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CONTRACT CAMPAIGN
KICKS INTO ACTION |
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February 17, 2015 |
February 18, 2015 |
February 19, 2015 |
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Tele-Town Hall
Meeting |
Union Pride Day |
"I'm Sticking With
The Union" |
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Join
in a Town Hall
teleconference with APWU
President Mark Dimondstein.
Town Hall meetings will be held at
various times during the
day. |
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register:
Here |
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Send a "selfie" wearing your APWU gear,
showing your union pride |
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email your pictures to:
nccc@apwu.org |
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Show
your support by wearing this
sticker on the opening day
of negotiations!
Tell everyone we're fighting
for a decent Contract and
Better Postal Services for
all!
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Tammy Flanagan
is the Senior
Benefits
Director for the
National
Institute of
Transition
Planning, Inc.
which conducts
Federal
Retirement
Planning
Workshops and
Seminars. She
has spent 25
years helping
Federal
employees take
charge of their
retirement by
understanding
their benefits
and planning for
the future.
Since January
2006 she has
been writing a
weekly column
for
www.govexec.com
on the many
topics related
to planning for
retirement. Here
are links to the
latest column
and archived
columns.
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The APWU reached
a $56 million
settlement with the USPS
on Dec. 5 to
resolve a long-standing dispute
over postmasters and supervisors
in small offices performing
bargaining unit work. The
agreement includes provisions
that are intended to prevent
future violations of the limits
on the number of hours
managerial personnel may spend
performing craft duties.
Most notably, it
includes a mechanism for
reporting and monitoring the
amount of hours involved. The
agreement also makes it easier
to enforce the contract. Clerks
no longer have to fear reprisals
for filing a grievance, as the
contract can now be enforced
without a union officer having
to set foot in an office.
Recording Postmaster Hours All
hours that postmasters and
supervisors in affected offices
spend working alone will be
considered time they spent
staffing the window. When they
work on the window in
conjunction with a clerk, they
will be charged for all time
spent, from the moment...more
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The USPS is
reporting that files containing
employee information have been
compromised. The information at
risk includes "names, dates of
birth, social security numbers,
addresses, dates of employment,
and emergency contact
information for all active
employees". The USPS is also
investigating the possible
breach of records involving
injury claim data.
Employees will receive
one year of free credit
monitoring services. Each
employee should receive a letter
explaining the problem and what
actions should be taken.
If you do not receive this
letter by Nov. 20th you should
contact the Human Resources
Shared Services Center (HRSSC)
at 1-877-477-3273, and choose
option 5 (option 1 for
TDD/TTY). For more information
check out the links below.
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Some PSEs are having
difficulty signing up for
health benefits. When
they log on to PostalEASE
the system tells them they
are not eligible for
benefits and will not
process their enrollment
sleections. PSEs who
are facing this difficulty
should complete the
necessary health benefits
enrollment forms and mail,
of fax, them to Shared
Services for processing.
PSEs should complete the
following forms:
You
MUST
include your Employee ID
number on every page
USPS-24 PostalEASE
FEHB Worksheeet
(pg 3-5) If selecting
self-only write "N/A" on pg
4 in the dependants box
PS Form 8202
- Pre-Tax or After-Tax
Premium Selection
PS Form 8141
- Suffient Earnings
Requirement Statement
Send
completed forms, via
Certified Mail (with
return receipt) to:
HRSSC Comp &
Benefits, PO Box 970400,
Greensboro, NC
27497-0400
It is
recommended that you follow
up with a phone call to
verify that your
FEHB
selections have been
received and processed.
Do not wait until the last
days of Open Season to
submit these forms. If
problems are discovered
after Open Season closes it
is very difficult to get
them corrected. So,
please, make sure you submit
your selections promptly!
For
more FEHB information, read
the
2015 FEHB Guide for
Benefits
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Fed Emp
Health Benefits |
11/10/14 @ 01:00 |
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12/09/14 @18:00 |
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Fed Vision &
Dental Plans |
11/10/14 @ 01:00 |
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12/09/14 @18:00 |
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Flexible
Spending Account |
11/10/14 |
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12/08/14 |
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Annual Leave
Exchange |
11/15/14
@ 01:01 |
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12/16/14
@ 00:59 |
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TSP Catch-Up |
Deposits made before
15:00 on 12/10/14
will be counted
towards 2014 |
Health Benefit, TSP,
FSA, and A/L
Exchange elections
are made via
PostalEASE.
For FED VIP plan
information is on
opm.gov
and enrollment is
via
Benefeds.com |
aaa
The 2014 Leave Year ends on
January 09, 2015.
Employees are reminded that
any Annual Leave balance in
excess of 440 hours will be
forfeited if not used on or
before January 09, 2015
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OIG ASKS
"SHOULD THE USPS
CONTINUE ITS
CONSOLIDATION
PLAN?"
The Office of
Inspector
General is
conducting a
poll to
determine
whether it
should advocate
for or against
conitnue plant
closures and
consolidations.
It is seeking
input from the
public to guide
its decision
making.
LET YOUR VOICE
BE HEARD!
Vote "NO" on
plant
consolidations!
aaa
The poll is at
the bottom of
the article.
Tell you
friends, family
and neighbors to
vote also.
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USPS RESUMES
PLANT CLOSURES AND
CONSOLIDATIONS
The
Postal Service has announced
that it will resume
consolidation and closure of
mail processing plants in
2015. In early 2014,
the USPS had announced it
was halting all scheduled
sonsolidations and closures.
However, with this weeks
annoucement, the USPS is
resuming implementation of
their Network
Rationalization plan.
PMG Donhaoe
suggests that decreaing 1st class
volumes and "excess capacity"
are behind the need to reduce the number
of processing plants. "We find
ourselves with excess capacity in the
network and few alternatives to reduce
costs, "Donahoe said, adding that,
"Our operating costs are continuing
to increase, and our debt and other
liabilities threaten our financial
viability."
Pennsylvania
would be impacted as the Network
Rationalization plan calls for the
closing of the Erie, Lancaster and
Scranton Plants with the mail being sent
to Pittsburgh/Rochester, Harrisburg and
Lehigh Valley P&DC respectively.
This could result in the return of
Article 12 withholding as the change see
clerks, maintenance and MVS employees
being excessed. Click
HERE
to see a full list of propsed closures
and consolidations.
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MEMORANDUM: CLARIFICATION ON
PSE SENIORITY
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The APWU and USPS have agreed on a
Memorandum
which clarifies issues with PSE
seniority with regards to
separations and layoffs due to lack
of work
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
President's Conference
Washington, DC
Feb 28 - Mar 03, 2015 |
Contract Action Seminar
Atlantic City, NJ
March 04 - 05, 2015 |
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