Newsletter January 2008

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