Branch 908 February 2007 Newsletter

A Note from the Branch President

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
President Lipski didn't have time to write an article for this month's newsletter due to pressing matters in the Branch. He attended the National Rap Session in Los Angeles and the details he has to inform the membership would not be properly conveyed through this article, so he urges all members to try to attend the next Branch meeting on February 21, where he will discuss everything in detail.

Next Meeting - February 21

The next regular monthly meeting of the Branch will be held on Wednesday, February 21, 8 p.m., at the American Legion Hall, 502 Colonial Ave., North Woodbury. The regular monthly meetings of the Branch are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 8 p.m., except during the months of July and August.

Branch Officer & Shop Stewards Meetings Wednesday - February 14

The Branch Board of Officers and Executive Board meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. The Board of Officers at 7:30 p.m., and the Executive Board at 8 p.m. The next meeting of the Board of Officers and Executive Board will be on Wednesday, February 14, 7:30 and 8 p.m. respectively.

Attendance Prize Now At $50

Had he been in attendance at the regular monthly meeting of the Branch on Wednesday, January 17, Robert Auger, a carrier out of the Wenonah office, would have been the recipient of the $25 attendance prize. The prize now increases to $50 and will increase $25 per meeting, up to a maximum of $250, until a member in attendance has their name drawn.

From The VP's Case

It amazes me how each month this districts "brain trust" finds yet another way to inspire me to write an article for our newsletter. With their obsessive ness on capturing A.M. office time they are talking about resurrecting the 20-year-old failed program of "model city."
For those of you who were not around 20 years ago, which is when this program was introduced as the next best way to get the mail delivered early, let me give you a quick overview of this system.
The object of this program is for the carriers to come in and case just 1st and 2nd class mail and pull down and leave for the street. When you return in the P.M. you then case all your bulk business mail and whatever else is there that needs to be cased. The theory being you will have little to do when you report for work the next day.
Where this program failed miserably was the productivity factor in the P.M. Let's be real about afternoon casing standards. When you have just spent 7 hours or more on the street lugging 5 and 6 bundles in all kinds of weather do they really think a carrier will have anything left in the tank to really feel like putting up mail?
I guess all those "crunchers" whose toughest part of the day is figuring out where they are going to lunch, can't relate to people who actually do physical work!
Once again it comes down to the lack of respect the carriers get! I wish these people would wake up and smell the coffee! There is nothing left in this rock to squeeze out, so let it go, would you!
Hopefully this was just a thought because as of now I am not aware of any offices who have actually implemented this program, but that doesn't mean they won't!
So be aware if the "boys" come calling with this type of idea to try out.
Gary DiGiacomo, Vice President

NALC's Historic Contract Agreement Proposal

"The proposal delivers an all-regular workforce with weekends off as well as a significant reduction in the level of forced overtime. For the Postal Service, the proposal offers savings in the billions from reduced overtime and benefit costs in the future. However, it was offered only on the condition that the USPS give us new protections against contracting out and that it share its financial savings in the form of higher general wage increases." - President Young.
Critical to any agreement would be a ban on USPS contracting out city delivery territory, the one issue that Young said prevented the parties from reaching agreement on a new contract. Here are the key elements of NALC's bargaining proposal for a new National Agreement that would revolutionize city delivery work in the Postal Service:

A prohibition against contracting out any work within territory now served by city delivery letter carriers, including in-fill development and natural additions to existing routes.
Five-year contract, with annual wage increases and continued twice-a-year cost of living adjustments.
A dramatic change in the health benefits whereby the Postal Service would pay 85 percent of premiums in the NALC Plan, and 72 percent in other Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plans. This proposal would result in substantial savings to the Postal Service. Unlike the health benefit concessions recently accepted by the three other postal unions, NALC's proposal calls for letter carriers to receive a share of these savings in the form of additional general wage increases. In addition, the incentive to join the NALC Plan will allow the plan to be tailored to the needs of letter carriers and to promote better health.

A major restructuring of the city carrier workforce: All letter carriers would become full-time regulars with Monday-Friday schedules by the end of the contract. Grade 2 carriers would be retained with revamped duties. All casuals and transitional employees would be eliminated. A Saturday-only workforce of NALC-represented bargaining unit carriers would be created. NALC and the Postal Service would jointly approach OPM and, if necessary, Congress to secure regulatory or legislative changes to ensure that retired letter carriers may be employed on Saturdays with no diminutions of their annuities. New hires would be Step A and retirees Step 0. Retirees would have preference for positions. Saturday new hires would have priority for vacancies in Monday-Friday workforce. USPS would request from OPM authority to offer an early out. A task force would be created to implement the workforce reorganization plan. Finally, the substantial savings to the Postal Service resulting from this restructuring will be shared with all letter carriers in the form of general wage increases.
If There is No Agreement
What happens if the Postal Service hierarchy turns its back on letter carriers and tosses away this golden opportunity to streamline its workforce for the future?
President Young explained that under the recently enacted postal reform legislation, the next step is a continuation of negotiations under the supervision of a mediator to be appointed by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. If that process does not result in an agreement, the final step is a referral of the impasse to an interest arbitration panel, which will be authorized to hear the parties' evidence and argument and issue a final and binding settlement.
In the meantime, pending future developments, President Young commended all NALC members for their patience and perseverance. He also urged members to continue to support existing cooperative programs such as Customer Connect and route evaluation and health and safety initiatives.

2007 Branch Budget Approved

The membership present and voting at the January 17 regular monthly meeting of the Branch unanimously approved the proposed Branch budget for 2007, which estimates receipts and expenditures of $282,782.80.

Our Newest Gold Card Members

At the regular monthly meeting of the Branch on January 17, Richard Beers and Bill Revak, retired members out of the Woodbury office were awarded their Gold Cards. The NALC national Constitution provides that upon completion of 50 years membership in the NALC a member shall be given a Life Membership card of gold which shall entitle them to all of the privileges of membership in the NALC without the payment of dues, per capita tax, or special assessments from the date of issue. Congratulations to Richard and Bill!

Branch 908 Gold Card Members

Richard Beers	Pasquale Cavallaro
John Dondero	Douglas Elmore
Howard Foxwell	Rodman Geisler
Milt Grundlock	Marion Howell
Cecil Laverne	Jack Lex
Frank Potts	Bill Revak
Cliff Rhone	Sam Rosenberg
Frank Smith	Les Styron
Norm Task

Any Branch member who believes he or she is eligible for a Life Membership Gold Card should contact Membership Chairman Paul Poniatowski at Paul@nalcbranch908.com.

Thanks Branch 908

Dear Fellow Union Members,
Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers and the support you have given me at the difficult time. Sincerely,
Edward Schopf
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I wish to thank you all for your contribution to The American Lung Association after the death of my mother. My co-workers have shown tremendous support during this difficult time and your donation on my mother's behalf is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Steve Murphy
Thank You…
The American Lung Association expresses its appreciation for your gift in memory of Emma Murphy.

ATTENTION: Wal-Mart Shoppers

In a society of rising costs, little or no raises, decreasing Medical packages with rising premiums I'm sure we all look for ways to cut corners or save a buck, as we should! However, Corporate Big-Wigs at Wal-Mart know this all to well and entice all walks of life to shop at their stores for this reason and also exploit the vulnerability of hard working blue collar people! Not Sam Walton's plan (the founder of Wal-Mart)! What we all need to realize is that Wal-Mart Employees need their jobs, and we all want them to keep them, but in the same breath WAL-MART needs to respect, appreciate and reward their employees, and for the Wal-Mart Big Shots to realize this, WE as UNION members who have UNION Rights and UNION Salaries need to, and SHOULD help our fellow working class members achieve the respect, dignity and benefits that they so rightly deserve and work for! Now they want these people to sit by the phone and wait to be called into work! How demoralizing! Just think of what we have today and how far we came as letter carriers! Letter Carriers before us fought for what we have! Let us lead by example and let us never forget that Wal-Mart is a multi-billion dollar company, and they need to share the wealth with the people that make them as such! We have lost enough jobs and companies in this country; let us not have history repeat itself. We need to help grow our economy, so our people have decent jobs with decent salaries, and decent benefits, so that they can spend their hard earned money in Employee APPRECIATIVE Retail Stores! Help by just logging on to www.wakeupwalmart.com.
-Financial Secretary Paul Poniatowski

Branch 908 COLCPE All Stars

Listed below are the Branch members who have donated to COLCPE in the last year. These members deserve to be recognized for the contributions they have made which in part helped to win control of Congress and pass Postal Reform.

Ted Allen	Richard Bacon	Tom Barnett
Robert Behm	Tom Cary	Jim Comuso
Don Connelly	John Czop	Gary DiGiacomo
Joe Foreman	Erin Gattone	George Greenwood
Dave Jacobson	Al Jengehino	Dale Lebold
Steve Lipski	Mike McKiernan	Paul Poniatowski
Frank Potts	Steve Rutkowski	Ed Schopf
Jim Serock	Fred Simpkins	Norm Spence
Gary Stevens	Norm Task	Paul Veiock
Lee Wolbert	Jim Barlow	Bud Dermond
Rob Foltz	Bill Gore	Mary Hackett
Harry Harrison	Bill Ireland	Jim Livingston
Fred Mendel	Donna Villec	Tom Walsh

These 39 Branch members represent less than 5.4% of our Branch membership. Imagine what could be done if we all did our part and contributed. If your name is not listed above….why not? Sign up for automatic payroll deduction for a couple of dollars a pay, you will never miss it.

Branch Retirees & Awards Breakfast Buffet - Sunday, April 22

The Branch Annual Retirees and Awards Breakfast Buffet will be held on Sunday, April 22rd, commencing at 11 a.m., at the Best Western West Deptford Inn, 101 Grove Road, Thorofare, just off of exit 20 of I-295. Anyone wishing to nominate a member for a Branch award please contact the Recording Secretary, Norm Spence ASAP. The following members of the Branch who have retired since our last Breakfast will be honored and presented with tokens of appreciation. If you have retired since the last Breakfast or you will retire before April 22 and your name is not on this list, contact the Branch Recording Secretary, Norm Spence at webmaster@nalcbranch908.com:

G. Haliburton (West Berlin)	W. A. LeConey (Glendora)
R. M. Hurst (Paulsboro)	H. A. Bowen (Pennsville)

Those being honored, their spouses and current Branch retirees will not be charged for their attendance. All other Branch members, family, friends and acquaintances may attend at a cost of $10 pp, $5 for children under the age of 10. For reservations, complete the following and submit it with payment for those attending at cost. No other notices will be sent. Honorees, retirees, members and others planning to attend must complete and submit the following reservation form by April 10, 2007:

Name:____________________________
Please Print
Check one: Honoree ( ) Branch Retiree ( ) others ( )
Attending with honoree free of charge: spouse ( ) other ( )
Number attending with you at cost: Adults_____ Children_____
Total attendees including yourself:________
Amount of remittance enclosed: Adults ______Children______

Send to PO Box 45, Pennsville, 08070 by April 10