FMLA Protection

The Postal Service is cracking down on irregular attendance. If you have a qualifying condition, protect yourself and get your FMLA certification. FMLA gives you 12 weeks off and management can’t use those days off against you for discipline. You have to get your condition approved by your doctor and file  the appropriate FMLA form with  the Postal Service. To qualify for FMLA you must have worked 1250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of your leave. Under the regulations, employees continue to be able to use FMLA leave for any period of incapacity or treatment due to a chronic serious health condition. FMLA leave to care for a relative is generally limited to caring for a spouse, son and/or daughter (18 years old or younger) or a parent. FMLA is a great law that protects employees who need time off to care for themselves or family members. Use it if you qualify.

Protecting Clerk Craft Work

We all need your help protecting Clerk Craft work. If you see management, letter carriers, mail handlers or rural carriers performing clerk craft work, you need to write a statement and give it to your Union steward. They are not helping you when they are doing our work. They are stealing our jobs! The Union needs your assistance with this fight. You see the violations, so give the Union a statement so we can pursue the violations.  Without your assistance, we will lose jobs.

If your office is performing lobby sweeps, these transactions should be entered into the system. If they are not, we are not getting credit for these transactions. These transactions should be entered into the system every 30 minutes to have an accurate history. If this is not being done in your office, please file a grievance.

204B Utilization

Management is utilizing 204bs in violation of the CBA on a regular basis. There should not be a 204b in your office if there is not a vacancy of more than 14 days and not more than 90days. Management is also required to give advance notice to the Local Union of any 204b details. So, if you have a 204b in your office, call your Local Union President to see if they were provided advanced notice as required by the CBA. The Union has been successful in winning hundreds of thousands of dollars for this violation. It pays to file.

Bid Reversions

Management is in full attack mode to eliminate clerk craft bids. They have been reverting bids like crazy. Luckily for us, management doesn’t know how to revert bids correctly. We have been very successful in getting all of our bids back. If you have a job that becomes vacant in your office, let your Local Union know. So many times, management just lets the bid go and fails to revert it within the 28-day time frame of the CBA. Don’t assume management will do the right thing and contact the Union. The struggle continues and your participation is essential to the survival of the Clerk Craft.

Chuck Locke,

National Business Agent Clerk Craft