There have been numerous calls to the Union office and reported by shop stewards that supervisors are attempting to assign work to letter carriers that are outside their medical limitations. Please be advised that any management person would be in violation of Article 14 of the National Agreement if they give any such instructions.

A letter carrier has the right to refuse to perform any work that would violate their medical restrictions. Be aware of what your medical restrictions are. Keep a copy on your person, at all times while at work. Make sure that the management person giving you the instruction is aware of your restrictions (show them your copy of restrictions).
Then advise them that you will not follow the instruction because it violates your medical restrictions. You, the letter carrier, are the one to enforce your medical restrictions. If there is an attempt by management to violate those restrictions, I hope that you will follow my advice and report the incident to your shop steward or to the Union office. You have a right to work in a safe workplace under safe working conditions.

Limited Duty Job Offers - Management has offered injured letter carriers “limited duty job offers,” and required the injured letter carrier to sign that they accept or reject the job offer, then send the signed job offer to some management person.

Letter carriers should take the time to review these job offers and make certain that the duties are within your medical restrictions and that the hours of the position are as close to your regular schedule as possible. The start times and lunch times should be close to what they were prior to your injury. If not, you should write your protest on the job offer stating what parts of the job offer you are protesting and that you are accepting the offer “under protest.” If you don’t accept a job offer that is within your medical restrictions, you could lose your compensation rights.

So sign that you accept the job offer and write “under protest,” listing the areas of protest next to your name. If you have questions, telephone the Union office before you sign the job offer. If the job offer is believed to violate your rights, a grievance can be filed on your behalf.

Open Season for Health Insurance - Open season for selection of new health insurance plans will be held November 14 to December 12, 2005. There will be a chance for every letter carrier to join the NALC HEALTH BENEFIT PROGRAM. This plan is owned and operated by the National Association of Letter Carriers. In other words, join your “own” plan. Look at the comparison charts and you will realize that the NALC Health Benefit Plan is the best plan for letter carriers.
It’s our plan - let’s get in it.

MDA Lock-Up - The Muscular Dystrophy fund raiser was a success with the help of letter carriers and friends of Branch 2200. We raised over $3,000 for Jerry’s kids. The amount was not as much as last year, but is understandable with most of our attention and resources diverted to helping and supporting the hurricane victims of Louisiana, Alabama and Texas. Hopefully, next year will be better for everyone. And I want to thank every one of you that donated to Jerry’s kids and I hope to thank the rest of the letter carriers for their anticipated donation in a better year, next year.

– Be Professional –
There’s Strength in Unity
by Leroy Collier

 

 

The Steward's Corner

Another lifetime ago....

This month marks a couple of landmarks for me. Twenty-nine (yes, that’s 29!) years ago this month (in fact, tomorrow), another lifetime ago, I walked into the North Fair Oaks Annex - I still remember the address (535 N Fair Oaks) in Pasadena. That building, and I suspect a number of its old inhabitants, is no longer amongst us. It was leveled for a parking lot for the General Mail Facility that was intended to “house” lots of machines and three carrier units of Pasadena. The carriers lasted only a few years there and they finally “squeezed” us out. Progress.

This month also landmarks the end of an era for me. Gilbert Diaz (fondly remembered as “Tina”) and Danny Godoy (we won’t tell you his fondly remembered name) retired on October 1st. They are the final two carriers that “resided” in Zip 91105 when I walked onto that workroom floor those 29 years ago. They are the final two that remember some of the crazy things I/we did in those days. And no, I will not put those things in writing. I’m not stupid.

And finally, also fitting, this month marks my writing about the Branch’s retirement banquet/party. Every year, Branch 2200 hosts a banquet recognizing and honoring retirees. A “lifetime” of memories in a single afternoon. I can’t tell you how much fun it was....really. The decorations and music, done by Carolyn Zorn (in her infinite spare time), were perfect - lots of old, hmmm....”very old” letter carrier group pictures and lots of old USPS memorabilia. Lots of great food. And better than that...lots of great old stories and memories from the retirees themselves. From delivering mail on bicycles with baskets on the front, to riding the train, to the three-wheelers that routinely just “flipped over.” From conversations about “sweats” (traditionally mail that no one knew what to do with - nixies - you know the letters that keep appearing over and over and over in your DPS mail today) to two-trip routes, to afternoon on-the-clock softball games when carriers had finished their routes. Hmmm...I remember us doing something else those afternoons.

In the last five years, I’ve been wondering if there would be a Postal Service to retire from. If you haven’t been paying attention, we all need to be supporting postal reform and protecting our jobs. You can sign up as an e-activist very simply - bottom of the home page at www.nalc.org, enter your e-mail address and click the “Sign Up!” button. Less than one minute of your time - and receive all of the latest information.

I will be eligible for retirement in August, 2010, with 34 years in the USPS, and I’ve been counting the days. I was much too young for this twenty-nine years ago, and I’m much too old for it now. I would have bet and lost a billion $$ that I wouldn’t have “stayed” here, but life does happen while we’re making other plans.
I often dream and wonder what retirement feels and looks like. It is hard to imagine a life without a route, a life without scans, a life without 3996's. It’s hard to imagine, but it can’t be too hard to live it.

And so....I dream on. I look forward to the day of joining my retiree brothers and sisters and telling my story at the NALC Branch 2200 Retirement Banquet. Hope to see you all there next year!!

Nancy Meyer
Letter Carrier - 91105
Secretary-Treasurer/Branch 2200

Under the Mattress?
A burglar enters a house in the middle of the night, but is interrupted when the owner awakes. Drawing his gun, the burglar says, “Don’t move or I’ll shoot. I’m hunting for your money.”
“Let me turn on the light,” replies the victim, “and I’ll hunt with you.”