

What are the facts?  The Service needs to fill mail handler jobs.  Mail handler career positions will be available for the general public as of  August 13, 2018. It was just a few short weeks ago that the Service planned on forcing 200 clerks into the mail handler craft and laying off 80 PSE’s.  The PACC is scheduled to close around the end of the year. The EPPS is expected to be up and running on October 27th. It is not hard to see that some impact is coming.  What the impact will be, who and how many it will impact is anyone’s guess. We can all see that there will be some impact on the PSE’s is the future.

Each PSE Clerk will need to consider all of their options, and which option is best for them and their families.  Other considerations for the PSE Clerks are: where do you stand on the PSE seniority list; what is the possibility of being converted to career status as clerk; and what is the chance of conversion or being hired as a career mail handler?

We have provided some information for you to consider.  We encourage you to investigate your options, and make the best decision for you and yours.  Each person’s priorities are different, and it would be irresponsible of us to not share this information with each of you.  

We are very happy to announce the cancellation of the excessing of 212 Clerk Craft employees into the Mailhandler, Letter Carrier and Maintenance crafts.  Our Local received notification via email from APWU Western Region Coordinator Omar Gonzalez. Attached to the email was a letter stating ”This is notice that the Portland, OR P&DC excessing event dated March 2, 2018 in the clerk craft is cancelled.  The decision to cancel this notice of withholding is based on further consideration by the Portland District.”

This announcement was confirmed later in the day when President Joe Cogan met with Senior Plant Manager Felipe Flores.  Manager Flores stated that he had reevaluated the situation, held discussions with other USPS representatives and determined it was the “right thing” to do.  We appreciate Plant Manager Flores making this decision and keeping our Clerks in the craft. This action will benefit more than just those Clerks who were destined to become mailhandlers, carriers and custodians.  

Our PSE’s will no longer have their numbers reduced to the maximum extent possible due to the excessing of career Clerks.  PSE’s may be provided more opportunities to remain with the service and have future opportunities for conversion to career status.  This will also allow the non-career employees of the mailhandler and carrier crafts to have an opportunity for conversion to career.  

This is great news for our Membership, and should be celebrated by all. We are grateful that the impact has been cancelled.  We must continue in our fight to protect our rights and the service to our customers. As former APWU President Moe Biller was fond of saying “the struggle continues.”  

It is with great sadness that we must notify our Members that Marie Clark has passed away.  Marie has been an asset and important part of our union family for many decades.  Marie was the Local office secretary for years and a driving force in the local auxiliary.

Service/Mass will be held at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church on September 13 at 11:00 am.

Holy Redeemer Catholic Church

25 N Rosa Parks Way

Portland, OR 97217

Sunday August 6, 2017
Noon-4:00 pm

Good day brothers and sisters!  I hope this report finds you well.  Here are a few things that we have been working on over the last month;

Excessing – President Joe Cogan, Vice-President Bill Martin and I have had several meetings with Management concerning their multiple and concurrent excessing events.

On the Plant side, apparently in an effort to rearrange the furniture, management is moving a majority of the DPS letter volumes from the downtown Plant, where we have the machines and the staffing, to the Mt. Hood DDC, which lacks sufficient equipment and staffing, and is slated to close when we move into the new building.  According to management, disassembling and reassembling a DBCS twice, instead of once when we move to the new building, is more efficient.  Management insists that this event will result in 33 employees being excess to the section (Tour 3 Mail Processing Clerks), but they have no “landing spots” for the junior employees in the section that need to bid or be assigned to a new work section.  Oblivious to our Local Memo language, one of their plans was to move people to Tour 3 at PACC, not realizing that that is the same section, for the purposes of excessing.

On the city side, they are attempting to reinvent the wheel by eliminating the Pool and Relief clerks and the non-traditional full time (NTFT) assignments.  Dozens of city employees received notice that their duty assignments were being reposted, with no notification of what the new assignment would look like.  Once again, management was ignorant of the fact that each Station is not its own section, but sections are defined by job description and tour.  Letters were mailed over the Union’s objections, AND without OUR being provided a final staffing plan.  They sit on the 3^rd floor, playing 52-card pickup with the duty assignments, oblivious to the impact on the employees.  If any of you think that your managers give a damn about you, let this be a wake-up call.  They don’t care about the customers, and they don’t care about you.  They only want to kiss the feet of the bean counters at Area and meet one unrealistic goal, turning a blind eye to the multiple failures in other aspects of the operation.

Please be assured that while these actions are management decisions, the Union is not rolling over and letting it happen without protest.  From the very beginning, all we asked is to be provided with their plan – what they wanted staffing to look like when these changes were implemented.  And why.  Why disrupt the employees’ lives when there is a move to a new building in 9 months?  What’s the rush?  Their reply?  The deafening sound of silence.

Reversions – In a classic example of shooting themselves in the foot, while struggling to find landing spots for the employees excess to the needs of the Tour 3 MPC section, management has notified the Union of their intent to revert 18 vacant Plant jobs and 11 vacant city jobs.  Grievances are being processed to challenge the reversions.

Bids – I continue to track duty assignments for all of the offices within our Local.  I get information on vacancies and awards for the Portland Bid Cluster, but I am reliant upon you for movements in the Associate Offices.  Has someone bid out, retired or resigned?  Has a PSE been converted to career?  Please shoot me an email about any movements that you observe.  I would rather be notified several times of a change than not at all.  As a reminder, for Local issues, my email address is Tour3PACC@yahoo.com.

Kevin Fraser, Clerk Craft Director