With the additional mail and equipment from Salem the workroom floors at the P&DC, PACC, and Mt. Hood are being filled to capacity. Ensure your work spaces have proper egress routes available. Should you encounter blocked routes immediately attempt to remedy the situation. If it is a repeated problem or one that you are unable to fix contact your supervisor immediately. You should also fill out a hazard report 1767 to document the problem.

Chief officers of the Local sat down with senior plant managers on Thursday to discuss several issues. Of major concern was the proposal by the Postal Service to contract out clerk craft work at the PACC to a private company. They are looking at having the SWYB machines operated by Matheson Flight Extenders which occupy a portion of the building. We have received some information from the Postal Service and will be sending this new information to our National Officers for feedback and direction.

With the changes necessitated by the Salem consolidation several Postal Support Employees expressed concerns about losing work hours. Management doesn’t foresee any major reductions in hours and have been making efforts recently to expand the skill base of the PSE’s in order to maintain their hours.

We were informed that the Maintenance Department will be laying off 14 maintenance PSE’s because of the influx of career Maintenance employees from Salem. Employees apparently were told verbally and management agreed that written notice will be provided immediately. Additionally an agreement was reached to ensure that the employees would have access to computers in LDD and instructed on other job opportunities in the area. This is an extremely unfortunate result of the Salem Consolidation. For decades Postal Employees have been protected from layoff but the new PSE category of employees don’t have that same protection. The layoffs will occur by juniority and the employees will have recall rights for one year.

The maintenance department is also looking at reducing the number of assignments here in Portland. Because of the Salem consolidation decisions have not been finalized by the Service. The parties agreed to meet again next month to review the situation.

Many employees from the Motor Vehicle Craft took advantage of the early retirement. The Postal Service seems to be content with its current staffing and has no plans to hire additional people to fill the vacant routes. Nationwide the Motor Vehicle Craft is under constant attack and threat of subcontracting.

Difficult times for all-the struggle continues.

Joe Cogan, Vice President

Officers and Stewards were on hand to discuss and answer questions from Postal Support Employees prior to the General Membership Meeting on May 19, 2013. Several PSE’s showed up with questions ranging from health care to concerns about cuts in hours.

Joe Cogan, Vice President chaired the meeting. Thanks to all the stewards and officers who took the time to attend. It’s important that we continue to reach out to our newest members to explain their rights and encourage involvement in their Union.

Currently there are at least 24 bills in Congress regarding the Postal Service. By far the majority of these bills negatively affect Postal Workers.  Some would even result in your job loss regardless of seniority, veteran status, disability or other factors.

Several bills allow or in some cases demand that the Postal Service close hundreds of processing plants and thousands of retail units. Others affect future retirement, health care, wages, and job security, all negatively.

Legislative action is needed to relieve the Postal Service of the ridiculous requirement to pre-fund future employee’s health care costs. This pre-funding requirement has resulted in billions of dollars being siphoned from the Postal Service and is a direct contributor to the Postal Service’s current financial situation.

Despite the fact that the Postmaster General has embarked on a plan to destroy the Postal Service as we know it, Congress has still failed to pass or even vote on a bill that addresses these fundamental obstacles to our success.

The changes to overnight delivery and the closing of over 200 mail processing plants throughout the country as soon as this April will just be the beginning of the end of the Postal Service.

I take great pride in the service that we provide the American citizenry and the contributions to our democracy through our timely collection and delivery of the mail.

Take a moment today and contact your congressperson. Just click the “Take Action” page and get started.  Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Your job depends on it and the service we provide is worth fighting for!

“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.”  Harry Truman

 On January 8th hundreds of people gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square to raise public awareness regarding the plans to destroy the Postal Service. After hearing from several inspirational speakers the crowd closed the streets of Portland to march to the main Post Office in Downtown Portland. It was the largest rally to date to bring attention to the planned closures and degradation of service proposed by the Postmaster General and his friends in Congress.

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