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South Jersey Area Local 0526 – APWU

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Category: Local Newsletter

Director of Associate Offices Report: February 2018

(This article was first reported in the February 2018, Local Newsletter)
Written by: Mike Wright, Director of Associate Offices of APWU, SJAL #0526

Before I start, I hope all our members and their families had a great holiday season in 2017. With the way package service has exploded over the last couple years, it’s been very trying on all of us.

Labor Management Meetings
Apparently, my “Dog and Pony Show” reference rattled more than one cage at the district. I stood by my words at the South Jersey Labor Management Meeting (SJ LMM) and if they didn’t know before, they do now, I don’t backpedal on anything I write in these articles. Unfortunately, I was under the assumption that district received our newsletter. When I write these articles, I write them with the intent that management reads them.

On a positive note, since my reference was made, the IMIP (Climate Survey) in Voorhees was finally finished, I sat in on it myself along with Labor. The offices where getting requested information had been an issue, seems to be getting addressed (minus Hammonton, see below). Working with the appropriate POOM for the office seems to light a fire under the rogue managers back side as well. We are still waiting for Labor to assist us with getting the TACS responsibilities to the Lead Clerks. However, the Local has been trying to get TACS duties addressed since the August SJ LMM, maybe if the district reads this article as well, they’ll get on the parties who have been advised, emailed, and spoken to by the current District Manager at the August meeting, to finally get our clerks their work which they were awarded and entitled to.

Also at the SJ LMM, I addressed why when jobs are being reverted and/or abolished left and right, does the District find a need to chastise the Lead Clerks to apologize for Wait in Line Time (WILT) failures. While I agree that it’s a part of Customer Service, if WILT is an issue, let’s staff the windows properly. I brought up Management’s concern of a 20% increase in overtime from Same Period Last Year (SPLY) along with WILT failures, maybe we should create positions rather than revert/abolish jobs, there’s was no clear answer from Management on that, just some dancing around the subject and falling back on the “people need to come to work” crutch.

Getting back to Lead Clerks and TACS, I’ve sat in on Labor Management Meetings in Vineland, Mount Laurel, and Hammonton since my last article. Local Management is on board, at least at the meetings, on getting the Lead Clerks to start having TACS responsibilities. Also, we will be sending out Requests for Information to the Associate Offices soon as well, to make sure it’s being done in every office. This is our work as awarded in 2016 and only possibly 20% of the offices are compliant. If the Lead Clerk is performing TACS, this frees up other work for the PTFs and PSEs to help them get hours in the AOs. If you are a Lead Clerk reading this and have concerns on “when am I going to have time for this?”, that’s managements issue to find time to both properly train and perform work that should have been given to us when awarded.

PMEOD Settlement
On December 8, 2017, Arbitrator Das ruled in our favor that the Postmaster End of Day (PMEOD) button was not consistent with the parties’ agreement in Paragraph 2.A of the December 5, 2014 Global Settlement Remedy Agreement. What that means for us, in the Level 18 Offices, the PMEOD which basically was a pause button to get around the fifteen-hour work restriction, is no longer to be used. When Management performs their fifteen hours weekly in their office and they’re working the window, they must perform a full 4 Step (advance deposit, final remittance, verification, and 1412) Close-out. At the February General Membership meeting, I’ll break this down further with an example.

We have already found one office where not only was the OIC going over their fifteen hours while using the PMEOD button, but with the Arbitrators decision, now three hours over had turned into thirteen plus hours for the week. This is in the grievance procedure as I write this. We will be sending out RFIs to other Level 18 offices to make sure they’re compliant.

Somewhat related, we need to keep an eye on non-window hours which are a little more difficult to track, i.e. dispatch, box section, lobby sweeps, etc. The PMEOD was a big win by our National and management is going to look for their pound of flesh elsewhere. We don’t have many stewards in our Level 18s, so we need to rely on our members to inform the Local if they are suspicious if management is going over their fifteen-hour limitations.

Hammonton
Much like Mount Laurel earlier this year where I made so many visits I was given a code and offered a locker, Hammonton has now become an issue. I briefly touched on this in my last article, but it hasn’t gotten any better.

We’re still, as of December 30, 2017, as I’m writing this, waiting for a Request for Information that was originally submitted back in Late September. Yes, there is an additional non-compliance to go along with this issue. Since the initial request, we’ve been given the wrong report, report with missing employees, report with too many employees (they threw in Postmasters, Supervisors, and carriers). The POOM has stayed on top of the current team, but the comedy of errors locally trying to get these reports for our MDAT keeps happening. Amazingly, one of the requests was filled by District and they made the announcement at the Labor Management meeting that the reports we requested took “two minutes”, so why does the Union have to send multiple requests and continuously have to include district in their emails just to get a response, even if it isn’t the correct one?

Business Agent Frank Bollinger and I were there for a Labor Management Meeting where we walked into a stack of NOVM buckets stacked taller than I am and four feet across which had been piling up for well over a week. We received reports that the current OIC (as of December) allegedly instructed the custodian to “just get rid of this”, rather than have our clerks properly collect and verify this mail. This also is being investigated.

There were reports that management attempted to PDI one employee without notifying the Union and another employee was told that the next time they speak to a Union representative that “It’d better be outside those gates”, both were brought up at the meeting, both were said to have never happened. Maybe if more time were spent on gathering requested information and less time spent on attempting to intimidate and bully employees, Hammonton wouldn’t be the dumpster fire that it’s turned into in recent months which has resulted in numerous successful grievances.

Also on the day we were there, the NALC was also there and informed us that the OIC “tossed aside” a 1767 for the proper treatment of the asbestos floors, hearing this I advised our clerks that if this were the case, to also start filling 1767s. This again is what I meant in trying to get all four Unions to work together and address the “problem” offices.

An update since I started this article, the OIC that was cancelling Labor Management Meetings last minute, not providing information, and responsible for most of the above listed shenanigans had been pulled in early January. The POOM has reached out to us to set up a meeting in which likely will be late January/early February, hopefully the new team will try and work with the APWU rather than against us.

Miscellaneous Issues
We did find another Level 21 APO in our Local who thought they could sneak a PTF into one of their RMPOs, I use the word sneak in confidence because they have already been prone to giving us misinformation (my politically correct work of the day). The issue was grieved, and clerks were paid. Again, Offices Level 21 and above, no PTFs, regardless of what the District “Champions” (the job title given to people who move around PTFs) would like you to believe. We had this issue in other offices in 2016 and 17.

I’ve kept up my Amazon Sunday visits though not as frequently, for the most part it’s been quiet. Our visits are more than just making sure it’s our clerks distributing mail and getting treated with dignity and respect, it’s about making our presence known and getting a pulse on offices without a steward. Even though most of the AO clerks are off on Sundays, the contract and its language doesn’t get a day off.

In Mount Laurel, I’ve submitted another Article 37.3.A.2 (improper reversion/abolishment) grievance for Mount Laurel. This is the third, with two in arbitration, hopefully district will see that between the great number of Article 1.6 and 7 grievances out of this office in 2017 along with the over 20% jump in overtime usage within the district stated by management at the SJ LMM, reposting some of the jobs that just “vanished” off the books over the last couple years would help resolve some of these issues.

As always, make sure we’re on the right function(s) in our AOs and make sure it’s only clerks doing clerk work. I’ll give the most recent function codes again at the February GMM. Finally, it’s easy to say nothing, do the right thing and don’t be intimidated from reporting contract violations, there’s language in place in the ELM section 910 that protects employees from participating in Union activities.

If you’re not on the information line, in which I put out information almost weekly, send me an email mjwrightAPWU@hotmail.com. Go to the meetings, read our contract, visit both the Local (www.southjerseyarealocal0.apps-1and1.com) and the National sites (www.apwu.org), and know your LMOU.  An informed and knowledgeable membership is our best weapon in our constant struggle.

Author webmaster08012Posted on April 22, 2018April 21, 2018Categories Local NewsletterTags AO issuesLeave a comment on Director of Associate Offices Report: February 2018

President’s Report: February 2018

(This article was first reported in the February 2018, Local Newsletter)
Written by: Robert Armentani, President of APWU, SJAL #0526

Let me start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year. As President of the South Jersey Area Local I am looking forward to working with each and every one of you to confront the challenges we will face throughout the year. It is imperative that we all stay informed about the goings on in both our National and Local Union. I know it isn’t always easy to make time to attend a General Membership Meeting but I truly feel that every member should at least try to attend one meeting at some point throughout the year. Get to know your representatives, let us know who you are. We are a big local and many of you have never met me or the other members of our Executive Board. I have been making an attempt to get out to some of the local offices just to meet our members in the office. I walked into one office and spoke to the clerk for a little about basic postal business and she had no idea who I was. I finally identified myself as the President of the Local and she smiled and said “You are Rob. I know your name”. She had many questions after that and it was nice to have that opportunity to talk to her. So please try to come to at least one meeting so you don’t have to wait for me to wander into your office to get your questions answered.

Voluntary Early Retirement (VER)
As you are well aware management has offered a VER to the clerk craft employees. This was not previously discussed with the APWU before being offered. The National APWU has posted a Q & A on their website with over 90 questions regarding the VER. They can be accessed at the following link: http://www.apwu.org/sites/apwu/files/resource-files/2018-VER-Q-and-As.pdf. Prior to making any decisions I highly suggest you review these Q & As along with the updates posted by our National Officers on our National website APWU.org.

Abolishments, Reversions and Excessing, Oh My!
Management in the South Jersey District continues to attack our jobs through Abolishment, Reversion and Excessing Notices. We have been successful in fending off many of these attacks but not all of them. We recently resolved an abolishment grievance in Sewell and had that job reinstated. We received a Consent Award by Arbitrator Kelly on a Voorhees Reversion. This job will be posted. We also settled three reversion cases out of Camden with agreements to post those jobs as well. On January 22, 2018 Eastern Region Coordinator Mike Gallagher, NBA Vince Tarducci and I held a telecom with Area Level Management regarding the pending excessing event in the SJ P&DC. The number of employees identified for excessing was down to 24. Eventually an agreement was worked out to offer the jobs that were being held for excessing in the South Jersey District along with several custodial jobs being held in the Philadelphia District to all the clerk craft employees in the South Jersey Plant. After this voluntary process is completed the excessing event in the Plant will be considered closed and no one will be involuntarily excessed.

Despite our successes mentioned above we were unable to put a hold on the excessing from Glassboro, Mt. Holly and Mantua. The effective date for this excessing to take place is February 5, 2018. We will be addressing these events through the grievance procedure. Although I do not agree with any of the excessing, the decision to excess out of Glassboro still has me baffled. The community is growing and we are cutting our service. I asked my son to stop in Glassboro to pick up some paperwork from the clerk in the office. He said that he had to wait behind seven people before he had an opportunity to speak to the clerk to get the paperwork. When he dropped the paperwork off to me he said “Dad, they’re crazy if they take him, (the clerk), out of that office. The line will be out the door”. I told him I have worked for this company for thirty years and I still don’t understand Postal Logic and probably never will.

Continuing with the Wizard of Oz theme; The Wicked witch of the South Jersey District, (Terry Dean), still has his flying monkeys, (postmasters), attacking our jobs as I continue to receive reversion notices from many of our Function Four offices. Offices such as Medford, where they have custodians throwing parcels and Columbus, where they state in the reversion notice that they want to have two PTFs rather than one Full Time employee, are actually trying to do away with jobs when there are obviously work hours available. As long as they continue to attack our jobs I will continue down the Yellow Brick Road with my Pitbull Toto, (Mike Wright) until we get to Oz. Hopefully one day soon someone will throw some water on the Wicked Witch and we’ll get to watch him melt away!!

Author webmaster08012Posted on April 22, 2018April 21, 2018Categories Local NewsletterTags management attacking jobs, VER/VERALeave a comment on President’s Report: February 2018

President’s Report

(This article was first reported in the November 2017, Local Newsletter)
Written by: Rob Armentani President of APWU, SJAL #0526

Continued Attacks on Our Jobs!
As of the writing of this article the Union continues to deal with excessing events, reversions and abolishments in our offices. We recently had an excessing event meeting where three of our local offices were discussed, Glassboro, Mantua and Magnolia. Unfortunately it appears that we are going to have a PTF excessed from both Mantua and Magnolia. The discussion on Glassboro went on for a while. Management is proposing to excess one FTR and keep one FTR and two PTFs. A review of the hours, by management’s own reports shows that there are approximately 38 hours of work between the proposed hours for the PTFs. This would require them to at the very least create a NTFT position. We have taken the position that this must be done prior to any excessing taking place. We also suggested that the Postmaster work on Saturday then there would be no need to excess a FTR. Management’s quick response was, “That’s not gonna happen!” Another argument that I brought up was the fact that the Glassboro office is in the middle of Rowan University and the community continues to expand which would mean more customers and more revenue. Management’s (Terry Dean) response to that was “College kids really don’t use our services. I have two college age kids and they have never seen the inside of a Post Office.” Wow! Really? My kids are college age as well and I completely disagree with such a statement. It is unfortunate that some management people will say anything just to try to be right.

We have open reversion grievances in several offices including Camden, Sewell, Blackwood, Cherry Hill and Voorhees. We are in the process of filing grievances on reversions in Clementon, Willingboro (Custodial Position), Camden (again) and Voorhees (again).  As fast as we file them, that’s how fast we receive new notices.

We have a grievance filed in Cherry Hill under Art. 37.3.A.1. After running the PSE and NTFT hours through MDAT it clearly shows the need for at a minimum of 3, possibly 4, full time traditional positions. This is currently at Step 2. We also have shown the need for a full time position in Maple Shade but management has denied this grievance. This grievance is currently pending arbitration.

We will continue to combat these unwarranted attacks on our jobs based on “earned” hours as opposed to actual work hours as per the contract. After attending the class at the All Craft Conference we have learned additional ways to counter these attacks. The class headed by Lamont Brooks may have been the most informative and educational class that I have been in, in all my years as a Union representative. We will continue to apply what we have learned and fight for our jobs!

SJ P&DC
On October 3rd a new Plant Manager, Mark Wilson, started at the P&DC. Executive Vice President Ed Lafferty and myself met with him briefly on October 12th. We conveyed our concerns about several issues in the Plant which included: the recent abolishments that occurred without regard to seniority, the hostile work climate that still exists on T-1 and the recent discrimination experienced by three pregnant women who had requested light duty and had their hours cut while no other light duty employees experienced the same treatment. His initial response seemed to be one of concern about each issue and he stated that he would look into each of them and get back to us. As of the writing of this article we have not heard back. I am keeping an open mind and hoping that it will not be business as usual as it was with the previous two Plant Managers who turned a blind eye to their employees’ concerns. Only time will tell.

2018 Contract
Here we go again. In less than a year our current contract will expire. Negotiations for a new contract will begin in June of 2018. Considering what we are currently experiencing, I’m almost certain that management’s attack on our jobs will be more persistent than ever. There will be a Contract Campaign Teleconference on October 27th. National Officers will give an update on the preparations for the 2018 Contract Campaign, provide tools, and get input from the membership. I will report on this teleconference at our General membership Meeting on November 19th.

Open Season
Open Season for the Federal Employees Health benefits will from November 13th and to December 11th. This will be your opportunity to change your Health Plan if you are interested in making a change. Please be diligent in researching the health plan you may be interested in prior to changing. Once you make a change you will not be able to change it again until next years’ open season or if there is a qualifying life event that allows you to make a change.

Penalty Exclusion Period
This year, the December period for the exclusion of penalty overtime begins December 2, 2017 (Pay Period 25-17- Week 2) and ends December 29, 2017 (Pay Period 01-18 – Week 1).

SPEAK UP!!!!
In closing this article I will again plead with each of you to speak up when you observe a violation of our contract. Management should not be doing your work! Employees from other crafts should not be doing your work! It is imperative that you contact your steward or the Blackwood Union office when you observe this happening. If we are unaware of the violation we cannot address it. Speak up, let your voice be heard, let management know that you will not stand by while they give your work away and try to take your jobs!

 

The Struggle Continues!

Author webmaster08012Posted on November 19, 2017November 20, 2017Categories Local NewsletterTags Local NewsletterLeave a comment on President’s Report

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