A Note from the Branch President

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
At the next regular meeting, National Business Agent Bill Lucini will be on hand to install all newly elected branch officers and shop stewards. After the brief installation ceremony, Bill will be available to answer any questions you might have. Hopefully by the January meeting the national parties will have concluded meetings on the TE's and will have issued their Q and A's papers. Management at the District level has maintained that the use of TE's is at management's sole discretion. We have a different opinion and hopefully Bill will be able to answer our questions.
As many of you know this will be my last term as President of our Branch. I will use the next two years to insure a smooth transition of leaders within the branch. With people like Gary DiGiacomo as VP and all of our other hard working Officers this shouldn't be a problem.
-Steve Lipski

Next Meeting – January 16

The next regular monthly meeting of the Branch will be held on Wednesday, January 16, 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 – January 9

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, January 9, 7:30 and 8 p.m. respectively.

Attendance Prize Now At $25

Anthony Montanero, a member of the Branch out of the Sewell office, was in attendance at the regular monthly meeting of the Branch on Wednesday, December 19, and was the recipient of the $75 attendance prize. The prize now stands at $25 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

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays, but as we all know it is back to business as usual in the Postal Service, especially in our District. It looks as though this year our district is looking to consolidate as many routes as possible in offices with auxiliary routes and routes whose DOIS numbers look like they can add more time to them. If you haven't been approached yet about "taking a deal" to avoid a full-blown route inspection, you will!
I am warning all of you who think taking a deal is in your best interest. There may be a small number of offices who can make this work without going through a route inspection, but those offices are few and far between.
The problem you will be facing is management inputting new numbers into DOIS. If your office hasn't had an inspection in years you definitely have flawed base data already incorporated into this program. If you just add more numbers into an already screwed up system you are asking for a larger disaster down the road.
I can speak from experience that the data you get from a route inspection is invaluable, especially since DOIS is the lifeline that drives the numbers for your office. The one thing we accomplished from our route inspection was updated base data, which really fixed a lot of the bad data we had prior to the route inspection. This is not to say our office is running smoothly. What I am saying is we now have a better read on the numbers since we have fresh base data.
I believe the offices that are being targeted are in the same situation we were in. Prior to our inspection DOIS showed we could lose 3 full-time routes. They came in and took out 1 route, which really isn't gone if you look at the total hours our office is using. That is another story for another day!
You can rest assured that management will come in and tell you that if you don't take their deal you will lose more than what they are offering. I say to them, PROVE IT!
I know a lot of carriers don't want to go through a count, but if your office hasn't had one in 10 years, you really need to get updated base data, and the only way to get it done properly is to have a 6 day count.
Just remember, you are doing a lot of things each day that are not accounted for in your prior base data. You can be getting screwed out of time and wouldn't know it because you have no idea what is part of your route base data.
If anything, make management work to add to your route; don't just take it without a fight. Remember we will train you so you are prepared to handle the inspection.
-Gary DiGiacomo

2008 Branch Budget Approved

The Branch 2008 Budget was unanimously approved by those in attendance and eligible to vote at the regular monthly meeting of the Branch held on December 19. The budget estimates the receipt and expenditures of the Branch at $290,698.60 for 2008.

Installation Of Branch Officers & Shop Stewards

The installation of Branch Officers and Shop Stewards for the term 2008 through 2009 will be held at the regular monthly meeting of the Branch on Wednesday, January 16. Our National Business Agent, Bill Lucini, will be on hand to install the newly elected officers and Shop Stewards of the Branch, including those Shop Stewards who have been appointed by the Branch President subsequent to a write-in vote by the membership at offices where no one was nominated via the regular nominating process.

Branch Property

Any and all Branch Officers and or Shop Stewards who are in possession of any property purchased by the branch must report what they are in possession of to Financial Secretary Paul Poniatowski. Inventory of these items are to be reported to the Branch Financial Secretary and kept on Record. Branch property could be any of the following but not limited to. Filing cabinets, fax machines, computers, printers etc. If anyone has questions or you are unsure of what is reportable please contact Branch Financial Secretary Paul Poniatowski at Paul@nalcbranch908.com.

Retiree Direct Dues Payments

For those retirees that pay their dues directly to the Branch, the dues for 2008 are now due. Retirement dues remain at $12 per year. Please make checks payable to NALC Branch 908, and send them to PO Box 45, Pennsville, NJ 08070. Thank You!

Branch Election Results

Assistant Recording Secretary
Rob Foltz 98
Ed Friel 236*

Trustee Chairman
Bill Gore 84
Jim Comuso 244*

Shop Steward - Magnolia
Lou Evans 4*
Al Disipio 1

(*) denotes elected

Write-in Candidates For Shop Steward
Appointment of written in candidate is subject to the acceptance of the nominee and subsequent appointment by the Branch President.

 Gibbstown
Paul Sheets 3*
Pat Gallagher 1
   

Pennsville
Clinton Proffitt
   

Swedesboro
Nadine Casella

Voorhees
Mike Porter
Shop Steward Vacancies
Clayton Lawnside
Salem Williamstown
Woodstown

Convention Delegates

Steve Rutkowski 255* Paul Poniatowski 241*
Bill Gore 198* Tom Barnett 257*
Gary DiGiacomo 287* Jim Livingston 207*
Rob Foltz 208* Ed Friel 263*
Tom Walsh 195* Vince Iannuzzi 101
Steve Lipski 299* Mary Hackett 148*
Chris Litle 134 Fred Simpkins 197*
April Litty 126** George Greenwood 150*
Norm Task 206* Donna Villec 264*
Tom Robinson 146 Jim Comuso 257*
Bill Dougherty 168* Bud Dermond 100
Jim Boyle 145 Jim Serock 149**
Fred Mendel 235* Val Apartin 86
Shawn McBride 107** Frank Potts 143
Dave Singleton 173* Joe Walder 241*
Norm Spence 274*

* Compensated Delegate

** Not Eligible For Compensation

Branch Election Committee

This is to publicly express our sincere thanks and appreciation to the following members of the Branch Election Committee who did an outstanding job of prepping for, mailing and tabulating the Branch 2008-09 election ballots:
Mike Boston – chairman
Steve Elias
Joe Foreman
Mike Powell
Bob Behm

Dates To Remember

Branch 38 Rap Session – Jan 6 – 8 (Caesar’s, Atlantic City)
Region 12 Rap Session - Feb 24 – 26 (Trump Plaza, AC)
NJ State Congressional Breakfast - Mar 4 – 6 (Wash., DC)
NJ State Rap Session - May 4 – 6 (Tropicana, Atlantic City)

Thanks Branch 908

Thank you so much for your donation in Pat’s memory. – The family of William “Pat” Suters
Gratefully acknowledging and thanking you for your kind expression of sympathy. – Jack Gomen and family
Thank you so much for your generous gift towards Dana’s education. We really appreciate your thoughtfulness. – Ann and Dana Myers

Children's Christmas Party A Huge Success

The Branch held it's annual children's Christmas party on Sunday, Dec. 16th and once again, it was a huge success. The party was well attended and all the children received American-made presents and a photo with Santa. A big thank you goes out to Trustee Donna Villec for organizing the event and Branch Officers Norm Spence, Tom Barnett, Paul Poniatowski, Joe Walder, as well as Janet Lipski, Trudy Spence, Clinnie Barnett, Peggie Poniatowski, Jeannie Mendel, Bill and Marie Revak for all the hard work they did to make the day special for the children and grand children of our members.

Wishing You A Happy, Healthy And Prosperous New Year

Shop Steward Of The Year

This year the Branch is initiating a Shop Steward of the Year Award, to be awarded at the annual Branch retirees banquet. There is a nomination form available online at nalcbranch908.com/sofyear.pdf. For those of you without computer access, you can pick up nomination forms at the Branch meetings or simply write on a piece of paper the following information: Name of Steward being nominated, Office, Person making nomination (must be from Steward’s office), and a brief statement as to why you feel this person should be the Branch 908 Steward of the year for 2008, including accomplishments, knowledge of the contract, ability to deal with co-workers and management, communication skills, and dedication to the NALC. In other words, what makes this person special?
All submissions must be received by March 15, 2008.
The winner will be selected by the awards committee and kept confidential until the presentation at the banquet.
Mail completed submissions to:
Branch 908 Steward Of The Year
PO Box 45
Pennsville, NJ 08070

2008 – 2009 Branch Officers

President Steve Lipski 
Vice President Gary DiGiacomo
Rec. Secretary Norm Spence
Treasurer Tom Barnett
Fin. Secretary Paul Poniatowski
Asst. Rec. Sec. Ed Friel
Chrmn. Trustees Jim Comuso
Trustee Mike DiGiacomo
Trustee Steve Rutkowski
Trustee Fred Simpkins
Trustee Donna Villec
HB Officer Fred Mendel
Sgt. At Arms Jim Livingston
Housing Chrmn. Joe Walder 
COLCPE Chrmn. Norm Task
Webmasters Note: Officer's phone numbers are listed in the newsletter, but Branch policy is not to have them in the online version. They can be found in the member's only section.