Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDFort Myers, FLPermit No. 139

THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AREA LOCAL AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION

CUSTODIAN TL-5 PENALTYSETTLEMENT

On July 9, 2014, the APWU and theUSPS signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) that wastitled "MS-47 TL-5 Implementationand Maintenance Craft PSEConversions." This MOU wasagreed upon due to many local,regional and national level dis-putes on this issue of properlystaffing buildings with custodians.

This agreement also converted allCustodial PSE's on the rolls at thattime within 30 days of the agree-ment to career status. This agree-ment assisted locals in gettingmany of their vacant custodial jobsfilled by career employees.

Each office is assigned a PS Form4852 which is used to show whatthe proper custodial staffing levelshould be in each office. Thisagreement (for 2014) was to paythe custodial staff a penalty up to90% of the total available workhours, if the 90% of the work hourslisted on Line H of the PS Form4852 was not met. For 2014, thisamounted to a total of 12 weektime frame to be monitored for apenalty settlement for custodians(or Clerk Craft employees inoffices where there are no custodi-ans (as per the CBA)).

Last month, I reached an agree-ment with the USPS District LaborRepresentative designated to set-tle the 2014 cases. This settlementincluded seven (7) of the seven-teen (17) installations that theSouthwest Florida Area LocalAPWU represents. Approximatelysixty (60) employees throughoutSouthwest Florida were compen-sated.

Everyone to be paid in this settle-ment should have received theirshare by September 25, 2015.Since this was not a penalty for notstaffing properly and not an over-time issue, all custodians in eachinstallation who were on the rollsduring that time frame were com-pensated equally. Our local hasbeen consistent when it comes tothese types of settlements onpenalties for each Craft. We havealways paid everyone so thateveryone benefits.

We are about to go through thesame issue once again for fiscalyear 2015. This month is decidinghow much is owed to custodiansfrom October 2014 thruSeptember 2015. This year, ifmanagement fails to reach the

Sam WoodPresident

SWFAL APWU

Southwest Florida Area Local 11000 Metro Parkway, Unit 8 Fort Myers, FL 33966

Alva, Bokeelia, Bonita Springs, Captiva,Chokoloskee, Estero, Everglades City, Felda,

Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Goodland,Immokalee, Labelle, Lehigh Acres, Marco Island,

Naples, Palmdale, Pineland, Placida,Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Rotunda,

St. James City and Sanibel

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

October 2015Volume 25 Number 10

90% of the work hours listed onthe PS Form 4852's, custodianswill be owed the difference up to100% of the work hours listed.

Understand, management hasalready been playing games withthese custodial hours such as thefollowing:

1) Having Custodians work inmail distribution (boxing mail,working Amazon, etc.)

2) Having Custodians deliver mailto other facilities.

3) Having Custodians performLobby Director services

4) Having Custodians stocksupplies

5) Moving Clerk Craft hours toCustodian hours (while Clerksare performing Clerk work).

If you are a custodian and per-forming these duties and not chal-lenging management by filinggrievances, you are only hurtingyourself when it comes to this newTL- 5 MOU.

Also, you are performing higherlevel work and are missing out onLevel 6 pay for performing thiswork.

DON'T EXPECT TO GETCOMPENSATED IF YOU DON'TCHALLENGE THE ISSUE!

The same applies to Clerk CraftEmployees, if you see Custodiansperforming Clerk Craft work andyou don't challenge managementby filing a grievance and also doc-umenting what they are doing andthe hours they are performing thework, you will not be compensat-ed.

DON'T EXPECT TO GETCOMPENSATED IF YOU DON'TCHALLENGE THE ISSUE!

Custodians And Clerks Must DocumentManagement Contract Violations

See: Contract ViolationsContinued on Page 3

IN THIS EDITION OF

THE EAGLE’S EYECustodians And Clerks Must Document

Management Contract Violations . . . . . . . 1

Secretary-Treasurer’s Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Bid Issues And Out-Of-Schedule Pay . . . . . . . 3

The Basics Of TheFamily Medical Leave Act (FMLA) . . . . . . 4

Attention Clerks:You Can Help Yourselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Union Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Ask Nonmembers To Join APWU . . . . . . . . . . 6

Up, Down, Down, What To Do Next? . . . . . . . 6

Fall Seminar 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Looking Forward ToServing In SWFAL APWU . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Beware Of Management Delay Games . . . . . . 7

SWFAL Membership News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PROUD MEMBER

2 THE EAGLE’S EYE OCTOBER 2015

Southwest Florida Area Local, APWU

11000 Metro Parkway, Unit 8

Fort Myers, FL 33966

239-275-1007

Open 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday

WEBSITE ADDRESSwww.swfloridaapwu.org

PRESIDENTSam Wood

SWoodFla@aol.com

239-823-APWU

VICE-PRESIDENTDan Gray

VPswfal@aol.com

239-834-2736

SECRETARY-TREASURERFelicia Gluhareff

SecTreaSWFAL@aol.com

CLERK CRAFT DIRECTORPaul McAvoy

ClerkCraftSWFAL@aol.com

MAINTENANCE CRAFTDIRECTOR

Mickey Szymonik

MaintdirSWFAL@aol.com

239-834-2900

MOTOR VEHICLE CRAFTDIRECTOR

Joe Fracek

joefracek@yahoo.com

EDITORKathy Moyer

EdSWFAL@aol.com

TRUSTEESDaniel Carinci

Grace Baer

David Grant

SAFETY & HEALTHCOMMITTEE

David Grant

Wendy Skaff

CONSTITUTION COMMITTEEDan Gray, Chairman

Grace Baer

Daniel Carinci

Felicia Gluhareff

David Grant

Paul McAvoy

Kathy Moyer

NATIONAL MAILING ADDRESSPer Capita Section

APWU, AFL-CIO

1300 L Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

FLORIDA POSTAL WORKERThe Florida Postal Worker

P.O. Box 8363

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310

www.apwuflorida.org

General MembershipMeeting Minutes

September 20, 2015

CALL TO ORDER:9:40 a.m. There were 18members in attendance.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:The pledge of allegiance wasled by Rick Guerra.

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:Felicia Gluhareff performedthe roll call of officers.Present were Sam Wood,Dan Gray, Felicia Gluhareff,Paul McAvoy, MickeySzymonik, Joe Fracek andKathy Moyer.

MAP:Barbara Carr told a few jokesin honor of Charles Glennon.

NEW MEMBERS:Welcome Stacy Pignotti,Kendra Rose and JuanAlleude Cruz.

EXECUTIVE BOARDMINUTES:Additional offices were addedto the SWFAL. WelcomePineland, Felda, Palmdale,Everglades City andGoodland. Moving forwardthese offices will hopefully bemanned by clerks instead ofPostmasters. MS47-TL5 wasdiscussed. This is a custodialaward that will be split among7 instillations. John Carioscia,who our local endorses, isnow in the runoff for District 2councilman for Cape Coral.Mr, Carioscia has been sup-portive of our local andattended and participated inour picket at Connie Macksoffice. We would like to sup-port him in his run for council.Sam Wood talked about aLabor Management meetingthat was held at the plant withRichard Barber. Assortedissues at several offices werealso discussed. Custodiansshould NOT be workingexpress or Amazon mail atthe stations. This mail shouldbe worked by clerks ONLY.

SECRETARY /TREASURER’S REPORT:Paul McAvoy made a motionto accept the minutes asreported in last month’s

Eagle’s Eye. The motionpassed. Financial reportswere made available at themeeting for those wishing toview them.

REPORT / SELECTIONOF COMMITTEES:None

REPORT OFCONVENTIONCOMMITTEES:None

REPORT OF TRUSTEES:Grace Baer reported thatthere will be an audit inNovember.

COMMUNICATIONS:Letter from John Cariosciathanking our local for ourendorsement. Letter inform-ing us of the addition of thenew offices into our local. Acouple new steward lists weresent to management. Wereceived a letter from a mem-ber requesting to be a stew-ard. Sam sent a letter to dis-trict regarding RichardBarber. Sam also sent a letterto Leroy Middleton regardingSix Mile Cypress bids.

UPDATE OF GRIEVANCES:P.O. management should begetting back to us shortly witha settlement offer for the RI-399 grievance. TS5 settledregarding bypassed custodialwork hours. Grievances canbe marked “ongoing” at stepone if filing grievances wheresupervisors chronically per-form clerk work. Statementsshould be labeled with thegrievance number and sent tothe union hall to be added tothe original grievance. Thesestatements should be contin-ually added as long as thesupervisor continues to per-form clerk work and the griev-ance is marked ongoing andis still active. If this is not thecase, a new grievance needsto be filed.

OLD BUSINESS:Our local represents officesspread out over 4 counties.

NEW BUSINESS:Richard Barber’s treatment ofemployees was discussed.When scanning box mail,please remember that it is the

last scanthat counts.M e m b e r sand stew-ards representing Six MileCypress, Punta Gorda, PortCharlotte, Marco andImmokalee attended the gen-eral membership meeting andtalked about problems at theirstations and how to handlethem.

LABOR / MANAGEMENTMEETING:Sam talked about the meetingwith Richard Barber earlier inthe membership meeting.

GOOD AND WELFARE:The winner of the COPA50/50 drawing was PeterMarin who won $28.00. Thetotal netted for the drawingwas $56.00. The name drawnfor the member’s incentiveaward was Grace Baer. Shedonated her $50.00 winningsto COPA. The pot will startover at $50.00 at the nextgeneral membership meet-ing.

ELECTION OF OFFICERSAND DELEGATES:None

LEFTOVERS:84.7% of our local are unionmembers. National is proba-bly going to have to go toarbitration on the new con-tract. It could take up toanother year to settle. JimDickover thanked our local,Jim DeMauro and MikeSullivan for all the hard workthey have done for him. SamWood thanked the executiveboard and the stewards forthe hard work that they do.

ROLL CALLOF OFFICERS:Felicia Gluhareff performedthe roll call of officers. Theresults were recorded.

NEXT MEETING:Robert Nowall moved to havethe next meeting on October18, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. at theunion hall. The motionpassed.

ADJOURNMENT:Robert Nowall moved toadjourn at 10:55 a.m. Themotion passed.

Secretary-Treasurer’s ReportFelicia Gluhareff

OCTOBER 2015 THE EAGLE’S EYE 3

the past where an employee hasagreed to do this and then man-agement claims that is now theirbid.

For management to permanentlychange a bid there are very specif-ic requirements in the LMOU forthem to make this happen. If yourbid is being changed for any rea-son please contact your steward tosee if this action is being donecontractually.

We have also had StationManagers tell employees that theyare working either the wrong hoursor Non-scheduled (N/S) days.They claim that Web coins havethem in the wrong hours and theirbid has to be reposted.

Make sure when you receive yourbid you keep a copy of the awardfor future reference. Although theunion keeps copies they can behard to locate if you do not knowthe month and year you receivedyour bid.

If you are having your bid repostedor abolished please let us knowASAP. Management has beendoing anything in their power toeither not pay overtime or Out-of-schedule to cover hours for theOperational Window Change.

Some people have been havingtrouble bidding. If you have not

been in LiteBlue in the last yearand a half and want to bid, you willhave to get a new password toreplace your old PIN number. Thiswas done because of the securitybreech in LiteBlue.

If you wait to the last minute to bidyou may get locked out of bidding.If you are not able to bid becauseyou cannot get through on thephone or LITE Blue E-bidding isdown, please tell your stewardimmediately. We will, if by no faultof yours that you cannot bid,arrange to have manual bid boxesavailable to you.

I would like to take this opportunityto thank our newest Tour 1Steward Jamie Robertson foragain stepping up and represent-ing our membership. She is a verywelcomed and much needed addi-tion to our already strong group ofstewards.

I as Clerk Craft Director and inbehalf of the entire ExecutiveBoard must thank all of the stew-ards in the SWFAL APWU as theyhave fought and continue to fighthard for all of our contractualrights. This goes for the smallest ofoffices to the larger ones. Everyone of you is a valuable piece inour struggle to defend our fellowunion brothers and sisters againstmanagements frequent and inmany cases intentional violations.

of management.

Only full-time employees mayreceive out-of-schedule pay andthey do not receive out of-sched-ule pay when their schedule ischanged to provide limited or lightduty, when they attend a recog-nized training session, or whenthey are allowed to make up timedue to tardiness in reporting forduty.

Out-of-schedule premium regula-tions are applicable only in caseswhere management has givenadvance notice of the change ofschedule by Wednesday of thepreceding service week.

When timely notification is notgiven, a full time employee is enti-tled to work the employee’s regu-larly scheduled hours or receivepay in lieu thereof. In such casethe regular overtime rules apply tothe hours worked outside of theemployee’s schedule, not the out-of-schedule premium rules.

Please, if management is chang-ing your schedule be sure you arepaid at the correct rate. I haveheard some people in the stationssay that the Station manager ortheir supervisor asked them tocome in at a different time as afavor to them. You still MUST getpaid Out-of-schedule pay. Toomany games have been played in

I know I havewritten aboutthis beforebut thereseems to ber e o c c u r -rences at dif-ferent officesevery week.

There havebeen manyc o m p l a i n t sand issuescoming from the Plant and theStations concerning managementchanging schedules, both beforeand after, the weekly schedule isput up.

The following language from theCBA and JCIM Article 8.4.Bexplains what management mustdo when changing your hours ornon-scheduled days:

OUT-OF-SCHEDULE PREMIUM

Out-of-schedule premium regula-tions are contained in Section434.6 of the Employee and LaborRelations Manual and provide thatout-of-schedule premium is paidat the postal overtime rate toeligible full-time bargainingunit employees for time workedoutside of, and instead of, theirregularly scheduled work day orwork week when working on atemporary schedule at the request

Bid Issues And Out-Of-Schedule Pay

Paul McAvoyClerk Craft Director

SWFAL APWU

If you are a Clerk in a small officeand there is not a career or PSECustodian, you will be the oneentitled to pay for not having a cus-todian in your office. Please con-tact the Union office if you are notperforming custodial work in thosesmall offices.

If the custodial work is being per-formed by management or carri-ers, once again, this is a violation.Only Clerks in small offices canperform those duties absent a cus-todian as per the CollectiveBargaining Agreement (CBA).

HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION &DISCIPLINE

It always amazes me to find

employees who get intimidated bymanagement. In reality, mostemployees are intimidatedbecause they are afraid that thedeals they make or have made willcease to exist if they complain.

For those who come to work andabide by the rules that have beennegotiated by the Union, fear not,because as long as you come towork, do your job at your own indi-vidual pace and do not steal, thereis little that management can do toyou.

Sure, management can give youdiscipline (that will most likely getremoved) for things such as failedor passed mystery shops, notmeeting their work expectations,etc.

Please understand however, thesetypes of discipline are the onlything they have to attempt to

CONTRACTVIOLATIONSContinued from Page 1

"HARASS YOU" or attempt to"KEEP YOU INTIMIDATED BYTHEM". Management also usesother harassment tools like suchas Official Discussions orInvestigative Interviews for issueslisted above which may not resultin disciplinary action.

If there was no Union, they wouldeasily be able to fire anyone foranything!

In my fifteen (15) years of beingPresident and twenty four (24)years as a Union Steward, overninety five (95%) percent of thosewho were terminated were due toemployee theft or not coming towork.

Our local has been extremely suc-cessful in winning cases involvingterminated employees with mostof them not only prevailing, butalso being compensated back pay.

Many believe that managementcan just fire PSE's; once again,they are wrong.

PSE's who have completed theirprobationary period are protectedby most of the same provisions asa career employee. PSE rights aremuch different than when we hadCasual employees. PSE's nowhave a voice and rights.

I have made a page on our web-site that is dedicated to PSE's.Please visit http://www.swflori-daapwu.org/pse.html for furtherinformation specific to PSEs.

Stop allowing management toharass and intimidate you. Youhave all kinds of options if this ishappening to you (Grievances,EEO's, Labor Charges, PostalInspectors, etc.)

Don't Be A Victim!

4 THE EAGLE’S EYE OCTOBER 2015

You will soonbe asked tomake yourselection forC h o i c eVacation for2016.

Please do notgive theemployee(s)trying to helpyou with yourleave choices a hard time.

We do the Choice VacationSelections every year at the sametime so please start checking withyour family on what dates youwould like to take off. It seems thatsadly the same employees (whohave been here for years) claimthey have no idea this was hap-pening and berate the employeewho is simply trying to help themget a proper selection based ontheir seniority and section.

If for any reason you are going onleave or will be out for any extend-ed period please give your choicesto a Union Steward, numbered inthe order you want them.

Your first choice may not be avail-able when the calendar comesaround to you if a senior employeeselects those dates and theallowed percentages of employeeshave been met.

If you have more questions as tohow the Choice Vacation is done,a copy of the LMOU for all Plants,Stations and Branches is availableon the SWFAL website created byour President Sam Wood.

I am constantly getting questionsconcerning the Family MedicalLeave Act and here is some infor-mation that may help you.

The Act requires employers togrant eligible employees leave forcertain family and medical rea-sons. Under the law, eligibleemployees are entitled to the fol-lowing:

Up to a total of twelve (12) work-weeks of leave during any twelve(12) month period for one or moreof the following reasons;

1) the birth or placement of achild for adoption or fostercare, and to care for the new-born child within one year ofbirth/placement;

2) To care for the employee’sspouse, child, or parent whohas a serious healthconditions;

3) a serious health conditionthat makes the employeeunable to perform theessential functions of his orher job;

4) any qualifying exigencyarising out of the fact that theemployee’s spouse, son,daughter, or parent is acovered military servicemember on “covered activeduty;” or

5) Up to a total of 26 work-weeks of leave during anytwelve (12) month period tocare for a covered militaryservice member with aserious injury or illness if theeligible employee is theservice member’s spouse,son, daughter, parent, or nextof kin (military caregiverleave).

Employee Responsibilities:

1) Inform supervisor within two(2) business days or sooner ifrequired by employer workrules or policy. (CFR825.303)

2) Advance notification whenpossible (CFR 825.305)

3) Provide documentation whenrequired (CFR 825.305)Documentation must besubmitted within fifteen (15)calendar days

4) Participate in 2nd or 3rddoctor evaluation whenrequired (CFR 825.307)

Supervisor Responsibilities:

1) Determine Eligibility (CFR825.110)

2) Designate the absence asFMLA (CFR 825.301)

Documentation requirements(CFR 825.305 & 306)

1) Provide notification toemployee in five (5) businessdays (CFR 825.300) if oralfollowed in writing by nextpayday

2) Protect records (CFR825.500)

3) PS Form 3971 (CFR825.301)

Publication WH-381 (in lieu of pub71) (CFR 825.301)

This only covers some informationavailable. The APWU website andthe Department of Labor websitesgo into extensive detail to eachand every facet of the rules andregulations concerning FMLA.

Please, if you have a condition(s)that are covered by FMLA, haveyour doctor fill out the correctforms and submit them in order toprotect yourself.

Union members may ask their

Daniel M. GrayVice PresidentSWFAL APWU

would be beneficial to a sonor daughter with a serioushealth condition who isreceiving inpatient care orhome care.***)

b) Parent - biological, adoptive,step or foster parent or anyother individual who stood inthat position to the employeewhen the employee was achild.

c) Spouse - husband or wife.Subparts (d) through (h)apply to leave to care for acovered service member orfor qualifying exigency leaverelated to a covered militarymember’s call to duty.

d) Son or daughter of a coveredservice member - theemployee is the servicemember’s biological,adopted, foster child,stepchild, legal ward or childfor whom the service memberstood in the position of aparent and who is of any age.

e) Parent of a covered servicemember - the employee isthe service member’sbiological, adoptive, step orfoster parent or any otherindividual who stood in theposition of parent to theservice member.

f) Covered service member - acurrent member of the ArmedForces, including a memberof the National Guard orReserves, who is undergoingmedical treatment, recupera-tion, or therapy, is otherwisein outpatient status, or isotherwise on the temporarydisability retired list, for aserious injury or illness. Thisdefinition also includes aveteran undergoing medicaltreatment, recuperation, ortherapy for a serious injury orillness who served in theArmed Forces and wasdischarged or released underconditions other thandishonorable at any timeduring the five-year periodprior to the first date theeligible employee takesFMLA leave to care for theveteran.

g) Military member - in the caseof a member of the RegularArmed Forces, duty duringthe deployment of themember to a foreign countryunder a call or order to activeduty. In the case of a memberof the Reserve componentsof the Armed Forces (whichincludes the National Guard),duty during the deployment of

Steward for the APWU forms.Non-Members refer to your super-visor.

Management as stated in past arti-cles cares little for the extenuatingcircumstances surrounding yourabsences, but is not allowed todiscipline you for a FMLA protect-ed absence.

An employee's right to Sick Leavefor Dependent Care is separateand different from the right to leaveunder the Family and MedicalLeave Act (FMLA) of 1993. FMLAis a federal law.

Still, there are certain similarities.For instance, the definitions ofson, daughter, spouse and parentused for Sick Leave for DependentCare are the same as the FMLAdefinitions. An employee may taketime off to care for the same per-son under both Sick Leave forDependent Care and FMLA. SickLeave for Dependent Care allowsan employee to use up to eightyhours of sick leave to care for afamily member, while FMLA pro-vides protection for the absence ifit is due to a FMLA covered condi-tion.

I have received a lot of questionsrecently on an employee’s abilityto use Sick Leave for DependentCare for their adult son or daugh-ter.

Now I do not agree with how thiswas determined, but this is whatthe requirements are for bothFMLA and Sick Care forDependent Care for your adult(over 18) child and directly takenfrom the ELM 515.2;

The following definitions apply forthe purposes of Absence forFamily Care or Illness ofEmployee: Subparts (a) through(c) apply to leave for one’s own ora family member’s serious healthcondition.

a) Son or daughter - biological,adopted, or foster child,stepchild, legal ward, or childwho stands in the position ofa son or daughter to theemployee, who is under 18years of age or who is 18 orolder and incapable of selfcare because of mental orphysical disability.

(***You will be considered tobe “needed to care for” youradult son or daughter if, forexample, he or she is unableto care for his or her ownbasic medical, hygienic, ornutritional needs or safety, orunable to transport him orherself to the doctor, becauseof a serious health condition.The term also includesproviding psychologicalcomfort and reassurance that

The Basics Of TheFamily Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

See: FMLAContinued on Page 5

OCTOBER 2015 THE EAGLE’S EYE 5

As I write thisarticle I grievethe loss of mys i s t e rJennifer, theyoungest ofeleven chil-dren.

She passedaway at theage of 48 onSept. 12th, at6:06 a.m.

She leaves behind her husbandand three boys, ages 18, 15 and11. She leaves behind her motherand 10 siblings as well.

I was fortunate to see Jennifer theweek before she died, and fortu-nate as well to be able to attendher memorial service on Sept.26th.

If not for the strength of the APWU,I would be hard pressed to securethe annual and bereavement leave

Mickey SzymonikMaintenance Craft

DirectorSWFAL APWU

necessary to attend to our familyduring their difficult time.

Jennifer was also a good Unionmember and was able to providefor her family beyond her untimelydeath. I have been witness to theoutpouring of support from her for-mer co-workers and our small-town community.

One of Jennifer's final wishes wasthat her family's large two-storyfarmhouse gets a new painting.Jennifer's Union brothers and sis-ters helped make that happen, andwere part of the more than 70 peo-ple who showed up to paint theentire house in one day.

That is, ultimately, what the Unionis: a community of support for usall. In our darkest days and direstneeds, we have each other.

Thank you all for your support andcondolences.

Solidarity, Prosperity, Peace

Union Matters

the member to a foreigncountry under a Federal callor order to active duty in suport of a contingencyoperation.

h) Next of kin of a coveredservice member (appliesonly to leave to care for acovered service member) -the nearest blood relativeother than the coveredservice member’s spouse,parent, son or daughterin the following order ofpriority:

Last monthwe welcomeda new man-ager to theVMF.

Well, she hassince retiredand now wehave a newacting man-ager, MikeSquatrito.

Mike hasbeen with theVMF formany years. We all wish him wellin this new position.

I have noticed that the clerks hereat Page are not doing themselvesany favors. They are holding theirbreaks and lunches so they canget the mail processed.

Why are they helping manage-ment?

Everyone knows managementonly cares about the numbers andscan times.

Take your breaks and lunches ontime. Break every 1:45 to 2:15from the time the last break ends.(Yes, it’s possible to have morethat just 2 breaks in a day if forcedto take a break early).

What can Management do to you ifyou follow the rules?

It’s not your responsibility to makeup for the problems managementhas created for themselves. If theycan't properly staff or schedulewhy are they in management?

There is no reason to overly stressyourself, take your work home withyou and forgo your properwork/break schedule for them.

NOTHING WILL CHANGE unlessyou stand up for yourself.

Every Clerk that does this, I ask

why? Not one has a good reason.

They will say something like, "wellit keeps management happy."Who cares about management?Obviously they could care less foryou!

How many frivolous Letters ofWarning do they pass out for fail-ure to follow instruction?

During my last year as a clerk Ireceived 4 of them - every one ofthem thrown out.

You really can’t be afraid to standup for yourself and call their bluffs.If you are following the contract,you will not be disciplined. (Theycan try but it will not stick).

By actually following the rules itcould put the pressure on man-agement to give more overtime,and add more positions so thework can get finished in a timelymanner.

Remember - most in managementhave no idea what the rules reallyare. They cite Article 3, manage-ment’s right to manage. But Article3 also says that they have to followthe contract, arbitrations and set-tled grievances.

The Contract Favors theEmployee! These Supervisors areworking under fear of losing theirjobs. They are put under pressurefrom their bosses, and add that tothe fact most of them have neverbeen a clerk (at least here at Page,everyone is a converted carrier).

They have really no idea what it’slike to be a clerk. They are onlygoing by what they are told it’ssupposed to be like.

You know your job, don't kill your-self doing it. Stay gainfullyemployed, and put in a fair dayswork for a fair days pay. Goingabove and beyond for manage-ment only hurts us.

Joe FracekMotor VehicleCraft Director

Ft. MyersLead Steward

Page FieldSWFAL APWU

Attention Clerks:You Can Help

Yourselves

FMLAContinued from Page 4

Blood relatives who havebeen granted legal custody ofthe covered service member;siblings; grandparents, auntsand uncles and first cousins,unless the covered servicemember has specificallydesignated in writing anotherblood relative as his or hernext of kin for purposes ofFMLA military caregiverleave.

FMLA can be confusing at times. Ifyou need help in finding out if youmeet the qualifications to takeFMLA ask to see your UnionSteward and they will assist you.Remember there is no such thingas a stupid question.

6 THE EAGLE’S EYE OCTOBER 2015

All of us haveheard theo b j e c t i o n sabout joiningthe APWU.

E v e r y t h i n gfrom, “I can’tafford thedues,” to, “Idon’t needany help, Istay out oftrouble.”

Truth be told, there are no excusesfor not joining the union. As postalworkers our jobs are under attack,and we must stand together in thefight to preserve our collective bar-gaining rights, pensions, healthplans, and fringe benefits.

Further gains through the bargain-ing process can only be won ifenough of us want them and arewilling to work to get them. Weneed the support of all of theemployees in our bargaining unitto ensure we are bargaining from a

position of strength.

When a nonmember gripes aboutunion dues being cost prohibitive,explain that the monthly duesequate to less than 1.3% of theirgross annual income, and thereturn on their investment far out-weighs the cost.

The APWU fights for regular payincreases and cost of living adjust-ments, job security, health bene-fits, paid leave, seniority rights,paid holidays, night differential,Sunday premium, overtime, agrievance procedure, retirementbenefits, a safe working environ-ment, and other perks. USPSmanagement would not providethese benefits on their own.

Yes, union dues are a commit-ment, but each worker represent-ed by the APWU has an obligationto share equally the cost of sup-porting the organization that winsthe benefits.

Dues pay for all of the operating

expenses of the union, includingcontract negotiations, grievanceprocessing, arbitration costs, pub-lication costs, legal fees, legisla-tive activities, and education andtraining of stewards and officers.

Stop and think how much lessmoney you would be earning aspart of a non-union workforce.None of us could afford to work forthe United States Postal Servicewithout the APWU. We would findourselves struggling to support ourfamilies in a much lower incomebracket with no employee benefits.

A great deal of resistance to join-ing the APWU stems from the cur-rent anti-union climate that origi-nated during the Reagan era andremains pervasive in the Americaneconomy.

The media does an excellent job ofportraying unions in a negativelight and logically so given thatemployers, particularly corpora-tions, spend exorbitant sums ofmoney on advertising.

The APWU levels the playing fieldfor postal workers by bringingthem together for mutual protec-tion and benefit. No justifiableexcuse exists for not belonging toan organization that fights forevery facet of your livelihood.

Invite nonmembers to put theirreservations aside and join ourfight against management,Congress, and the postal privatiz-ers.

Encourage active participation andinvolvement in the union becausewhat happens between the unionand postal management affects allemployees in one way or another.

Every employee will need theunion’s assistance at some pointin his or her career. The strengthof our membership lies in its unity.The more members we have, themore willing management is togrant our demands.

Stand up, band together, and fightback!

Ask Nonmembers To Join APWU

Grace BaerT2 & T3 StewardFt. Myers P&DCSWFAL APWU

Over the pastc o u p l emonths theTSP hasbeen not justa roller coast-er ride, but ifyou are onthis ride, youmay havebeen in thenose bleedseat. Downone day, thenthe next, then the next, then upone day, and then back down.What can you do?

Depending on what your adjec-tives are, and your investmenttime frame, this is a great buyingopportunity or to run and hide andwait for the stock market to decidewhat it wants to do. We mostlyhave two groups of members,ones that have many years to gotill they are ready to retire or youare within a year or a couple yearsof retirement.

The two groups: Many years to goand/or near retirement and/or 59½years old or over employees.

For the many years to go group:As I showed in my seminar a cou-ple months ago, the TSP has TWObuckets of money inside your TSP.

One bucket is called “ContributionAllocation” and one called“Interfund Transfers”. After you loginto your TSP home page, look onthe left hand side on the page,under Online Transactions you willsee these two links. “Two bucketsof money”, ContributionAllocations is your “new” bi-weeklymonies and Interfund Transfers isthe bulk, “balance” of your money.

What does this mean?Contribution Allocations is yourmonies that you can use for dollarcost averaging, in my option theseare the monies you can take morerisk with, meaning that when thestock market falls, your“price/cost” of the investments youare buying are also dropping.Meaning, like the price of gas,when the price of gas at the pumpgoes down, you can buy more gal-lons of gas for the same money,compared to what you may havespent let’s say last year when theprice of gas was higher.

With that in mind, this bucket iswhere the stock market drops arein your favor. Your bi-weeklymonies are buying more shares ofthe investments you are buying,meaning when the stock marketcomes back, and it always has, allthose shares you bought at alower cost will be worth more when

you retire. BUT, there is always aBUT, you need time for the marketto come back, it could take thestock market a year, two or whoknows how long to come back towhere we were at a couple monthsago, this is the only item we can’tcontrol.

The other bucket, InterfundTransfers, is your balance. Thesemonies, you can have a growth orsafe portfolio. Not to get into theweeds here, but understandingthese two buckets, you can growall your monies with the same port-folios in both buckets or have dif-ferent portfolios. ContributionAllocation as one bucket, this canbe your growth bucket and yourbalance, Interfund Transfers canbe your safe money.

Near retirement and/or 59½ yearsold and older: This is where it getstricky, if you read the paragraphabove, you can also use the twobuckets of money strategy, but atthe end of the day, you need togrow your money.

The G and F fund do not grow yourTSP enough in most times. Theone thing the Federal Governmenthas done that is a great option forPostal/Federal employees, is ifyou are 59½ or older and stillworking, you can do what is called

a “non-hardship TSP rollover”, cer-tain restrictions apply, meaningyou can take up to 100% of yourTSP and roll it over to a IRA,Individual Retirement Account, youdon’t have to roll all of your TSPover, you can take all or a part ofyour TSP. You still contribute toyour TSP while working; nothingchanges except you now have fullcontrol of your TSP rollover.

You don’t pay taxes on this rolloverwhen it goes into an IRA. With thisoption, you can have many moreoptions on how to grow yourmoney than what the TSP offers,some great options to grow yourmoney and not lose your principle.

You can even create your ownbuckets of money; multiple IRA’s,grow them for different times inyour retirement years, have onefor emergency money; the optionsare endless. I recently helpedaround 10 members do this exact“non-hardship TSP rollover” aftermy seminar a couple months ago.

After reading, you may have ques-tions, more than just one, I havealways said, find someone thatcan answer your TSP questionsand can also understand how yourTSP fits into your CSRS/FERSretirement options. Hope this infohas helped.

Up, Down, Down, What To Do Next?

Brad PateFederal Retirement

And BenefitSeminars

OCTOBER 2015 THE EAGLE’S EYE 7

There is aconcept inlegal thoughtcalled “justicedelayed, jus-tice denied.The idea herebeing simplyfor there to bea true meas-ure of justice,it must hap-pen in limitedtime frames.

Once again, USPS managementis right in there with the kind offolks that would deny justice bydelaying it as long as possible.

Every steward understands thetimeliness issue when it involvesgrievances. You have to work with-in pre set time limits.

Managers at Bokeelia like to tellme, “we’ll look into and get backwith you”, or, “I agree with you -you’re right, I’ll get it fixed”.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the USPSmanagers fostered workplacewhere integrity mattered? But,

they do not. Most USPS managerscouldn’t care less about that kindof thing. It gets in their way. Somany USPS managers are sounable to truly manage; they haveto cut all kinds of corners just toget by. And this certainly includesignoring the Union Contract.

So when you are told by a USPSmanager they will solve yourissue, forget it. This has been astandard delay game at Bokeeliaforever. What is really happeningis that managers are trying todelay matters until the 14 day win-dow to file at Step 1 has passed.After that, the issue is no longertimely.

Numbers mean more to USPSmanagers than anything else. Thenumbers do not have to be accu-rate, just present in such a waythat makes the manager look goodto the next manager up the line.

Don’t get caught in the USPSmanagement delay game becausein this game, you will be the onewho gets penalized. Help yoursteward file grievances in a timelymanner and win.

Beware OfManagementDelay Games

Kathy MoyerEditor

The Eagle’s EyeSWFAL APWU

I would like tofirst thank ourmembers forallowing methe privilegeof represent-ing our greatlocal at theF l o r i d aAPWU FallS e m i n a ralong with fel-low StewardGrace Baer.

During the Seminar we attendedthe Innovative Organization classwhich was instructed by APWUNational Organization DirectorAnna Smith and AFL-CIO DirectorJustin McBride. The class consist-ed of different ways and ideas onhow to make our local member-ship grow.

Specifically, we were instructed onways to communicate how vitallyimportant the APWU is to the newemployee and how imperative it isfor the non-member to join.

With many of our members nowretiring and management’s persist-ence on attempting to fill that voidwith a part time workforce it isgoing to take everyone to help inthe fight to protect our jobs.

As the course progressed many

things were brought to light thatwere obtained only through con-tract negotiations.

It is very important that the newemployee and reluctant non-mem-ber understand that without theAPWU representing them theywould not have these benefits. Wemust try to make them realize howessential it is that they help in pro-tecting what we have fought for.

Money – Union wages are roughly15% higher than non-unionwages. It’s as simple as that.

Benefits – Pensions, medicalinsurance, paid vacations, holi-days, sick pay, overtime premiumpay, penalty pay and shift differen-tial are generally better in a unionshop and in truth many of thesebenefits don’t exist without a unioncontract.

Safety – The safety record ofunion facilities is demonstrablysuperior to that of non-union facili-ties. A union contract givesemployees the immediate right toinsist on a safe work environment.

Dignity – As a union worker youdon’t have to put up with flakybosses, arbitrary decisions orharassment. You don’t have to tip-toe around in fear or be at themercy of weird or grossly incom-

petent managers. Administeringthe provisions of a union contractrequires a certain level of expert-ise. Instead of flitting about makingarbitrary, off-the-cuff decisions,they’re forced to behave like “pro-fessionals”.

Security – Your supervisor can’twalk up and fire you because hewants to give your job to his wife’snephew. They can’t demote youarbitrarily, nor can they preventyou, without just cause, from beingpromoted when it is your turn. It isour union which gives us this pro-tection, a fact that doesn’t receiveenough recognition.

These are just a few points that weas union members must be proudof and never take for granted. Thenon-member must realize that allof these benefits are only availableto us because of collective bar-gaining by the APWU and so it isthe members that make this possi-ble.

Enjoying the benefits that theunion has provided withoutaccepting an obligation to equallysupport the cost is unfair andinsulting to every member.Nonmembers must realize thatthey too must join the battle andburden of protecting the contractu-al rights we share. “They can’tafford not to!”

Although the Seminar was moti-vating and informative, the mostinspiring part was to hear the VicePresident of the APWU DebbySzeredy boast about our local.

During a discussion with otherFlorida representatives concerningtheir problems getting supportfrom their board and membership,I mentioned how Grace and I feltvery fortunate to not share thosesame problems.

That’s when Vice PresidentSzeredy stepped in and said,“They have a great local, a greatPresident and Board Members.“Fort Myers has a strong member-ship.”

It was a great feeling to know thatour local is nationally recognized.Even to the point that vice presi-dent Szeredy used a copy of ourlocal’s web site home page toshow the other representatives onwhat a web site should look like.Great job, Sammy!

So again I just want to say“Thanks” to our board and mem-bership for allowing me the oppor-tunity to represent our local, andwell, “for just making me lookgood!”

In Solidarity

Fall Seminar 2015

Danny CarinciT2 & T3 StewardFt. Myers P&DCSWFAL APWU

Brothers andSisters,

I would like totake the timein this format,to reintroducemyself as aS h o pSteward tothe member-ship.

I wish tothank you, as well as the E-Boardfor the opportunity to represent themembership in this capacity. Ithank you for your patience as I

re-acclimate myself to the policiesand procedures of our Local.

While I transition to this new ven-ture, I may not know all theanswers immediately, but I prom-ise to do my due diligence andresearch for all of the various con-tractual violations that arise to pro-vide the representation that you(we) all deserve.

Thank you again for the opportuni-ty and your patience, and I lookforward to this exciting new chal-lenge.

In Solidarity

Jamie RobertsonTour 1 StewardFt. Myers P&DCSWFAL APWU

Looking ForwardTo Serving InSWFAL APWU

8 THE EAGLE’S EYE OCTOBER 2015

Your ElectedOfficials

President Barack ObamaWeb Site:

www.whitehouse.govE-mail:

president@whitehouse.govPhone: 202-456-1414

Fax: 202-456-2461Capital Address:

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NWWashington, DC 20500

Senator Bill NelsonWeb Site:

www.billnelson.senate.govE-mail:

senator@billnelson.senate.govPhone: 202-224-5274

Fax: 202-228-2183Capital Address:

716 Hart Senate OfficeBuilding

Washington, DC 20510-0905District Office:

Tallahassee, FLDistrict Phone: 850-942-8415

Senator Marco RubioPhone: 202-224-3041

Fax: 202-228-5171Capital Address:

524 Hart Senate OfficeBuilding

Washington, DC 20510-0903District Office:

Tallahassee, FLDistrict Phone: 813-207-0509

Our members live in severaldifferent districts. For yourrepresentative’s information, goto www.congress.org. Enteryour zip code and the web sitedoes the rest. You can e-mailmost of your representatives atonce with a click of your mouseat this web site. Their votingrecords are also available here.Check it out! Let them knowhow you feel, it’s your DUTY!

THE EAGLE’S EYE

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Eagle’s Eye is the official pub-lication of the Southwest FloridaArea Local, APWU, AFL-CIO. Theeditor has the right to determinewhether the material submittedshall be printed, and has the rightto edit as needed. It is the policy ofthis newsletter to disallow anyattacks on individuals. Opinionsexpressed are those of the writers,and not necessarily those of theExecutive Board. The deadline forsubmission of all articles is the dayof the monthly membership meet-ing. You must be an APWU mem-ber to submit an article. Name maybe withheld upon request. All arti-cles may be reprinted with propercredit given. Captions/cartoonsmay only be reprinted upon writtenpermission of the editor.

Southwest Florida Area LocalMembership News

We wish to extend our welcome toall new employees coming onboard at the United States PostalService by inviting you to our nextSWFAL APWU meeting at theUnion Hall located at 11000 MetroParkway, Unit 8, in Fort Myers.

Meetings are held once a monthon Sunday at 9:30am. Standstrong and be united, protect yourjob and discover the many benefitsof becoming a member of theSWFAL APWU.

Join us at our next local meeting -united we can make a positive dif-ference in our workplaces. Welook forward to seeing you there!

For those of you that haverecently retired who wish tocontinue receiving The Eagle’sEye newspaper, please email theEditor at Edswfal@aol.com or callKaren at our SWFAL APWU officeat 239-275-1007.

We encourage members to email

information to the editor regardingmarriages, graduations, specialevents or achievements of ouremployees, or their families.Please email information to TheEagle’s Eye at Edswfal@aol.com.We will be pleased to include asmany member announcements aspossible.

Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Michele “Mickey” Szymonik, our SWFAL APWU Maintenance Craft Directorwhose sister Jennifer, the youngest of eleven children, recently passed away at the age of 48 on Sept. 12, 2015at 6:06 a.m. She leaves behind her husband and three sons, ages 18, 15 and 11, her mother and 10 siblings aswell.

In Remembrance

Our SWFAL Secretary, Karen andhusband Jerry D'Angelo are cele-brating the birth of their newgrandbaby, Dominic PeterMonfore. Dominic arrived onThursday, August 27 at 1:02 p.m.weighing 6 lbs. and 8 oz and 20inches long.

He joins his brother Angelo whoturned 3 on September 26. Momand Dad, Kimmie and Roy arevery happy with their new additionto their family.

Birth Announcement