June 2021 Newsletter

Greater East Bay Branch 1111 News Volume 41 Number 466

June 2021

ELECTION NOTICE This is official notice to the membership of Branch 1111, Greater East Bay, California that nominations for the election of Branch officers will be held at the regular monthly general meeting, 7:00 pm, August 24, 2021 at the Branch Office, 402 37th Street, Richmond, CA. The term of office is two years, beginning with the installation of officers at the November 23, 2021 Branch meeting.

Nominations will be held for the following Branch offices: President, Executive VicePresident, 1st Vice-President, 2nd Vice-President, 3rd Vice-President, 4th Vice-President, Secretary Treasurer, Assistant Secretary Treasurer, Insurance Officer, three Trustees, seven Executive Council members and a Sergeant-at-Arms.

All candidates for office must be present at the Branch meeting when nominated and/or signify in writing their willingness to serve if elected. Nominations may also be made in writing but must be received by the Secretary Treasurer before nominations at the Branch meeting, August 24, 2021.

Candidates must verify that they have not held, accepted nor applied for (voluntarily or otherwise) a supervisory position in the Postal Career Service in the 24 months preceding nominations. Candidates may accept a nomination for only one office.

Nominations for delegate to the State and National conventions will also be held. The candidates elected President and Secretary Treasurer shall be compensation-eligible delegates by virtue of their offices.

The election will be conducted by secret mail ballot. Ballots with instructions will be mailed to the home addresses of eligible members in good standing on or about September 13, 2021. Write-in votes are not permitted.

Ballots must be returned for counting by the close of business, October 18, 2021.

Eligible members who have not received a ballot should contact the Branch office right away. The results will be announced at the October 26, 2021 General Membership meeting.

Branch 1111 in person meetings will resume on Tuesday, August 24, 2021 in combination with the virtual Branch meeting option

Branch 1111 News

June 2021

NALC HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN SERVICE LINES General Claims Inquiries Hospital Precertification (Required) Prerecorded Benefits Information Prescription Customer Service Line

1-888- 636-NALC 1-800-622-6252 1-888-636-NALC 1-800-933-NALC

BRANCH PAPER DEADLINE The deadline for copy for Branch 1111 News is the 3rd of each month. News stories, articles, letters, drawings, or cartoons, as well as photographs -- either recent or historical -should be submitted to the Branch office. Short notices of personal or shop floor interest are especially welcome. The Editor and Assistant Editor retain the right to edit, delete, or reject articles and artwork for the good of the Branch.

BRANCH 1111 OFFICERS Edward P. Fletcher, President Jose Ochoa, Executive Vice President Narciso Paderanga, First Vice President Francisco Cabrera , Second Vice President Julie McCormick, Third Vice President Terrence Super, Fourth Vice President John Ferreira, Secretary-Treasurer Mary Phelps, Asst. Sec-Treasurer Keith Massey, Sgt-at-Arms Jacob Morgan, Insurance Officer Jose Corral, Trustee Jerry DePoe, Trustee Ron Jones, Trustee

Greater East Bay Branch 1111 News Branch 1111 News is the official monthly publication of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), Greater East Bay Branch 1111. Circulation 3,000 Offices Served:

Alameda, Alamo, Antioch, Benicia, Berkeley, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, Crockett, Danville, El Cerrito, Fairfield, Fremont, Lafayette, Livermore, Martinez, Moraga, Oakland, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasanton, Richmond, Rodeo-Hercules, San Lorenzo, San Ramon, Suisun City, Union City, Vallejo, Walnut Creek

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EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS

Christina Aviles, Elizabeth Corriea, Rickie Cox, Marisela Fletcher, Ray Garcia, Joshua Pearl, Frances Rodriguez-Swint

BRANCH 1111 OFFICE HOURS Monday-Friday: 8 am to 5 pm 402 – 37th Street Richmond, Ca. 94805- 2134 510-237-5111, Fax 510-237-5181

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/nalcbranch1111 WEBSITE: www.Branch1111.org Meetings are held every fourth Tuesday of the month except in December

BRANCH 1111 NEWS STAFF Editor - Joshua Pearl: joshpbranch1111@gmail.com Assistant Editor – John Jekabson: jjbranch1111@gmail.com Contributors -- Ed Fletcher, Jose Ochoa, John Ferreira, Narciso Paderanga, Julie McCormick, Liz Corriea, Ron Jones, Jerry DePoe, Francisco Cabrera, Mary Phelps, Terrence Super, Keith Massey, Jacob Morgan, Jimmie Braden Jr. Views expressed in Branch 1111 News do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor, Assistant Editor, Branch Officers, or members of National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 1111

June 2021

Branch 1111 News

REAL AND VIRTUAL BRANCH MEETINGS In person Branch meetings will resume in August. But members will also be able to be present by “virtual.” means.

The choice is up to you. The next Branch meeting is Tuesday, June 22 at 7:00pm. It will still be only virtual.

RETROACTIVE PAY

The USPS has tentatively scheduled late July as the target period to include back pay for the new 2019-2023 National Agreement. In the past, the pay was spread out over two pay paychecks. This will include two 1.1% raises and and $770 in COLAs.

FOOD DRIVE UPDATE

After much consideration, NALC decided to cancel the Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive for 2021 because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to having a traditional Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive the 2nd Saturday in May 2022, just as we have done for nearly three decades. For now, members can still help feed the needy by going to the NALC’s ongoing Stamp Out Hunger Donor Drive at nalc.org/food to find links to their local food bank.

Berkeley PTF Pietro Bigotti excited to finally get his uniform.

NEW OPTION FOR HOLIDAY PAY

Beginning with the upcoming 2021 Independence Day holiday, full-time or part-time regular letter carriers and CCAs have another option when they work their holiday. These employees who work their holiday now can, at their option, elect to have their annual leave balance credited with up to eight hours of annual leave in lieu of receiving the holiday pay described above. Employees who do not work their holiday or designated holiday may not exchange holiday pay for annual leave.

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU!

The following carriers retired recently: Rebecca Aranda and Johnny Dunwood of Oakland, Aida Arevalo of Fremont, App Browning of Lafayette, Agnes Ojeda of Orinda, Ronilo Jualo of Fairfield and Aaron Warnock of Antioch. We wish many years of leisure to all.

A CORRECTION FROM LAST MONTH

Branch 1111 wishes to acknowledge our Sister Yvonne Tanner, a carrier at the Airport Station for 30 years and a Branch 1111 member for 50 years. Her husband of 63 years, Jonathan Tanner, passed away on 05/02/2021. Our sympathies go out to her and her family.

Oakland Eastmont carrier Diane Mckinney getting ready for a busy post-Memorial Day Tuesday

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June 2021

Branch 1111 News

The Long Road Travelled

Sometimes a change is necessary to get a different perspective on dealing with recurring issues. We look forward to working with our new district counterparts to resolve issues, reduce grievances, improve the safety and health of all Letter Carriers, the morale, stop costly noncompliance violations and appropriately deal with those managers who do not treat employees with dignity and respect.

Chasing Attrition

By Edward P. Fletcher, President

In every office we visit, we hear complaints about staffing shortages, high attrition rates for new employees, excessive mandatory overtime, days off cancelled from here to infinity, low morale, senior carriers who originally wanted to stay on, deciding to retire. It isn’t rocket science. Why is it so hard for the USPS to maintain sufficient staffing levels in all Postal Installations? We have been dealing with high attrition rates for more than 5 years. It must be permanently fixed.

It can’t be as hard as it was for Rocky Balboa, whose training included chasing chickens that were extremely fast and agile. The answer is simpler than you think. The USPS must hire twice as many employees, due to the 50 percent attrition rate than its current complement numbers call for or toss them out altogether. The USPS must also change the way they treat their employees to ensure that these new employees remain on the rolls.

By ensuring sustainable and realistic staffing levels, the USPS would permanently break the cycle of high attrition and mandatory overtime, which will improve the quality of life for all employees. There is no other way in my opinion. In fact, and as we have stated before to the old Bay Valley District, the California District-2 should be hiring “right now” for the fall mailing season, and not wait until the chickens come home to roost. The Branch will continue to push for sustainable staffing and contract compliance.

As of the writing of this article on June 08, 2021 and 15 months after COVID-19 hit us like a tsunami, positive cases and hospitalizations are down. It appears that vaccinations and social distancing have made a significant difference. Many States are fully opening up and/or relaxing COVID-19 restrictions. Although all of this is good news, it is important that we move forward as safely as possible with the knowledge that COVID-19 variants could set us back.

As far as the offices represented by Branch 1111 were concerned, we had a total of about 100 COVID-19 exposures reported since March of 2020 for all USPS craft employees. We would also like to express our deepest sympathy for our brothers and sisters that we lost and their family members during this pandemic.

Branch 1111 Meetings On June 15, 2021, the Executive Council will be discussing safety protocols and making recommendations for in-person Branch meetings beginning on August 24, 2021. Our last non-Webex Branch meeting was held on February 25, 2020, which was one and a half years ago.

On June 15, 2021, the State of California will announce its COVID-19 reopening protocols. We are looking forward to getting back to our regular in-person Branch meetings and doing it safely.

In our continuing discussions, we will review California State, OSHA and the CDC guidelines. We will discuss vaccinations, mask wearing, social distancing, sanitizers…etc. We will also continue to offer a virtual Branch meeting option for those who choose not to attend the in-person meetings. As far as Branch events that were cancelled due to COVID-19, we will reschedule them in 2022.

USPS Redistricting If you haven’t already heard, the Bay Valley District, of which we have been a part for a few decades, no longer exists as we know it. Our new District is now known as California-2, or CA-2, which is part of the Sacramento District. Much like route adjustments where carrier routes are abolished, several District Management support jobs were eliminated and/or combined.

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Want to Save the Branch Some Money?

Tired of receiving your paper copy of the Branch newspaper? Two copies coming to your house? Prefer viewing it on our website?

Good news! You can now opt out of a paper delivery and we’ll email you when the new electronic edition has been uploaded.

Email joshpbranch1111@gmail.com or call the Branch at 510-237-5111 to make the switch and save some $ in printing costs for Branch 1111.

June 2021

We Must Take Action Collectively About Improper Mandating!

By: Terrence Lee Super 4th Vice President

Thousands of dollars a week are being paid out by the Postal Service, in basically every office that Branch 1111 covers, on Article 8 settlements. This is all because management refuses to max out its auxiliary assistance daily, and for whatever reason, it’s getting worse! This has been an issue for a very long time and it’s time that we start requesting higher compensatory remedies when Management egregiously violates Article 8. For those who don’t know what an Article 8 violation is--it’s when Management forces carriers who DON’T want the overtime (non-ODL Carriers) to work overtime on their own assignment or forces them to work overtime off their assignment-- meaning that after you finish your route, you are mandated to do what we call a “section,” “relay,” “piece,” or “swing” on another route that’s not yours.

Here’s the thing: 9 times out of 10 Management does this BEFORE they max out their auxiliary assistance, which are OTDL Carriers, PTFs and CCAs who actually want the overtime. Management must maximize them first BEFORE they force non-ODL Carriers to work on and/or off their assignment.

There are many parts to Article 8 but what I’m talking about in particular is what Article 8.5.D and the Letter Carrier Paragraph states: (From J-CAM pages 8-15) Implementing Memorandum on “Letter Carrier Paragraph.”

A memorandum of understanding signed December 20, 1988 (M-00884) further explained the requirement to seek to use auxiliary assistance before requiring letter carriers not on the ODL or Work Assignment List to work overtime on their own route on a regularly scheduled day.

Management must seek to use all of the following to provide auxiliary assistance: • part-time flexibles at the straight-time or regular overtime rate • city carrier assistant employees at the straight-time or regular overtime rate • available full-time regular employees such as unassigned or reserve regulars at the straight-time rate • full-time carriers from the Overtime Desired List at the regular overtime rate

Branch 1111 News (From J-CAM pages 8-17) Mandatory Overtime One purpose of the Overtime Desired List is to excuse fulltime carriers not wishing to work overtime from having to work overtime. Before requiring a non-ODL carrier to work overtime on a non-scheduled day or off his/her own assignment on a regularly scheduled day, management must seek to use a carrier from the ODL, even if the ODL carrier would be working penalty overtime.

This is just a little contract knowledge for those who want to know what the most violated Article in the National Agreement is! But getting back to my point of all this, being a firm believer in doing what’s right for the membership. I am going to start pushing with much more effort on this violation and requesting a higher penalty for this egregious-- and a lot of times-- deliberate violation! But, we need your help!

Some Arbitrators will grant higher compensatory settlements. For example: Arbitrator Claude Dawson Ames case number C-30973 (which you can Google) awarded the Stockton Carriers an enhanced remedy of 500% of their base hourly rate to non-ODL Carriers who were improperly mandated. As well as a 250% remedy for those who were not maxed out! This was an awfully expensive remedy the Postal Service had to pay; and trust me, if an office had to pay that ridiculous premium for egregiously violating Article 8, don’t you think they would stop?

Well, they would have to because a lot of the offices in this area do not have the budget to pay a grievance settlement like that!

Therefore, they would have no choice but to stop forcing non-ODL Carriers to work overtime in violation of Article 8; but again, we need your help. Part of the reason an Arbitrator would award such an expensive settlement is because the Union showed the HARM. This basically means that an Arbitrator wants to know what you missed out on by working all of those hours. For example: HARM would be, not being able to spend time with your family because of the long hours that you were improperly mandated causing your possible medical conditions to flare up, or the additional wear and tear on your body. It can be a lot of things, but what we need from our members are statements that we can include in the Article 8 files that would show the HARM it is causing to be constantly mandated improperly.

If we show that HARM, there is an excellent chance that (with the history included in the file of management deliberately and egregiously improperly mandating carriers) we would get an Arbitrator to award an enhanced compensatory remedy much like the one mentioned above. So, if one of your Stewards ask you to write a statement about the HARM that being improperly mandated has placed upon you, please take the time to do it. We can get a remedy like this if we come together to keep Management from improperly mandating!

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Branch 1111 News

Mario Will Be Missed

By Julie McCormick, Third Vice President

Martinez Letter Carrier Mario Sanchez officially retired from carrying mail on May 31, 2021 after over 36 years of service. Mario is the epitome of an excellent letter carrier, always providing fast, reliable, professional and friendly service to all the customers he served.

Mario started his career as a letter carrier in Richmond, California. During his retirement speech, he reminisced about a day early on his career where he nearly quit. He stated that he was delivering a route he hardly knew; it was pouring down rain and he had no rain gear; he had to deliver multiple bundles of mails. Just as he was about to reach the peak of his despair in this moment, his Postmaster showed up on his route with brand new rain gear for Mario to keep and offered words of encouragement for Mario to finish his route. Mario stated at the end of this story that this was exactly how he wanted to be treated and how he wanted to treat others. This seemingly small gesture by the Richmond Postmaster during his first few days as a letter carrier set the path for him for the rest of his career.

June 2021 everything he has done for his customers. There was live music, food, drinks, and people lined up just to tell Mario how much they appreciated and are going to miss him. One of Mario’s customers was the Mayor of Martinez. During this block party, the Mayor of Martinez declared June 6 as Mario Sanchez day to honor his years of excellent service provided to the community of Martinez.

Some of Mario’s customers have also expressed their gratitude for him:  “We will miss Mario so very much! He was the absolute BEST mail carrier ever. We were so lucky to be on his route” – C.Avalon  “Mario has been the BEST mail carrier and he will be sorely missed. We wish him a well-deserved happy and healthy retirement” – C.Hatch  “Congratulations Mario – you’ve definitely earned your retirement! I’m going to miss your excellent service” B.Robitaille It is no secret Mario is going to be missed. We all wish you health and happiness in your retirement years. Thank you for dedicating your life to delivering the mail and providing excellent service. It is time for the Postal Service to take care of you now.

Any carrier who was fortunate enough to work with Mario can attest to his excellent character and his plethora of knowledge he held as a seasoned letter carrier, eager to pass on this knowledge to the new generation. Mario was always ready to offer a helping hand to his fellow carriers and community. Martinez Letter Carrier Leah Rodriguez told me a story about how when she was new at the office and was a on a new route, Mario used to drive by and check on her to ensure she was doing okay. This was a common practice for Mario, he would always check on other carriers and he would also take the time to explain processes and practices to ensure new employees fully understood.

I personally have had the pleasure of working with Mario for about five years and have had him as my mailman for about 8 years. Mario was always diligent, efficient, friendly and supportive. I sincerely hope the newer carriers in Martinez, who had the opportunity to work with Mario, take a page out of his book and strive to provide the service that Mario took pride in providing every single day. There are not many opportunities to learn and observe someone with this many years of service with such a vast knowledge and history of the postal service.

On June 6, 2021, Mario’s customers threw him a block party in Martinez to celebrate and thank Mario for 6

Martinez steward Eli Eave with Mario Sanchez and FTO Julie McCormick on his final day

June 2021

You can do this!

By: Francisco Cabrera, 2nd Vice President

I remember when I was first hired at the Postal Service over 20 years ago. They had us meet in the basement of a post office on 13th Street in Oakland, California for our new employee orientation. I remember the hallways were kind of dark and sitting down there gave the feeling that you were deep in a cave beneath the earth’s surface, at least for me. I remember a comment made by one of the manager facilitators to everyone as they signed in on the clipboard. She said be here for 30 to everyone after they were done signing in. I was confused at first by this cryptic statement.

Maybe I’m slow, but it wasn’t until later I understood she meant be here for the next 30 years or until retirement.

Anybody who has worked at the post office can tell you this is easier said than done. As I see so many of my senior carriers retiring during this pandemic, it gives me a glimmer of hope that this monumental feat can be

Branch 1111 News

accomplished by the common man or woman. If you’ve made the right financial decisions, such as maximizing your Thrift Savings Plan until it hurt, and investing your money wisely, you will enjoy a worry-free retirement. You might even exceed your current salary.

Since you have embarked on this journey it is best to not weigh yourself down with unnecessary problems.

Problems like not availing yourself of the Union’s assistance, skipping your breaks and lunch, working in an unsafe manner and who can forget letting Management’s insistent neglect and mistreatment go by ungrieved and unchallenged.

“The squeaky wheel gets the oil”. Ever heard this?

I’ve never seen a truer statement referring to enforcing your contractual rights. You can do this! But together we can do this even better! We will be having in person Union meetings at the branch office located at 402 37th Street, Richmond, once again in August of 2021. Come one, come all, be part of your union.

In Solidarity Brothers and Sisters!

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June 2021

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June 2021

Branch 1111 News

NALC Branch 1111 Balance Sheet As of May 31, 2021 ASSETS Current Assets Bank Accounts 100 - Petty Cash 213.96 126 PPCU-50 166,270.04 Mechanics Bank Accounts 252,150.28 PPCU-Acct 70 25,626.02 United Bank Accounts 240,457.71 Total Bank Accounts $684,718.01 Other Current Assets Total Current Other Assets $40,690.04 Total Current Assets $725,408.05 Fixed Assets 189 - Accumulated Depreciation -142,194.57 190 - Accum Deprec - Furn./Eq. -68,743.00 191 - Accum Deprec - Computer Eq. -11,561.00 192 - Accum Deprec - Copier -6,896.60 193 - Accum Deprec - Building/Improv-153,573.66 197 - Accum Deprec - Storage Shed -430.00 198 - Accum Deprec – Prior -61,391.17 Total Fixed Assets $ 404,014.56 TOTAL ASSETS $1,129,422.61

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June 2021 LIABILITIES & EQUITY Total Liabilities Net Revenue 3900 Unrestricted Net Assets Equity

8,654.56 -17,547.75 1,138,315.80 $1,120,768.05

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

$1,129,422.61

Oakland Eastmont carrier Hamid Ladjimi loaded up after the Memorial Day holiday

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS GREATER EAST BAY BRANCH 1111 402 –37TH STREET RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA 94805- 2134 (510) 237-5111

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID CONCORD CA Permit 1

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

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Martinez carrier Mario Sanchez happily receiving his retirement plaque with wife Connie and daughter Allana after 36 and a half years of service.

On June22 the Branch will hold a virtual Informational Meeting Call the Branch Office at 510-237-5111 if you’re interested in taking part Meetings will now be counted as official