Plan News was updated on May 1, 2008
Beginning May 1, a new interfund transfer (IFT) rule was implemented. For each calendar month, your first two IFTs can redistribute money in your account among any or all of the TSP Funds. After that, for the remainder of the month, your IFTs can only move money into the Government Securities Investment (G) Fund (in which case, you will increase the percentage of your account held in the G Fund by reducing the percentage held in one or more of the other TSP Funds). If you have both a civilian and a uniformed services account, the rules apply to each account separately.
...For more information...   |    A quick summary of April

Boycott & Picket Hailed as a Success
Correspondence between Arguello and Alex
concerning the upcoming Boycott and Picket at the Unity Day  
Special Isuue April/May Dispatch
This is a special issue of the Dispatch concerning the call for the up-coming boycott and pickets.

Management Lies & Deceit
Stations & Associate Offices Alert

Step 2-Article 14 grievance for the violation of no safety talks on the DBCS
Update: Asst. Craft Dir. Robert Rodriguez has filed a grievance on the safety talk issues for Tour 1. He just sent me a copy of the Step 2-Article 14 grievance for the violation of no safety talks on the DBCS. You can read it here. Why they couldn’t settle this at Step 1 is a mystery. But let’s all remember that “Safety is our Number 1 priority”. Yeah right...

EMPLOYEES EXCESS TO THE NEED OF A SECTION
This purpose of this article is to make our members aware of their rights when employees are excess to the need of a section. It is important to keep in mind that management makes the decision to abolish duty assignments and excess employees. The role of the union is to ensure the provisions of the contract for excessing from a section are adhered to. By the union making sure the provisions are followed, the union is also protecting the employee’s rights of both junior and senior employees.
...read the article -submitted by SAAAL President Alex Aleman - March/April Dispatch

Pre-Disciplinary Interview (PDI)
The purpose of this article will be to try and clarify some typical questions which arise from and procedures that govern a proper PDI.
First, please do not confuse PDI with an official discussion. The contract, under Article 16 (the discipline procedure) still requires management to give an official discussion, for minor offenses, prior to issuing discipline. You do not have the right to union representation for an official discussion.
....more on this article  

Step 1 Grievance Form Outline
I am including a STEP 1 GRIEVANCE FORM that you can fill out with the station name or associate office. We are losing a lot of work due to these grievances NOT being filed. I need your assistance in waging this war on reclaiming our Clerk work back!!! Make copies of this form and keep handy. The grievance must be filed within 14 days of the violation. Put a date and fill in the information in the grievance body. This STEP 1 will cover either management or carriers (rural carriers) performing Clerk work. Once the grievance is filed, a chief steward or I will handle the STEP 2 APPEAL.
...download the form -submitted by Clerk Craft Director "B", Sandra Lira

SAAAL Jonell MacKay Memorial Scholarships
It's that time of year again. The Local will be giving away 3 - $500 scholarships.
Applications are due April 30 but be sure to submit your application early. You don't want to miss this opportunity. You can find out more info here.

click for larger image

Don't Be Taken In!
The postal service is once again promoting its voice of the Employee Survey. Employee surveys and participation programs have long been a point of dispute between the Postal Service and the APWU, with the union actively urging our members not to take part in such studies. Our main concern is that the Postal Service has misrepresented the results of employee opinion surveys in the past, including during contract negotiations and interest arbitrations when it has used survey data to justify claims that employees supported its wage proposals.
Before you fill out that survey, read an article that explains why the Union and your Local encourages you not to do so.   Don't Be Taken In!
Members who turn in their blank surveys to the union will be eligible for $$$ drawings at the General Membership Meetings.
Congratulations to our latest winners: Joseph LaBonte ($50) & Isaac Cabillos ($25) & Elizabeth Quiroga ($25)

Ask President Burrus - Question:
It seems the Clerk Craft is losing a lot of newly created jobs to the Mail Handler Craft. In our facility a lot of Mail Handlers are working 40 or more hours a week in overtime. Do you think the new jobs are going to the Mail Handler craft because we have provisions for penalty overtime pay and they do not?
David, Indianapolis Area Local   (04/22)   |    [Pres. Burrus Response]

Find the Secret Word
And The Winners Are:
We had two $50.00 winners in the Jan/Feb '08 issue of the Dispatch "Word For This Isssue" contest.
The secret word was [mitigate] and was found on page 15 in an article on Pre-Disciplinary Interviews (PDI) which read; "You do discuss anything you choose to discuss which you believe could mitigate management’s reason for issuing discipline."
Our two winners for this issue were won by Robert M. Brown PL 505 and Soilo Munoz PL 139. (Brother Munoz in pic above with his winnings)
Congratulations!!
Be sure and read the March/April issue of your Dispatch and you to might be $50 richer.

USPS should take ‘service’ out of its name
Long lines, no stamp vending machines, fewer window clerks, they want you to buy your stamps at your local supermarket or online. Perhaps it is time for the United States Postal Service to change its name to the United States Postal Company. After all, services are being reduced or done away with. Conveniences such the stamp vending machines and the “postal store” for quick “stamps-only” purchases have disappeared. The USPS claims they are doing this to cut costs and save money. That’s the excuse every company gives when it cuts customer service. They never lower their costs by eliminating or consolidating upper management positions, just their direct contact with their customers.
Service, to me, is helping customers. A mailing machine can give you options, but it can’t help you make the best decision on which way to mail or insure a package. A machine that takes credit or debit cards only, can’t help a customer who only wants a couple of stamps. Neither will your local supermarket when they sell you a book of stamps. And now that there is a more complex size restriction for the size of a first class letter envelope, how is a person to know how much postage to put on a greeting card this holiday season? I guess they wait on the long line. Where do you buy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Eid stamps? For those, you to have to wait in the long line to buy them at the post office. Supermarkets carry books or rolls of regular stamps, not the various commemorative or holiday stamps available at the post office.   
-Ronald Scheiman—Retired APWU Member
Reprinted from the Sun-Sentinel.com    With the permission from the author

New Hearing Benefit
Members of both the APWU Health Plan High Option and Consumer Driven Option have a hearing benefit that is new this year. The American Hearing Benefits Program is a non-FEHB optional program with no additional premium that supplements the benefits of APWU Health Plan coverage ....for more information  

» Aerospace industry migrating to Mexico in greater numbers » Layoffs force local workers to seek food relief » Unions, grocers agree » Flight attendants protest management bonuses » Nike strike ends in Vietnam » Unions Aren't the Problem » United mechanics to start voting on union 4/21/2008 » eNAPUS: Expanding Competition Risks Universal Service (PDF) 4/20/2008 » Women who collected tax returns not from IRS, post office » Officials ID bicyclist killed by postal truck » Nebraska: Rural mail carrier dies in accident while delivering mail » Mail carrier climbs on car to fend off dogs » Man in postal uniform robs Union City bank » To-die-for ZIP is code for 'made it' 4/19/2008 » Wisconsin: Bombs planted in rural mailboxes » USPS Launches 'Green' Website » APWU Opposes NLRB/USPS Settlement Agreement Relating to Weingarten Violations » Mail Carrier Attacked by Pit Bull 4/18/2008 » USPS OIG Audit Report - Voyager Card Program (PDF) » Ross-Simons Slams Proposed USPS Rule Change for 'Slim Jim' Processing » Teens accused of shooting BB gun at mail carrier » McAllen postal worker charged with stealing from mail 4/17/2008 » Act Now to Keep Post Office Open More » Postal Inspectors Return Funds From Nigerian Internet Scam » Harlem Postal Killer Had Load of Illegal Guns » Tax Day Fiasco as Hundreds Shocked to See Post Office Closed » Postal Bulletin 4/17/08 Issue » Grandmother in Shock: Grandson Shot Mail Carrier » Mail carrier accused of vandalizing trees on route 4/12/2008 » APWU donates $30,000 to help save post office » Bill the Mailman: A grateful farewell 4/11/2008 » A post office in Party Town » Postal Service $13,000 dinner = good PR for Ruth's Chris » Postal union decries bulk mailing change » Postal Service looking to consolidate Watertown and Oakville post offices