Get Involved Before Its Too Late

By National Business Agent: “Chuck Locke“

Get Involved Before Its Too Late

As we head into the midterm elections, there is a lot at stake. The current administration is attempting to make the Postal Service the organization to determine who can vote in our country by limiting mail in voting. This is simply a strategy to discourage voting and to reduce the publics opinion of the Postal Service. Make no doubt about it, this administration has a plan to privatize the Postal Service but they know we are the highest rated federal government agency and they must do something about that first. So, this is the first step to tarnish our reputation with the public. It is important that we all vote for candidates who support the Postal Service and believe in keeping the Postal Service as it was designed by our forefathers, a public service! Make sure you VOTE!!!!

The Postal Service is installing new and updated automation equipment throughout the country at the same time as they are saying they don’t have any money. Funny how they seem to have money for what they want to buy while they are so broke. Once again, the Postal Service is lying to the public to make it appear they need to privatize, we need to wake up as postal employees and get involved politically. It’s time to attend meetings, join protests and contact your congressional
representatives regularly. Don’t sit on the sidelines and hope someone else does it. It’s your job and the publics post office you are fighting for. During the Great Postal Strike of 1970, one of the strikers said, “we are not doing this for us, we are
doing it for the postal employees who will come after us.” We need to do the same thing now and pay it forward.

EXCESSING

With all the new automation, there will be a reduction in clerk craft positions. Most of the jurisdiction on this new equipment has been awarded to the mail handler craft. The Postal Service has to provide 6 months advanced notice of excessing to
the Regional Coordinator for excessing outside the installation and six months to the local president for excessing out of a section. We need to hold managements feet to the fire on these timelines. It’s not like they don’t know they have bought
this equipment and made the jurisdictional determinations that they did.

If you are affected by excessing and you bid out of the section prior to actually being physically excessed, you will not have retreat rights back to the section. If the Postal Service is excessing outside of your installation, all the employees in the installation will have priority bidding rights for bids listed on the 21-day bidding

process. If you are looking for a transfer, that would be the time to bid. If you get any letters pertaining to the abolishment of your bid or excessing out of your section or facility, make sure you contact your Union steward immediately. Management has no clue what they are doing and they don’t care what the contract says. See your steward and protect your rights.

Chuck Locke,
NBA San Francisco Region