Postal consolidation studied

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2..._s1.2217977_loc.txt

http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/

Bill could delay postal consolidation

Posted by Ron Fonger | The Flint Journal January 04, 2008 22:00PM

FLINT -- The plan to move at least 70 postal jobs from Flint to Pontiac has been knocked off track by a federal funding bill that could block the move for a year or more.

"We really have got them stopped in their tracks right now," said U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint. "Delay is on our side."

The U.S. Postal Service proposal would shift 70 to 100 jobs and some mail processing operations from here to a new facility in Pontiac, but a congressional appropriations bill passed in late December now requires fresh reviews -- by the General Accountability Office and a congressional committee -- of studies that led to the plan.

Kildee said the consolidation proposal was based on faulty information and false projected cost savings.

"We're trying to do everything we can to keep the service and the jobs," Kildee said. "I think they made a mistake (by building a new facility in Pontiac), and now they've got to fill the building."

Postal workers have been fighting the consolidation, picketing and rallying at a public meeting late last year in an effort to block or slow down the proposal. All the while, the USPS contended it could save nearly $1.5 million annually by making the change.

Postal Service spokeswoman Shannon LaBruyere said officials are reviewing the new requirements in the appropriations bill before commenting on it or how it will affect the consolidation proposal.

The plan is still considered to be "under review" internally, LaBruyere said.

"I can honestly tell you its (status) is an unknown at this point," she said Friday.

Debbie Lutz, president of the Flint Area Local of the American Postal Workers Union, said she hopes further congressional and GAO review will expose the problems in the consolidation.

"They are going to find out the numbers are not correct," Lutz said. "They can't save anything by consolidating."

39 USC 404 - Sec. 404. Specific powers
39 USC - US Code - Title 39: Postal Service (January 2003)

http://vlex.com/source/1038


US Code - Title 39: Postal Service - January 20, 2006

39 USC 404 - Sec. 404. Specific powers ... (b)(1) The Postal Service, prior to making a determination under subsection (a)(3) of this section as to the necessity for the closing or consolidation of any post office, shall provide adequate ...

http://vlex.com/vid/19236237?ix_resultado=...o%5D=all&sort=score





US Code - Title 39: Postal Service - January 20, 2006

39 USC 2803 - Sec. 2803. Performance plans ... activities, except that any aggregation or consolidation may not omit or minimize the significance of any ...


http://vlex.com/vid/19236003?ix_resultado=...o%5D=all&sort=score

http://www.huntcal.com/cgi/eventview.cgi/t...t&id=229570346&bg=w

Informational Picket - Return of Union President Clint Burelson and Return of Mail Operations in Olympia
 
Date: Monday, January 12, 2009
Time: 11AM - 1PM PST WHAT: Informational Picket

WHEN: Monday, January 12 from 11-1:00

WHERE: Olympia Downtown Post Office
WHY: Our Union President, Clint Burelson, was fired. We want to bring him back to work and resume mail operations in Olympia.

The community is invited to join us in our efforts.


FOR MORE INFO: Contact Louie Mackey at louiemackey@comcast.net

READ ON-- The Postal Service recently fired Local Union President Clint Burelson for his union activities and major role as a whistleblower in exposing the fact that mail consolidations would reduce service and not save money. The Postal Service’s plans for over 150 consolidations all across the country have been stopped once communities learned the truth about mail consolidation. Clint is a strong advocate for workers in the Post Office and Management is firing Clint for performing his duties as a union representative. Despite many grievance settlements signed by the Postal Service in which they agreed to cease and desist in discriminating against Clint for his union activities, management continues to discriminate against Clint. The Postal Service needs to stop the discrimination and bring Clint back to work. The Postal Service recently admitted in a required review of the consolidation that they have lost $1.5 million dollars in 6 months as a result of the transfer of outgoing mail operations from Olympia to Tacoma. The Postal Service had previously claimed that the transfer of the mail to Tacoma would save the Postal Service $1.2 million. The Postal Service therefore made at least a $2.7 million mistake in judgment. After the last picket held by the union, a Postal Service spokesperson told the media covering the picket that the Post Office saved money by the consolidation. However, despite information requests from the union, the Post Office has not provided any documentation in support of their spokesperson’s claims of savings. As it stands, the official documentation provided by the Post Office shows the consolidation to be a financial mistake. The Post Office has said that they would bring the mail back to Olympia if the move were not cost effective. The reduction in mail service, the loss of the Olympia postmark, and the financial costs of processing local mail in Tacoma is clear evidence that it is now time to bring the mail back to Olympia.

http://gkcmal.blog.com/

Bombshell

We met today with members from the district and western area concerning the centralization of KCKS with the KCMO P&DC. Up until today we were under the impression that all of the clerks in the KS facility would be coming to our plant. That was to be a total of 140 clerks. Today we learned that the clerks coming to KCMO will be 39. 101 clerks will be excessed to other areas, possibly up to a 750 mile radius.

The package presented to us is as follows: Management is creating 71 new jobs. 53 of those jobs will be absorbed by our unassigned regulars which will leave 18 jobs available. 21 new clerk jobs will be created for the incoming FSS machines. 18 plus 21 equals 39, the remaining positions. Thus 39 clerks from KS.
As I always state, this information is subject to change.

I feel for our fellow brothers and sisters. Management gave no hint that this was a possibility. We were all blindsided.

The struggle continues...

President, GKCMAL #67
APWU, AFL-CIO
3824 E 16th
Kansas City, MO 64127

Currently I have the largest route in the office but there is a route that is in danger of falling below 39 hours. My PM told me today that if that route falls below 39.42 hours that he would make my route smaller by giving a piece to the smaller route. How is that fair??? Is this true? I thought that they were going to be consolidating routes not redistibuting them? Has anyone else heard this?

anyone know what happens to a limite duty -on the job injuried clerk who is first to be excesed? Not in a bid job but have a modified position. I am bottom regular and wonder what hapens. are they putting us on OWCP roles or exces us to other make up work?

The cleveland p&dc is cutting 6 junior cleks in every pay location in the plant. They are forcing them into other positions, this leaves clerks running dbcs machines with only one person running entire machine and dispatching the mail. Sounds like a safety hazard. Our limited duty clerks are getting let go in March. I used to have a better attitude about postal service but i feel as though the post office will fall to the side of the road.

I have to be honest i think i will just have enjoy my front row seat to watching PO make so many cuts that it cut its own throat and be right for the picking by the private sector

Dear Onlineemail,

Your sections for excessing are determined by your Local Contract. If you have no reassingnment section in your Local, you follow the National Contract. In any event, excessing out of you installation is strictly by juniority as per Article 12 ( see excessing out of an installation). The devil is in the details it seems. Management had labelled clerks "rehab" or "modified" without proper paperwork. Their form 50's may not accurately reflect their true position in the postal service.
Here's the thing. The junior clerk is excessed, their job becomes available, you are offered that job. If you cannot do that job you are then released back to Workers' Comp.. Then, the real pain begins.........

The USPS is doing the Enron: a dance with moves designed to drive the company into the ground so deeply that Govt bailout is the only (masked) solution. The 'dance' continues to leave trails of destruction that only the Elite can survive. The USPS is asking for another bailout. The corporate idea is to Piedly Pipe the companies into the gutters and we the employees will eventually become the waste.

I FEEL THIS TAKING UNASSIGN CLERKS FROM THERE JOBS ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE DOING LEAD CLOSEOUT POSITION IS NOT RIGHT. I HAVE BEEN UNASSIGN FOR 4 AND A HALF YEARS NOW IN THE BRONX POST OFFICE. I WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO FILL IN THE LEAD CLERK POSITION FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS. I PRACTICALLY DID EVERYTHING AT MY POST OFFICE. NOW I AM BEING FORCES TO GO TO GPO AND WORK THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT WITH NO SAY OR NOT EVEN AND RECOGNITION FOR THE WORK I HAVE DONE AT MY CURRENT STATION. CAN ANYTHING BE DONE ABOUT THIS?

127 - Don't break you arm patting youself on the back.

Just face the real facts. You took a bite out of management apple then "You were used and now you are abused by postal management."

Sorry but that's rule number one of postal management, the more you do for them, the more they will abuse you in the end.

Why else do you think us old timers let everyone else take the slots you did. Past History of postal management taught us this us this "use and abuse policy" many years ago.

Now you can teach the next generation what happend to you, and they will in turn ignore you, just as you ignored advise from old timers.

 The KCKS plant just consolidated with our KCMO P&DC and it's just about finalized. OT out the ying-yang. 12 hours for MH and penalty for the clerks.... We still haven't gotten all the KCKS employees at our facility but will in the next few weeks. I'm sure management is hoping that the extra influx of workers will stifle the OT completely, but now the mail volume has almost doubled and management is scrambling big time. Our plant is under a re-org right now and a lot of mangers from the KCKS plant and other facilities are coming on the scene here. We were appointed a new Acting Plant Manager from Minneapolis, MN who will be starting soon. It's just like sitting on the side-lines with pop-corn in hand waiting to see what happens next....

nkc; Only getting about 40 clerks out of 140 who lost jobs due to consolidation. Think that will make a difference in OT? Who is new plant mgr? Martinez gone already?