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No. 04-20 September
17, 2004 |
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NALC
and U.S. Postal Service Agree
On Joint Evaluation Impact Report
For Methodology to Evaluate Routes
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A new form for reporting to national officials
the local methodology to evaluate routes agreed to by union
and management has been created under an agreement signed
September 16 by NALC President William H. Young and Patrick
R. Donahoe, USPS Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice
President.
"We encourage all local parties
to take advantage of this unique opportunity to make fair
and reasonable route adjustments based on meaningful data
and local knowledge," Young and Donahoe said.
The form, which will be available through
local postmasters, will include three sections:
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Unit
and NALC information which is to be completed
when an agreement is reached;
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Methodology
which should include a brief description
outlining the data source and process used. If an installation
has multiple zones in a delivery unit, the parties need
to provide the order in which the adjustments will be
conducted;
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Evaluation
which must be completed as soon as the impact
has been determined. The appropriate data based on the
evaluation of the unit should be entered in the "Current
Number of City Delivery Routes" and the "Proposed
Number of Delivery Routes." This will include any
router hours. The number of assignments and hours will
then be totaled for the ZIP code(s) in the stated unit
as well as the impacted hours and routes. If there is
a change in router hours, they should be included in
the hour impact for the ZIP code(s). |
Once all the information has been
entered, it must be signed by both the NALC Branch President
or designee and the Postmaster or designee and sent through
the proper channels to the appropriate national parties
with a copy being maintained at the local unit. Additionally,
a web-based tracking process is being implemented to track
progress in all zones in the country.
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Arbitrator
Clarifies Wash-up Issues
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Existing
Local Provisions for Time Remain Intact |
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Local
parties may not negotiate wash-up time provisions for letter
carriers without consideration of whether they perform dirty
work or work with toxic materials, under a ruling issued by
National Arbitrator Dennis Nolan. However, the award states:
"Local parties remain free to define the employees who
satisfy those conditions."
The Nolan Award, issued July 25, rejected
NALC's argument that local parties are free to negotiate
"additional or longer wash-up periods" without
reference to the "dirty work/toxic materials"
criteria set forth in Article 8, Section 9 of the National
Agreement. However, the Award does not invalidate any existing
wash-up provision.
NALC President William H. Young said that
while NALC was disappointed with the Arbitrator's ruling,
the effect of the Award is limited.
"It simply means that in
those rare cases where we must defend an existing wash-up
agreement, or are seeking to add a new one, we will have
to address the issue of dirty work," Young said.
"Of course, it remains NALC's position that all letter
carrier work is dirty work."
Young added that NALC is presently
exploring the option of raising the question of dirty work
at the national level.
Article 30.C of the National Agreement
provides that LMOU provisions added or modified during one
local implementation period may be challenged as inconsistent
or in conflict with the National Agreement only during the
local implementation period of the successor National Agreement.
Further, paragraph 6 of the national Memorandum of Understanding
regarding Local Implementation states that "LMOU items
existing prior to the 2001 local implementation period may
not be challenged as inconsistent or in conflict, unless
already subject to a pending arbitration appeal."
Accordingly, existing local wash-up provisions
which were negotiated prior to the 2001 implementation period
may not be challenged by management, unless they are covered
by a pending arbitration appeal.
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S-Ts
May Want to Switch Hotels!
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Secretary-Treasurer Jane E. Broendel has
advised individuals attending the Washington, D.C. Secretary-Treasurers
Seminar Sept. 26-27 and not staying at the Washington Court
Hotel on Capitol Hill that they may want to switch their
hotel reservations to avoid a possible strike by UNITE HERE!
Although the Washington Court Hotel
on Capitol Hill--where the seminar will be conducted--will
not be affected, UNITE
HERE! members have authorized a strike at the following
14 Washington, D.C. hotels:
Best Western Capitol
Skyline
Capital Hilton
Embassy Row Hilton
Holiday Inn Downtown
Holiday Inn on the Hill |
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Hotel Washington
Hyatt Regency - Capitol Hill
Jefferson Hotel
Loews L'Enfant Plaza
Marriott Wardman Park |
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Omni Shoreham Hotel
Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
Washington Hilton & Towers
Westin Fairfax |
In addition to the Washington Court,
other Washington union hotels that are
NOT INVOLVED in the possible
strike are:
Governors House
Harrington Hotel
Madison Hotel
Monticello Hotel
Phoenix Park Hotel
Hay-Adams Hotel |
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Holiday Inn Georgetown
Sheraton Four Points
St. Regis
Swissotel-Watergate
Woodner |
Branch Secretary-Treasurers who have not already registered
for one of the three Seminars being held this Fall can now
choose only between the September 26-27 Washington, D.C.
seminar where there are still a few openings available
and the November 7-8 Hollywood, CA seminar. The
October 17-18 St. Louis seminar is full.
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Addition,
Extension in Pilot Programs
For Joint Safety and Accident Control
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NALC and the Postal Service reached agreement
September 16 to extend a one-year pilot program for Joint
Safety and Accident Control Teams in the Eastern Area to
the end of Fiscal Year 2005 to allow the parties additional
time to validate results and demonstrate sustained improvement.
At the same time, the parties agreed to
initiate a one-year pilot program in the Great Lakes Area,
beginning October 2, with establishment of District Safety
Committees. The concept and plan for area rollout will be
presented to the Great Lakes Area prior to implementation.
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NALC
Honors Seven Letter Carriers
For Heroic and Humanitarian Deeds
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Young, Potter,
Chafee Lead Acclaim for Honorees |
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| NALC President
Young, center, and PMG Jack Potter, 2nd from right,
join winners at annual Hero of the Year ceremony. L
to R are: David Bartaway, Br. 2184, Western Wayne County,
MI; Don Brown, Br. 3166, Warwick, RI; Nevin "Boomer"
Markel, Br. 204, Colorado Springs, CO; Victor Soto,
Br. 2502, Las Vegas, NV; Young; John Frierson, Br. 3126,
Royal Oak, MI; Richard Fischer, South Florida Br. 1071;
Potter, and Kurt Spaller, West Coast Florida Br. 1477. |
NALC President William H. Young and Postmaster
General John E. Potter led scores of union and postal officials
honoring letter carriers September 15 in Washington for
their heroic and humanitarian actions to assist others in
the communities they serve.
Joining in praising the carriers at the annual "Hero
of the Year" award luncheon was Sen. Lincoln Chafee,
R-RI.
Young presented the top awards to National
Hero of the Year Kurt Spaller, a member of West Coast Florida
NALC Branch 1477, who helped evacuate scores of elderly
residents from a massive condominium fire in St. Petersburg,
and to National Humanitarian John Frierson of NALC Br. 3126
in Royal Oak, Michigan, who donated life-saving bone marrow
to a two-year-old leukemia victim and formed an organization
to encourage minorities to sign up for the National Bone
Marrow Donor Registry. (See
August 20 NALC Bulletin).
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Sen.
Lincoln Chafee, R-RI, left, chats with Warwick, RI Br.
3166 Secretary Don Brown, who accepted Branch Service
Award on behalf of his branch. |
Young noted that letter carriers represent
the front line of safety as they serve homes and business
along their routes each day, saying they "sense danger
and recognize trouble, they are on the scene and willing
to act, and their patrons and the general public reap the
benefits. For them, to serve means to protect, to assist,
to help every citizen at any time the opportunity arises."
Postmaster General John E. Potter noted
that thousands of letter carriers and other postal employees
also perform heroic and humanitarian deeds, but are "very
humble about it. It's just what they do."
"They don't think that they've
done anything out of the ordinary, yet they are heroes,"
Potter said. "We have to take a lot of pride in our
citizenship."
Also honored at the event were:
Richard Fischer of South Florida Br. 1071 as Eastern Region
Hero for helping lift a mangled vehicle to free a trapped
baby under a car in Coral Springs; David Bartaway of NALC
Western Wayne County, Michigan Br. 2184 as Central Region
Hero for risking his life to divert a truck from people
attending a festival in Trenton, MI, and Victor Soto of
Las Vegas, Nevada Br. 2502 as Western Region Hero for saving
a boy from a raging pit bull dog.
Nevin Markel of Colorado Springs,
Colorado Br. 204 was presented with the Special Carrier
Alert Rescue Award for heeding a call for help by Spanish-speaking
patrons and helping to deliver a baby, and Warwick, Rhode
Island Br. 3166 was honored with the NALC Branch Service
Award for a quarter century of support to blood drives and
the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry.
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2005
NALC Health Plan
Maintains High Benefits
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Open
Season' November 8 -December 13 |
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Despite soaring medical costs, active and
retired letter carriers can be proud that their union's
health plan the NALC Health Benefit Plan will
retain all of the same high level of benefits for enrollees
in 2005, while continuing to offer rates competitive with
others in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program
(FEHB).
NALC Plan rates for 2005, announced September 13 by the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) includes modest increases
in employee contributions similar to those being experienced
throughout the FEHB system.
OPM said FEHB enrollees in 2005 plans who have self-only
coverage will pay an average $4.32 more biweekly, while
those with family coverage will pay on average $9.99 more
biweekly. NALC's plan cost for active postal employees will
increase $4.89 biweekly for self-only and $9.90 biweekly
for family coverage.
NALC President William H. Young and Director of Health
Benefits Thomas H. Young said letter carriers and their
families should examine very closely the benefits that the
NALC Health Benefit Plan provides, along with the rates,
and then compare them with other plans during Open Season.
"We know NALC will hold its own in any comparison,"
they said.
Administered and operated by the union, the NALC Health
Benefit Plan provides active letter carriers, annuitants,
and other postal employees with top quality benefits that
include medical services provided by physicians, inpatient
and outpatient hospital services, emergency treatment, mental
health and substance abuse treatment, and NALC's prescription
drug program.
Employee contribution rates effective in January 2005
for active letter carriers and annuitants in the NALC Health
Benefit Plan are:
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Self-Only |
Self
& Family |
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Active Carriers (biweekly)
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$
34.65 |
$
52.65 |
| Annuitants (monthly)
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$ 126.34
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$230.75 |
NALC members not currently enrolled
in the NALC Health Benefit Plan will have an opportunity
to join the Plan during Open Season which will run from
November 8 through December 13.
This is a summary of some of the features
of the NALC Health Benefit Plan. Detailed information on
the 2005 NALC Health Benefit Plan can be found in the official
brochure. Before making a final decision, please read the
Plan's officially approved Brochure (RI71-009). All benefits
are subject to the definitions, limitations, and exclusions
set forth in the official brochure.
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Fifth
COLA Accumulation at $26
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The projected accumulation for the fifth
of eight regular cost-of-living adjustments under the 2001-2006
National Agreement stood at $26 following release September
16 of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for August.
The fifth COLA will be based on inflation
between July and January 2005 and will be payable in the
second full pay period following release of the January,
2005 index.
The $26 annual accumulation equals 1 1/4
cents per hour or $1 per pay period.
The fourth COLA of $624 annually was
announced last month and took effect on September 4. It
will be reflected in carriers' September 24 paychecks.
The projected accumulation toward the
2005 retiree COLA remained at 2.6 percent following release
of the August CPI-W. The 2005 retiree COLA will be based
on the increase in the CPI-W between the third quarter of
2003 and the third quarter of 2004.
The 2005 COLA for Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA)
participants remained at 2.8 percent based on the latest
figures. The 2005 FECA COLA is based on the increase in
the CPI-W between December 2003 and December 2004.
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© 2001-2005 National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO |
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