AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Ohio Gov. Candidate John Kasich Hates Unions

John Kasich, Republican candidate for Ohio Governor hates unions!  In a recently posted YouTube video Kasich is heard bragging about his Wall Steet dealings and ranting against unions and public employees.  Read more here or Click Here to watch the video

OSHA Fines USPS For Safety Violations at Cincinnati BMC

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined the Postal Service $210,000 for willfully exposing employees to electrical safety hazards at the Cincinnati Bulk Mail Center (BMC).

OSHA issued the USPS three citations after inspectors found that the Postal Service failed to provide employees working on electrically energized equipment with adequate training and protective equipment, exposing them to the risk of electric shock.

The latest citations in Ohio bring the Postal Service’s total OSHA fines to more than $4.6 million.

Union Vows to Fight to Save Postal Service From Itself

Reverend Jesse Jackson addresses the delegates on Wednesday

Click here to view news, highlights and video from the 2010 APWU National Convention

APWU -- Cosponsor HR 5746

APWU -- Cosponsor HR 5746

Crucial Postal Bill Clears First Hurdle

Crucial Postal Bill Clears First Hurdle

APWU Praises House Bill To Restore USPS Financial Stability

APWU Web News Article 069-2010, July 19, 2010

The APWU is praising a bill introduced by Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), which is designed to restore financial stability to the Postal Service. The legislation (H.R. 5746) would modify the formula for funding the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), and would rectify overpayments to the CSRS by the Postal Service ranging from $50 billion to $75 billion.

“I urge APWU members to contact their U.S. representatives immediately and ask them to co-sponsor this important legislation,” said union President William Burrus.

The bill (The United States Postal Service’s CSRS Obligation Modification Act of 2010) would alter the methodology used to determine the allocation of costs for retirement benefits between the federal government and USPS. Under current law, the costs are disproportionately split between the two, to the disadvantage of the Postal Service.

The USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) concluded in a January 2010 review that the Postal Service had overpaid approximately $75 billion for employees who spent part of their career working for the old Post Office Department before the USPS was established. An independent study performed by the Segal Group, which was commissioned by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), likewise found that the current methodology was not “fair and equitable,” but concluded that the disparity was between $50 billion and $55 billion.

H.R. 5746 would require the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to conduct a review to determine whether the USPS has overpaid CSRS; if OPM determines that the USPS has overpaid, the surplus would be transferred into the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits fund. This provision could lessen the severe burden imposed on the USPS by the requirement in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) to “pre-fund” future retiree health benefits, and could eliminate the need for future payments.

The pre-funding requirement, combined with the economic downturn, has prompted the Postal Service to propose severe cutbacks in service, such as closing stations and branches, consolidating installations, and eliminating Saturday mail delivery.

“This bill could go a long way to alleviating the Postal Service’s financial difficulties,” said Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid. “We urge union members to get active right away in support of this legislation.”

The House subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and District of Columbia, which Lynch chairs, may vote on the bill as early as July 21.

Department of Labor Safety Complaint Underscores Widespread, Systemic Violations

Department of Labor Safety Complaint Underscores Widespread, Systemic Violations

Speak Out in Favor of Maintaining 6 Day Mail Delivery

Click Here to go to the Postal Regulatory Commission website and express your opinion regarding the Postal Service's proposal to eliminate Saturday residential delivery.

The Commission is inviting public feedback on a Postal Service proposal to end carrier street address delivery, collection at blue collection boxes and most originating mail processing on Saturdays in the United States. This is one of the most significant changes the Postal Service has ever presented to the Commission. The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service that it proposes.

Among key questions to be answered are: “Will the savings the Postal Service anticipates be as significant as they estimate? Will mail volume decline more than the Postal Service anticipates? Will businesses and citizens have service that remains adequate to meet their needs? And will the national economic impact of service reductions offset or add to the savings that are proposed?

Postal employees need to speak out against this proposal.  Eliminating Saturday delivery is an ill conceived plan that would be a disservice to Americans and destroy the USPS; an icon of American public service. Consumers rely on the USPS to deliver everything from medical supplies and documents to parts and supplies for farms and small businesses; especially in rural areas. Necessities that may have been delivered Saturday will now wait until Monday and with the growing number of PO closings across the country, it will be more difficult than ever for working citizens to take delivery of items requiring a signature. For many, Saturday is the only day they are home to receive such items and the nearest PO may be miles away or closed before they can get there on a weekday after work.

In testimony before a Congressional panel, PMG Potter admitted that projected losses of $238 billion by year 2010 were a “theoretical” worst case scenario based on the ridiculous assumption that the USPS and Congress would “do nothing” to reduce costs or increase revenue over the next 10 years.

Protect your job, protect the sanctity of the mail and protect the Postal Service from the wreckless privateering vultures who would like nothing more than to see the USPS fail so they could swoop in and snatch up the most profitable bits of the scattered remains leaving the rest to rot on the carcass like carrion in the sun.

KEEP 6 DAY MAIL DELIVERY!

Is Your New Car "Born in the U.S.A."?

A 2009 article published in the NY Times details the confusion that consumers encounter when trying to discern which vehicles are actually made in the USA.  See the link below.  The second link offers a listing of all the vehicles built in North America, with the origins of their engines and transmissions and whether the factory is unionized, in an interactive graphic posted online.

Read the entire article here

"Born in the U.S.A." interactive link

Bill’s Author Can’t Change the Facts: Postal ‘Reform’ Created the USPS’ Financial Plight

APWU President Bill Burrus takes aim at the author of the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act (PAEA), Republican Senator Susan Collins (ME), for her most recent masterpiece; a letter to the editor of the Washington Post defending the 2006 legislation.



Bill’s Author Can’t Change the Facts: Postal ‘Reform’ Created the USPS’ Financial Plight

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Senator Sherrod Brown Calls For OIG Investigative Review of Lima AMP Study

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 — The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has issued the following news release:
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown called for an investigation on the effects of a proposed consolidation of U.S. Postal Service facilities in Lima, Ohio.  In a letter sent this week to David C. Williams, the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Brown requested more information on the Area Mail Processing (AMP) Study that is being conducted in the Lima area.

“I remain concerned that USPS simply cannot maintain an adequate level of service if the consolidations occur, which would only serve to reduce the use of USPS in Ohio,” Brown wrote in a letter to Williams.  “In addition to a degraded level of service, this consolidation could displace many workers and their families. Not only could many Postal Workers be forced to move great distances to preserve their jobs, but they would leave a social and economic void in the communities from which they have been uprooted.”

AMP studies investigate the potential to streamline USPS services by consolidating service locations.  Brown previously requested data on the effect of an AMP decision.  He wrote to the Inspector General to formally request that data, and express concern over the effect of an AMP decision on Lima families.

Full text of the letter appears below:
February 16, 2010

Inspector General David C. Williams
United States Postal Service
1735 N. Lynn St.
Arlington, VA 22209-2020

Dear Inspector General Williams:

I am writing in regard to the ongoing Area Mail Processing (AMP) Study in Lima, Ohio.

Over the past four months, I have raised a number of issues with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in Ohio about the proposed consolidation of USPS facilities in Lima. I remain concerned that USPS simply cannot maintain an adequate level of service if the consolidations occur, which would only serve to reduce the use of USPS in Ohio. In addition to a degraded level of service, this consolidation could displace many workers and their families. Not only could many Postal Workers be forced to move great distances to preserve their jobs, but they would leave a social and economic void in the communities from which they have been uprooted.

I have asked the Ohio USPS for data and analysis that would shed light on the impact of the consolidations, and have received neither. I am therefore formally requesting the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General conduct an audit of the AMP study in Lima, Ohio.


Please review this request and provide me with your comments. If you wish to discuss this request, please contact me or Patrick Jackson from my staff at (202) 224-2315.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,
Sherrod Brown
United States Senator

Interesting reading:  Senators Want "Buy American" Rule in Stimulus

Union Veterans Information Day

On April 14, 2010 the Ohio AFL-CIO and the Union Veterans Council will hold a "Union Veterans Information Day" at the Plumbers & Pipefitters Hall in Columbus. All active and retired union military veterans are encouraged to attend.
The event kicks off the State Federation's efforts to have an active union veterans program and will provide information on benefits and services that may be available to military veterans and their families.
The OPWU is involved with establishing the union veterans program within the Ohio AFL-CIO. It is important that locals send someone to this event so you can learn what is available for your local union veterans.
If you know a union veteran, please provide them with this information.
The Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Hall is located at 1250 Kinnear Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Lunch will be provided. The event runs from 10:00-3:00 PM.
If you have any questions, please contact Jeanette Mauk, Field Director, Ohio AFL-CIO at 614-224-8271, ext. 7144.

A Letter Of Rebuttal from OPWU President Terry Grant

Ohio Postal Workers Union President Terry Grant issued this letter to members shortly after PMG Potter's message to Postal Employees was posted on The USPS website. A link to Potter's message is provided below.

Dear Sister/Brother:

Today PMG Potter delivered a message to postal employees and the public envisioning America's future postal service. His message can be viewed on the USPS/news/link. Every postal employee should watch this message. Mr. Potter talks about how much he appreciates the work of postal employees and how much that work means to our customers. But then he outlines the "plan for the future" and it contains:

1. Asking Congress to restructure payments required for retiree health care benefits and changing the law to keep from overpaying into Postal Service Civil Service Retirement
2. Change the delivery frequency to five days
3. Want more flexibility to managing our traditional retail network so that they can expand access and help customers to more business through existing and new channels & retail partners
4. New pricing flexibility
5. Increased employee flexibility
6. Assure that legal and regulatory processes enable these changes

So, what does all this mean? Well, we certainly support changing the required amount of payment for retiree health care benefits and the lowering of payment for Civil Service Retirement . But, five day delivery means changes in work hours, jobs, and days off. Flexibility in managing the retail network means more contracting out and less window service work. Increased employee flexibility means more part-time less full-time and more lower wage workers (like casuals). We cannot agree with those things.We have never negotiated for a new contract under such postal service & economic frailty. This will be the most difficult bargaining situation ever faced.

Terry Grant, President OPWU

PMG Potter's message to Postal Employees

The Ohio Postal Workers Union (OPWU) is hosting a website for APWU members. The site which has been up and running for just over a year recently celebrated its 10,000th visitor. OPWU.org is a great resource for all sorts of useful information including links to top Postal News websites and where to purchase American Made and Union Made products. The member resources section offers information on:

• Family Medical Leave


• OWCP


• Training and information resources for Stewards


• Retirement Planning


• Veterans Issues and Affairs


• Current Legislative Issues and much, much more

The site is free to everyone. Registration is required to access "Member Only" areas and/or receive e-mail notices. Check it out!

The Straight Story About Bankers' Pay

A recent e-mail from the Service Employees International Union:

Hi - Today, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that big banks are breaking their own rules, easing pay restrictions and offering "forgivable loans" to bankers who need a little extra cash. This news comes just two weeks from when the bank CEOs sat on Capitol Hill and said - under oath - that they had placed new, tough restrictions on executive compensation.I just wrote a letter to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) asking them to investigate - you can, too: http://action.seiu.org/thestraightstoryA few weeks ago, in front of the newly-formed FCIC, the banks assured the American people that they'd written tough new rules for executive pay. But this week, it appears that banks have been adding the fine print: Bank of America is letting employees cash in on their stock holdings after just a few weeks instead of years, and Citigroup is offering some employees loans that they may never have to pay back.These same banks are kicking families out of their homes because they can't afford their mortgages, but they're offering their own executives loans they don't have to pay back? The American people deserve to know what's going on.Join me in asking the FCIC to investigate: http://action.seiu.org/thestraightstoryThanks!