Tom's River DBCS Machine Update

A meeting was held on July 1^st, 2008 regarding the reassignment of the Toms River mail to the Trenton P&DC.  The move of the CIOSS machine to the Monmouth P&DC has been put on hold for several weeks due to logistical and communication problems.  Once these problems are worked out the machine will be reassigned to the Monmouth P&DC.

 Pending completion of the electrical work will determine when the LIPS machine will be removed.  The time frame is approximately two weeks before dismantling the machine. 

In approximately 2 weeks, a team of Trenton maintenance personnel will begin removing the DBCS’s from Toms River.  During the interim period the Toms River mail will be sorted in the South Jersey P&DC.  Within sixty days all three machines will be processing Toms River mail at the Trenton P&DC.

January 1^st, the Postal Service plans on removing the AFSM 1000 and bringing several DBCS’s from Lakewood, NJ. 

I insist any movement of personnel must be consistent with Article 12 of our collective bargaining agreement.  I will not hold mandatory excessing meetings with other labor organizations in attendance 

I will keep you updated as the events unfold.  As usual with the Postal Service we can expect changes to today's plan. 

The postal service has notified me of up coming changes.  They plan to move 3 DBCS machines from Toms River to the Trenton P&DC.  In order to accommodate this move the postal service plans on relocating the CIOSS (PARS) machine to the Monmouth P&DC.   This movement of the CIOSS is scheduled to happen over the July 4th weekend.  The LIPS machine will be removed from our current inventory of machinery, unknown destination.

The removal of these two machines will cause excessing of clerk craft employees from these sections.  All excessing will be per the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  We have not yet met to discuss excessing of clerks.

The master plan is to bring an additional 3 more DBCS machines to Trenton, thus causing the FSM 1000 to be removed and deleted from our machine inventory, designation scrap yard.

The total new DBCS planned for Trenton P&DC is 6.

Discussion is under way to use Trenton’s maintenance department to remove and install these machines.

I realized this information will generate many concerns and rumors on the floor.   I will keep you informed about the impact to these areas. (6-23-08)

Effective May 28, 2008, US District Court Judge Joel A. Pisano issued his decision regarding enforcement of the American Postal Workers Union/United States Postal Service pre-arbitration Settlement Agreement, dated October 28, 2005, for AFSM staffing at the Trenton P&DC. 

Judge Pisano stated, “The Settlement Agreement provides for the clerk craft to have primary jurisdiction over the positions on the AFSM-100 machines and that, in the event work requires less than six employees to staff the machines, the remaining positions on the machines will be staffed by clerk craft only.  Thereby, if there is a ‘reduction in work [,]’ then clerks only operate the machines.  Although the Settlement Agreement does not define ‘reduction in work [.]’ the terms of the Agreement do not limit the method by which the reduction in work may occur.  That is, the Agreement sets forth a staffing procedure invoked by a ‘reduction in work’ irrespective of how that reduction in work takes place. 

In this instance, the modifications to the AFSM-100 resulted in a ‘reduction in work.’  The addition of the AI and ATHS automated features caused ‘a reduction of the AFSM[-]100 operating crew, [a] decrease[] in operation run times, and efficiencies in the preparation activities.’  (Lewis Aff. II Ex. B).  As a result, the ‘reduction in work’ caused by enhancements to the AFSM-100 machine trigger the Settlement Agreement’s staffing reduction procedure. 

Thus, pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the clerks maintain jurisdiction over the stations in the AFSM-100 machines in the Trenton facility, irrespective of the

enhancements.  Accordingly, the Court holds that there is no dispute of material fact that the Settlement Agreement covers the dispute of which Trenton Metro now complains-whether clerks or mail handlers have jurisdiction to operate the AFSM-100 machines-and is ‘sufficiently specific as to be capable of implementation.’  Consolidation Coal, supra, 666 F.2d at 810.  The Court further holds that the Settlement Agreement is entitled to enforcement. 

Pursuant and in accordance with the Judge’s order, the APWU expects immediate staffing of the three FSM 100 machines with the clerk craft. 

The APWU will monitor USPS compliance with the Judge’s order and pursue appropriate pay remedies for all work performed by the Mail Handler craft on the AFSM 100’s commencing today.

TO ALL EMPLOYEES:

 FSS BUILDING EXPANSION

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE 

Construction activity on the FSS Building Expansion will begin as early as July 1, 2008.  During this time, Turner Construction will be fencing off a zone in the South/East corner (adjacent to Rte. #130) of the employee parking lot.  This is known as Phase I. 

During Phase 1, the Rte # 130 exit will be maintained, but obviously there will be an impact to employee parking.  We will be opening up an overflow parking lot in the trailer parking area (behind the VMF). 

Please be patient with us during this construction period. 

Russ Herrick

(A) Plant Manager

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.

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.