Trenton Metro Area Local

(07/15/10) To strengthen the fight against the Postal Service’s harsh National Reassessment Program (NRP), the APWU is encouraging limited-duty and permanent-rehabilitation employees to complete a questionnaire sponsored by a law firm that has filed a class-action complaint against the USPS. The complaint alleges that the NRP discriminates against disabled employees. The NRP, which was initiated nationwide in 2006, “is part of an aggressive campaign by the Postal Service to reduce costs by denying work to injured employees,” said APWU President William Burrus. “The union has fought the program every step of the way,” he said. [full story]

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5 mail processing clerks from Newark are going to be excessed to tour 1 and one to Circle Branch effective 7-17-10

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FSS Machine

80 million dollars later the 3 Flat Sequence Sorters in the Trenton P&DC are not sorting mail. They are just collecting dust. The new tentative date for activation is October 10, 2010. The problem is the manufacturer cannot get the machine to sort properly. When these machines eventually run, we will be bringing in more flat mail from around the Eastern Area.

Kilmer’s Originating Mail (Cancellation Mail).

On Tuesday July 13, 2010 we will begin the cancellation of mail which is now canceled in the Kilmer P&DC. The plan is to bring in 100,000 pieces at first. This move will require the Trenton P&DC to get two (2) additional AFCS. We were originally scheduled to take 2 machines from Kilmer, but that idea has been canceled. Now it looks like we will get 2 machines from the Eastern Area. Our maintenance team is planning to go get these machines and install them in our facility. The loose mail system (Barney) will need to be extended; engineering is looking into it. I will update you on the machines installation and the construction project when I get a clear picture of what is happening. This additional mail will generate more DBCS mail at the beginning of tour 3.

SPBS

Discussion is underway to bring additional mail from Monmouth SPBS to Trenton. This will require modification to our SPBS. Plans are underway to install automated induction units on our machine. More details will be coming as soon as I know.

Low Cost Reject Encoding Machine

We are getting a new LMLM machine called Low Cost Reject Encoding Machine LEREM that will be ran on Tour 1 & Tour 3.

Excessing

There are several major excessing events under way in our area due to the plan closing of West Jersey and the downsizing of Newark and Kilmer P&DCs. In the clerk craft we have 25 residuals. Effective 7/17/2010 there will be 5 mail processing clerks reassigned due to the Newark AMP to residual mail processing clerk positions at Trenton P&DC on Tour 1 and 1 mail processing clerk reassigned to a residual SSDA position at Trenton PO Circle Branch.

These excessed clerks will maintain their seniority; they will be restricted from bidding for 180 days. The reason for the bidding restriction is because other clerks will be excessed in the very near future.

Recently we had several maintenance employees from Newark excessed into Trenton. These employees maintain their seniority also. There are 3 MPE and 2 custodian positions vacant. These positions are currently being held for maintenance excessing out of the Monmouth P&DC.

The reason we are getting all this additional mail and machines are we have demonstrated our ability to move mail. Under the worst conditions we have been able to deliver our product to our customers. Lets show everyone we can handle this mail.

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Management’s Grievance Strategy: Defer and Delay

Burrus Update 09-2010, July 8, 2010

This has been an extremely busy year, as we respond to the postal policies and decisions triggered by the recent decline in mail volume.

Despite a modest improvement in the economy, advertising mail has not yet rebounded. Coupled with the diversion to electronic messages, the recession has reduced mail volume to 1994 levels.

The geniuses who supported the provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund future health care liabilities ignored the gyrations of business cycles. During this period of low mail volume, the pre-funding obligation threatens the solvency of the Postal Service. Efforts are underway to provide relief from the payments, which exceed $5 billion annually for 10 years.

A recent independent actuarial report [PDF] released by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) concluded that the Postal Service has overpaid the Civil Service Retirement System in the amount of $50 to $55 billion, and suggested an “adjustment” in favor of the USPS. If approved by OPM, this adjustment could relieve most of the financial pressure on the Postal Service.

The APWU Legislative and Political Department, in concert with other postal unions and the mailing industry, is making the case that this overpayment should be used to offset the pre-funding obligation and relieve the Postal Service from the annual payment.

In the meantime, postal management’s response to the financial challenges has been facility consolidations, the closure of stations and branches, excessing, and computerized scheduling — all causing major disruptions in the lives of employees. Tens of thousands of employees have been excessed from their installations and crafts, and any semblance of job stability is a distant memory.

Despite the protection against layoffs and the 8-hour guarantee found in the Collective Bargaining Agreement [PDF], the impact on APWU members has been devastating. Employees have been faced with a most difficult choice: They must decide whether or not to continue employment when doing so would mean uprooting their families and disrupting their lives.

In years past, when we were confronted with changes of this magnitude, there were opportunities to mitigate the effect on employees through union-management cooperation. Unfortunately, it seems those opportunities no longer exist: The Postal Service’s Labor Relations Department has been relegated into a forum for preparing cases for arbitration — not settlement.

It seems management has no interest in reaching agreements on contract interpretation and application, so the union’s only option has been to initiate grievances for a growing list of disputes. Postal management appears to have made a conscious decision to apply the most draconian interpretation of contractual terms and to await the decision of an arbitrator years in the future.

An example of management’s policy is the dispute that arose over the Annual Leave Exchange program that was negotiated in the 1998 National Agreement. Management interpreted the agreement as excluding PTFs; the union grieved the exclusion, and in 2009 we prevailed in arbitration. The arbitrator referred the remedy to the parties, and after discussions failed to result in a settlement, the remedy has been sent back to the arbitrator. Eleven years after the contract was violated, affected employees will receive a remedy when an arbitrator rules later this year. In anticipation that the arbitrator will provide monetary relief, locals are requested to research their records to identify employees who were affected.

The scheduling of national interpretive cases for arbitration will be an important issue in upcoming contract negotiations. The union will demand modifications of the process so that when the Postal Service initiates major changes, disputes can be adjudicated in a timely manner.

Unlike most workers in the public and private sectors, APWU-represented employees have access to a grievance-arbitration procedure, which mean an arbitrator can be called upon to interpret the contract. This right is undermined, however, by the Postal Service’s strategy of “defer and delay” — deferring all important issues to arbitration, and delaying the day of reckoning. Management is making no serious attempt to limit the traumatic impact of life-changing events on employees.

Notwithstanding the frustration caused by USPS stonewalling, the union continues to challenge improper management decisions, and is awaiting final decisions on a number of issues that are important to our members. A partial list of issues awaiting final decision is as follows:

Severance Pay for employees who retired through early-outs in 2008 and 2009 - The contract requires that “Before implementation of reassignment under this Article or, if necessary, layoff and reduction in force of excess employees …the Employer shall solicit volunteers from among employees in the same craft within the installation to terminate their employment with the Employer. Employees who elect to terminate their employment will receive a lump sum severance payment in the amount provided by Part 435 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual…”
Tour 2 Initiative – Management eliminated Tour 2 in all mail processing facilities without satisfying its obligation to bargain in good faith.
Pitney Bowes – Management violated its obligation to meet, discuss, and consider union proposals on the transfer of bargaining unit work to Pitney Bowes from the New Jersey International Mail Distribution Center.
90-Day Notice – The Postal Service failed to give the union at the Regional level proper notice prior to excessing employees from the craft or installation as required by Article 12 of the National Agreement, the Joint Contract Interpretation Manual, and numerous memoranda on excessing.
60-Day Notice – The Postal Service has failed to give proper notice to employees of its intent to reassign them outside their craft or installation. (The notice must include the office to which the employees are reassigned.)
Restrictions on the Increase of Casual and Part-Time Flexible Employees and Hours – Management has violated the prohibition against increasing casual/PTF hours before excessed employees have exhausted their retreat rights.
Obligation to Reduce Part-Time Flexible Hours – Management has failed to limit PTF hours in order to minimize the impact on the regular workforce when it is intended to excess employees from their craft or installation.
Obligation to Separate All Casuals – Management has failed to maximize the available hours — by limiting the hours worked by casuals — in order to minimize the impact on full-time employees who elect to convert to PTR and remain within the installation in lieu of reassignment outside the installation.

These disputes await final disposition through the grievance-arbitration procedure. In each case, the union’s claim is supported by clear contractual language. In the past, circumstances such as these would have led to serious discussions and possible settlements. With the change in management philosophy, however, each issue will now be deferred to arbitration, requiring the passage of time before final disposition. We shall remain resolute for however long it takes to prevail.

William Burrus
President

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The USPS notified the APWU of it's intentions to AMP the West Jersey NJ P&DC and the Kilmer P&DC.

Once the AMP is completed, the West Jersey P&DC will be closed. Mail from West Jersey will be processed in Kilmer and Northern New Jersey P&DC located in Teterboro, NJ. Kilmer's originating mail will be processed between Dominic V Daniels (DVD) P&DC and the Trenton, NJ P&DC. Major impact to APWU members is planned. West Jersey is planning on excessing 300 employees. Kilmer impact is 45 employees.

West Jersey AMP & Closure Notice

Kilmer's AMP Notice

Whippany postal facility will be closed; Edison center losing jobs

The U.S. Postal Service will be closing its West Jersey Processing & Distribution Center in Whippany by January and will also shift employees among some of its other large facilities, the post office confirmed today.

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APWU Leadership Northeast Region;

I’ve attached a news article announcing the opening of a new International Mail Facility in Newark, NJ. It will employ over 180 employees and will process over 50 million pieces of international mail per year. Unfortunately, it is not a USPS operated facility, but rather it is owned and operated by Pitney Bowes.

Most disturbing is the fact that the Newark, NJ Post Office is currently excessing the majority of our clerk and maintenance craft employees out of the facility as the AMP was approved earlier this year.

As the USPS runs out of the City of Newark...Pitney Bowes opens a new modern 76,000 sq foot mail facility in Newark!

An extremely sad commentary!

STEP 4 FILED

John

John H. Dirzius
Northeast Region Coordinator
American Postal Workers Union

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Bill Coleman

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE - SOUTH JERSEY DISTRICT

FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE COORDINATORS

The SJ District FMLA Coordinator assigned to you and your FMLA Case is based on the First Letter of your Last Name. Here are the correct numbers to use to reach your SJ District FMLA Coordinator.

Last Names starting with the letters A thru K - call Dave Harvey at 1-856-933-6059

Last Names starting with the letters L thru Z - call Mike Kulikowski at 1-856-933-4308

Both South Jersey District FMLA Coordinators share the same mailing address:

United States Postal Service

South Jersey District FMLA

PO Box 9001

Bellmawr, NJ 08099-9997

I STRONGLY urge you to submit your FMLA paperwork to your Coordinator via Certified Mail with Return Receipt, (either online or with the use of a PS Form 3811 Domestic Return Receipt (green card) or by using the USPS Delivery Confirmation. This will provide you with proof that your paperwork was received within the FMLA designated time limits.

Remember, you only have 15 days to submit supporting Medical Documentation of your qualifying FMLA condition. That 15-day period starts from one of two possible dates. The earlier date would be from the first day you requested leave for a new FMLA qualifying condition. The later date would be 15 days from when you receive the WH-380 package in the mail from the USPS Topeka, Kansas Employee Service Center. That Topeka, Kansas mail piece is automatically generated when you report off work on the Postal Ease Employee Call-out Number (1-877-477-3273 or for TTY users 1-866-833-8777), using Option #4 for Unscheduled Leave. The Postal Service issued Topeka packet usually arrives in less than one week of your FMLA Call-off request.

So that you may be prepared to supply the necessary medical certificate within the appropriate time limits, the American Postal Workers Union, has negotiated our own FMLA acceptable forms for our members to use when submitting medical documentation in support of your FMLA qualifying condition. These forms are much shorter and easier for you or your family members physician or doctor’s office to understand and properly complete. Trenton Metro Area Local strongly recommends that our members stop by the Union Steward’s Office at the Trenton P&DC Plant and pick-up copies of any APWU FMLA Forms that you may need. APWU members may also download these forms from the Human Relations Department at www.apwu.org and follow the shortcut on the Home Page to the “Family Medical Leave Act”. You can also get your FMLA Forms from Links right on this Trenton Metro Area Local website under “Bill’s Resource Page". A page chocked full of “need-to-know” phone numbers, forms, addresses and other info for every APWU Bargaining Unit Member.

Our TMAL members can also reach us at (609)-581-8118 (Steward’s Office) or (609)-631-7745 (Tower Building Office) and speak to your Officers or Stewards who can help steer you in the right direction, if needed, when it comes to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Updated: 06/3/10

Sen. Coburn Tries to Pull a Fast One

(06/24/10) Conservative Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) tried to pull a fast one at a joint hearing sponsored by Senate and House postal subcommittees on Wednesday. Coburn, who authored the anti-labor amendment to a Senate bill (S. 1507) to require arbitrators to consider the financial health of the Postal Service when ruling on collective bargaining agreements, remarked that arbitrators are currently prohibited from considering USPS’ economic circumstances. Of course, that is patently false. [full story]

Capitol Hill Testimony
Burrus: USPS Must Expand, Not Cut, Service

(06/23/10) Predicting that mail volume will grow in 2012, APWU President William Burrus told lawmakers June 23 that slashing service will not solve the Postal Service’s current financial difficulties. The APWU “believes the USPS can and must expand the services it offers,” he said. “No service-oriented business can grow by reducing service,” Burrus said at a joint House-Senate hearing. [full story]

Saving Saturday Service

Get the Facts, Spread with Word
(04/28/10) The APWU has produced material to help union members spread the word about how the Postal Service’s plan to end Saturday mail delivery would harm American citizens and businesses — and jeopardize the USPS itself. The union has prepared a flyer to help locals alert the public about the dangers of ending Saturday mail delivery. A four-page fact sheet that sets the record straight about the Postal Service’s financial predicament — and how to fix it — is appropriate for distribution to elected officials and news outlets. [full story]

Early Retirement Rumors:
Again, APWU Says: Don't Go!

(04/08/10) Rumors about Voluntary Early Retirement offers are once again circulating throughout the Postal Service, APWU President William Burrus reports in an Update for union members, but the Postal Service has not initiated discussions with the APWU about early retirement offers or monetary incentives. The union’s advice: Don’t go. [full story]

USPS Management Makes
An Important Discovery:
Postal Service Must Help Generate Mail

(04/06/10) The Postal Service’s recent announcement that it intends to use its marketing capability to generate mail from small- and medium-sized businesses is “really good news,” APWU President William Burrus wrote in an Update for union members. [full story]

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National Convention

August 23-27, 2010

Detroit, MI

Setting the Record Straight on Five-Day Delivery

(03/16/10) The Postal Service’s proposal to eliminate Saturday mail delivery has been widely reported, but most news articles fail to address the devastating effect it would have on the USPS, as well as on citizens, businesses, and communities. Accordingly, the union has prepared an outline of “talking points” to correct the record and to assist locals in efforts to oppose five-day delivery. [full story]

APWU Urges Members to Support Six-Day Delivery

(03/08/10) The APWU is asking union members to contact their U.S. Representatives and encourage them to co-sponsor House Resolution 173, which urges the Postal Service to continue to provide mail delivery six days per week. The Postal Service is asking Congress to reduce the number of mail delivery days required by law from six days per week to five. [full story]

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FFS Update,

Start Up of the FFS is delayed until Aug 2010

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Post office mulls closing hundreds of offices

Postal agency is facing a nearly $7 billion potential loss

Possible Trenton Stations & Branches Closing

District Managers will be adding a focus to the discontinuance of operations by reviewing all classified stations and branches in Level 24 and above post office (see enclosure) . These offices have experienced serious volume, transaction, and revenue declines . The Postal Service will be using the current procedures that are in place for studying the activities of an office for possible discontinuance.

Memo From USPS

National Notification About Trenton Closing

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Revamp Maintenance Selection System (MSS)

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No Layoff Clause

Attached is the USPS response to the APWU’s position that the APWU MOU on the No Layoff Clause continuing to apply to employees excessed from an APWU bargaining unit to another Union’s bargaining unit that has not negotiated a similar provision.

The USPS as you can see disagrees that no layoff protection follows the employee and argues that layoff protection is predicated on which Collective Bargaining Agreement the employee is covered by at the time of a layoff. Mike Gallagher

APWU Letter USPS Letter

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Excessing: Know Your Rights

(05/14/09) In an effort to reduce the employee complement, postal management seems intent on compelling employees to resign, APWU President William Burrus said in an Update for union members. “To combat this coercion, the union advises employees who are notified that they are excess to their craft or installation to make sure they are knowledgeable of all of their contractual rights and to demand specific information from management about their ‘new assignments.’” [full story]

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Get a copy of

Article 12 Excessing:

Collective Bargaining Agreement Enforcement of the Process

A Study in Strategy and Tactics

Jeff Kehlert, NBA

Email your name and local or other info

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NEW APWU FMLA FORMS

FMLA # 1

Certification by Employee's Health Care Provider for Employee's Serious Illness

FMLA # 2

Health Care Provider Certification of Employee's Family Member Serious Illness

FMLA # 3

Certification by Employee of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave

FMLA # 4

Certification by Service Member's Health Care Provider for Caregiver Military Family Leave

Family and Medical Leave Act Information

(Updated 04/30/09) These forms provide supporting documentation for leave requests covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These forms have been updated to meet the requirements of the revised regulations that became effective Jan. 16, 2009. More information about the new requirements is available here. The Postal Service has stated that these forms are acceptable for use by managers to approve or disapprove FMLA leave requests.

Please note that some of these forms have been modified slightly for clarity since they were initially issued in February 2009. APWU FMLA forms #1 and #2 were revised as follows: 1) a change to the section regarding medical facts to include treatment, if any; 2) a clarification regarding what constitutes a chronic condition (i.e. the new regulations stipulate that to qualify as a chronic condition, the employee must require treatment at least twice a year, and 3) a place for the HCP to print their name, above where they place their signature. This last change also applies to form #4. Form #3 is unchanged. While the February 2009 version of the forms should still be acceptable when properly completed, these revisions add clarity and should, therefore, reduce the number of instances where the Postal Service finds the forms “insufficient” or “incomplete.”

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OWCP Tidbits

By Sandy Schleher

1. You have a right to seek medical treatment from a physician of your choice.

2. You have a right to decline medical treatment from the UPSP provider.

3. Traumatic injury – medical condition occurred within a single work shift – immediately complete Form CA-1.

4. Occupational disease – medical condition caused or aggravated by work environment over a period longer than one work shift – complete Form CA-2.

5. Form CA-16 – USPS issues this form to you before you seek medical treatment from a health care provider of your choice. This form guarantees payment for most medical treatments for up to 60 days as long as the injury was reported within seven days of occurrence.

6. CA-17 – Form the USPS and physician fill out detailing your physical limitations.

7. COP – Continuation of Pay: Make sure you indicate COP when you complete form CA-1. Form CA-1 must be completed within 30 days of the traumatic injury, and the first day of work stoppage must have occurred within 45 days of the injury. Time lost on the date of the injury is charged to administrative leave. Employees are eligible up to 45 calendar days, which includes non-scheduled days and holidays when medical evidence indicates that disability exists during those time periods. COP entitlement does not pertain to an occupational disease, and you must utilize LWOP, Sick Leave or Annual Leave until your claim is accepted by the Department of Labor.

8. The employer must allow injured workers 10 days to submit medical documentation supporting their absence before they can interrupt COP.

9. WLC – Wage Loss Compensation: Form CA-7 must be completed to claim WLC. Upon receipt, the employer has five working days to complete its portion of the form and submit it to OWCP.

COP & WLC – A three-day (3) waiting period, which begins on the first day of disability, must be satisfied before an employee can receive COP or WLC. Non-scheduled days, sick leave and LWOP can be used to satisfy the waiting periods. Waiting periods are waived when there are 14 days of cumulative work stoppage.

OWCP Claim approval is not required for COP to begin,

but subsequently denied claims will be subject to repayment.

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Trenton Metro Members must act now!!

Click here to send a message to your Representative

Support Growing for H.R. 22
Union Asks Members to Contact Congress
(04/06/09) Legislation that would provide the Postal Service temporary relief from a crushing financial crisis is gaining wide support in Congress. More than half of the members of the House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 22, which would modify a provision of the 2006 postal “reform” law that drains the Postal Service of billions of dollars per year and has contributed to a financial crisis so severe that it threatens the viability of the nation's 235-year-old postal system.

[full story]

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Central New Jersey District is Closing

District Compression a good thing for those who screwed APWU members in excessing, tour compression and other career impacts.

All of 085, 086 & 087

to go under South Jersey District

Monmouth P&DC to go under South Jersey District

Six districts to close, 1,400 supervisor jobs cut

Postal Service Continues Aggressive Steps to Cut Costs

Closing administrative offices, eliminating positions, offering early retirements

Alert

It has come to the attention of the union that management is placing employees on Stand BY Time when they are working. The union has uncovered several supervisors engaging this totally improper /fraudulent conduct. These supervisors are falsifying time keeping records. Management has the right when no mail or work available to instruct employees to go to a designated area and be ready to assume normal work activities as needed and directed by the supervisor.

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Effective January 1, 2009, Handbook F-15, Travel and Relocation, is revised to reflect new reimbursement rates for travel and relocation.

The New Rate is 55.5 cents per mile for privately own vehicles

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APWU Clerks are to remain on the ASFM 100s

AFSM 100 Order

On December 31, 2008 the court granted the NPMHU’s motion to intervene, but denied the motion for relief.

We have been advised by our Attorney that the Court’s ruling today allowing the Mailhandlers to intervene before the 3^rd Circuit Court of Appeals will not take place until one (1) year or longer from Judge Pisano’s ruling of 12/31/08. In the meantime, the clerks will continue to maintain jurisdiction, leaving in place the current staffing on the FSM 100.

The Mailhandlers sought to have Judge Pisano’s previous rulings overturned, and the judge today denied their motion and ordered the parties to abide by his previous decisions.

No matter what kind of spin the Mailhandlers put on Judge Pisano’s ruling today, clerks will continue to perform the work, as the Mailhandlers “failed to demonstrate good cause under Rule 60(b) to vacate the Court’s May 28 and July 22 Orders denying their motion”.

AFSM 100 Update - Read the full story

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Union Files Second ‘Dispute’ Over Two-Tour Initiative2
(12/19/08) The APWU has filed a second Step 4 dispute protesting the Postal Service’s nationwide program to eliminate or drastically reduce Tour 2 assignments and employees. The dispute, filed Dec. 16, is a companion to another Step 4 protest filed the same day, and recaps many of the allegations made by the union in an Unfair Labor Practice Charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 25. [full story]

USPS Two Tour Operation Initiative

Reduction or Elimination of Existing Day Shift Position/Employees

By Greg Bell

All Clerk Stewards Must Read This

Tour Compression/Two Tour Initiative

Previous Posted Tour Compression info/reports

Message From Bill Lewis

I have been advised that Management is not providing correct information to our members as it relates to the notification process currently under way as they move to institute their National Level Two Tour Compression initiative. I believe this is the result of certain Managers who did not get involved in how the contract determines the movement of employees when changes are made in duty assignments. My previous e-mails have detailed the order in which these changes must be contractually carried out, and it is my intention to enforce the contract for each and every violation that occurs. I have no intentions of making any exceptions or deals with Local Management to bypass the clear unambiguous language contained in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and we ARE NOT in agreement with their plan of action. If you have any individual questions regarding the notification you have received, please contact me or your shop steward, and we will investigate all inquiries and file the appropriate grievances on your behalf.

The Struggle Still Continues

Have you checked your eOPF

The Official Personnel Folder, or OPF, documents the employment history of individuals employed by the federal government. An OPF is established and maintained for each Postal Service employee regardless of appointment type or duration. The OPF also includes all discipline issued within the ‘last’ two years. After two years the discipline should be removed from the file.

All USPS Official Personnel Folders for active employees have been converted to electronic official personnel folders-eOPFs. The deadline for converting all files was August 1, 2008. If you have been unable to access your file, try again. Files can be accessed on a non-postal computer at http://liteblue.usps.gov. You will need your eight-digit employee LD number and four-digit password.

It is very important to check your file for accuracy. Problems have been reported nationwide. Individuals have logged on and discovered someone else’s OPF. That’s a whole lot of personnel information for someone to steal. So log on, make sure the file is your own and check all the dates for accuracy. Also any discipline that is over two years old should be removed.

Unknown Author

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Flat Sequence System

Deployment / Installation Begins October 2009

Watch Videos of Flats Sequencing System FSS

Source Postal Reporter

Additional FSS Information

Flats Presentations & Communications Resources

Early Info on the FSS

Source APWU

The most recent addition to the Automation stable is a workhorse called the Flat Sorter Sequencer (FSS). This new, large piece of equipment will be deployed for the first time later this year. The schedule calls for 100 FSS machines to be in operation by the end of 2010. There may be even more after that.

Anyone who remembers working on an LSM (Letter Sorting Machine) will recognize similarities with the FSS. The mail is inserted into a slot in a cart; at the bottom of the cart, a slot-door opens that drops the piece into the appropriate bin. The preventative-maintenance route is certain to include checking for open cart doors. For many there will be some deja vu.

The 360-bin FSS is divided into four logical units of 90 bins each. The automatic feed will process as many as 17,000 flats per hour through the FSS. The Postal Service intends for the FSS to walk-sequence flat mail, and to have it run the same as a two-pass DBCS (Delivery Bar Code Sorter).

The FSS machines will be deployed in multiples of two, three, four, or even five machines to an office. Most facilities already have made or are in the process of making floor space available. The latest schedule shows Bulk Mail Centers in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New Jersey to be first in line for FSS deployment.

Increased Number of ETs

As far as the Maintenance Division is concerned, the additional FSS capability will increase the number of ETs in each office. While it will vary from office to office, you can expect up to 15 additional ETs for the first FSS. Additional machines will require more ETs, just not as many.

The effect on the number of MPE employees is not known at this time, but both MPEs and ETs will require six weeks of training at the National Center for Employee Development in Norman, OK. ETs will then spend an additional five weeks of training in Norman.

We will keep you posted on our negotiations with the Postal Service over the fine points of training for the FSS deployment.

A few tidbits you need to know once you have been injured on duty:

Recommendations for Family Medical Leave Documentation:

Deems Desirable

Sandy Schleher, Clerk Craft Director

Family Leave Coordinator

Trenton Metro Area Local

Due to several recent incidents and inquiries, it’s necessary to remind everyone about the three day waiting period you must endure when suffering a work related injury.

Injuries that result from work activity occurring over more than one day, occupational injuries, have a three-day waiting period before OWCP wage loss compensation will be paid. The employee must be in a non-pay status for the first three days. No leave may be used, but if the inability to work exceeds fourteen calendar days, compensation will be paid for any wage loss during the three-day waiting period. These rules are unchanged.

Thanks to President Bush signing the “Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act” into law, as of December 20, 2006, there is now a three day waiting period before continuation of pay (COP) is paid for traumatic injuries. Traumatic injuries occur in a single day or shift. This new rule applies to USPS employees only.

During the first three-day period of a traumatic injury, you may choose to use annual leave, sick leave or leave without pay. If the disability exceeds fourteen days, or is followed by permanent disability, any leave that was used will be restored, if LWOP was used, the employee will be paid.

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TOP

Articles

Ventilation Filtration System VFS

By Gary Kloepfer

Automated Postal Centers

Installed in Trenton P&DC Main Office Window

Which Re-Hab or District employee will scab our work?

Could this be the first grievance when the building reopens?

Administrative Leave

The following information is provided to assist locals

in documenting Administrative Leave grievances.