Branch 1111 May Food Drive Preparations

Volume 43 Number 493

Branch 1111 Food Drive Coordinators at the Alamed a County Food Bank getting final preparations ready for this year’s Letter Carrier Food Drive

Branch Meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday of each month 7:00pm at the Branch Office

The next Branch Meetings will be held on Tuesday, May 21st and June 25th

NALC HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN SERVICE LINES

General Claims Inquiries

1-888- 636-NALC

Hospital Precertification (Required) 1-800-622-6252

Prerecorded Benefits Information 1-888-636-NALC

Prescription Customer Service Line 1-800-933-NALC

BRANCH PAPER DEADLINE

The deadline for copy for Branch 1111 News is the 5th 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

Narciso Paderanga, Executive Vice President

Mary Abante, First Vice President

Terrence Super, Second Vice President

Eddie Murphy, Third Vice President

April Patrick, Fourth Vice President

Mary Phelps, Secretary-Treasurer

John Ferreira, Asst. Sec-Treasurer

Lumus Russell IV, Sgt-at-Arms

Jacob Morgan, Insurance Officer

Rickie Cox, Trustee Ron Jones, Trustee

Jeffrey Valentine, Trustee

Greater East Bay Branch 1111 News

Branch 1111 News is the official bimonthly 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

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS

Elizabeth Corriea, Marisela Fletcher, Ruben Ramirez Stephen Robinson, Joshua Pearl, Ché Perez, Frances 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, Eddie Murphy, John Ferreira, Narciso Paderanga, Mary Abante, Liz Corriea, Ron Jones, Shana Lum, Mary Phelps, Terrence Super, Jacob Morgan, April Patrick

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

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU

The following letter carriers retired recently: Lam Le and Carolyn Hayes of Berkeley; Miriam Miranda Reyes of El Cerrito; John Abston Jr. of Vallejo; Amancio Basa of Pleasanton; and Linda Lee of Alameda

We wish all many years of leisure.

RAFFLE WINNERS

The MDA 50/50 raffle winners were the following: for March A’s ticket went to Jose Soliz, Mike Chavez, Ron Jones and Gary Gomez; In April Mike Chavez, Ron Jones and Gary Gomez won again.

Come and try to break their luck at the next meeting.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The Branch 1111 Annual Picnic is scheduled for Sunday July 14 at Kennedy Grove Park Recreation Center in El Sobrante, As always volunteers will be needed to help set and clean up, bring coolers and canopies, pick up pony kegs and ice as well as coordinate events. Make your plans now to attend.

Branch Scholarship Winners

The NALC Branch 1111 Katherine Ellis Memorial Scholarship winners are as follows: Elyanna Fabia, daughter of Benjamin Fabia (Crockett), Beverly Dong, daughter of Raymond Dong (Moraga), Brittany Wu, daughter of Mingzhu Zhao (Piedmont), and Ricky Young, son of Jia Yang (Oakland Eastmont.)

Congratulations to all the outstanding scholars. They will be presented their awards at the May Branch meeting.

MDA DRAWING

Our yearly Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Raffle will be starting in June. See your Shop Steward to purchase yours tickets The grand prizes will again be a LG UHD TV and an 18-person suite for an Oakland A’s game. All funds raised will go to MDA programs.

Be sure to take part in this worthy charity.

Lisa Abenoja from Lafayette diligently working during the live week of route evaluation

Wilfredo Sagun, of Fremont with his 25 year service award

photo by Sahid Sulaiman

Making the Most Out of Moments in Time

By Edward P. Fletcher, President

Our lives are a series of moments in time that are banded together. One event leads to another, and yet another from our youth to our adulthood. I often wonder, what if we could go back in time? What would we do differently? What paths would we take? And, if we took a different path, would life’s trails still lead us back to the same places? But most of all, I realized that we must be “in the moment” and act to do the best that we can.

The NBA Region # 1 / CSALC Training

We attended the National Business Agent (NBA)/ California State Association Letter Carriers (CSALC) RAP Session in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 15-17, 2024. Our contract expired in May of 2023, and it has been 11 months with no real progress. The members were eager to get concrete information on the ongoing contract negotiations. When asked why we were not in arbitration yet and when would it begin, President Renfroe talked about the history of negotiations and stated the arbitrator was on vacation. We were not informed of when arbitration hearings would begin.

When asked specifically about what the NALC was putting on the table, he was elusive and stated that if he did announce it, carriers would put it on the internet and it could negatively affect negotiations. A lot of members disagreed. He did state that the NALC was looking for pay increases at both ends of the Letter Carrier Pay Scales, with no amounts mentioned. When asked about getting rid of “Table 2” of the Letter Carrier Pay Scale and going to a single Pay Scale, he said that was one of the items the union was trying to negotiate. But he did not like the structure of “Table 1.” It had pay anomalies and disproportionate intervals. One member asked about open negotiations and for more specifics, but none were provided.

In the past contract negotiations, former NALC Presidents took this moment in time to share more information, proposals, and counter proposals on negotiations. Although they made it clear that these were “just proposals,” the members felt better about negotiations. President Renfroe in my opinion missed the boat and could have been more transparent in this moment in time. After all, it was a “RAP Session.”

Joint Route Inspections - TIAREAP

Another hot bed issue was the current Joint Route Inspection Process known as “TIAREAP.” Many of the Presidents that I spoke with informed me that they were not happy with TIAREAP. Unlike Chapter 2 of the M-39 (Route Inspections), it has no teeth. You cannot file a grievance on the adjustments, even if your route is still out of adjustment. You cannot file a grievance if management does not do any 60-day reviews or unreasonable delays past 60 days. If you file for a Special Route Inspection (SRI,) it goes into TIAREAP, and you

cannot file a grievance on the SRI, as well. In short, everything goes through an escalation process with no ability to grieve the violations, no defined time limits and into the internet parking lot or “the cloud.”

Many of our senior carriers do not like it because seniority is not a priority. Routes are flipped in CORE. Some members stated that in their area, management was inappropriately using TIAREAP information to falsely claim and/or set arbitrary AM and PM office and load times. For example, management is falsely claiming carriers only get 1 hour in the of AM office time, 22 minutes to load and 5 minutes in the PM. Please be advised none of these are USPS Standards nor does the contract list any such arbitrary times. No merit.

At the RAP Session, President Brian Renfroe stated to the delegation that he was considering withdrawing from TIAREAP before it expired, but instead he decided to let the MOU expire on May 31, 2024. In this moment in time, we will see if he will keep his word.

Take This Moment to Do What’s Right

Brothers and sisters, our fight is against those who seek to divide us, rather than unite us. It is important that in our great union that we must all stand together as one for righteousness, justice, equality, fairness and protecting our rights. We are one union with one contract and one main goal. Article 1 Section 5 of the National Constitution states in relevant part, “The objects of the Association shall be: to unite fraternally all letter carriers and other employees of the Postal Service for their mutual benefit; to obtain and secure our rights as employees of the United States Postal Service and to strive at all times to promote the safety and the welfare of every member.” It is time to stand up!

Las Vegas Rap Session, April 15-17, 2024. L to R: Chris Jackson, National Director of City Delivery; John McPherson, President Sacramento Branch 133; Ron Jones, CSALC Vice President; Greg Fuson, President Stockton Branch 231; Allen Rios, Administrative Assistant Region One; Brian Voigt, Region One Congressional Liaison; James Giese, Executive vice President Stockton Branch 231

All the Things that Matter!

By Narciso Paderanga, IV Executive Vice President

Dignity and respect! It’s bad enough that in some stations, there is a lack of dignity or respect from management. It’s worse when there is a lack of dignity and respect between our fellow carriers. Do not put your job at risk! We all may have a difference of opinion but do not let it escalate to a point where it creates a hostile working environment.

In the event that management does not treat you with dignity and respect or you witness management treating a fellow carrier in an unprofessional manner, we encourage you to report it to your Steward or your Branch Officer. Without your combined participation, we simply cannot be successful in stopping management from their unprofessional and inappropriate actions towards our brothers and sisters. We must not be fearful of retaliation, but rather be willing to stand up for one another.

After hearing from many of our fellow carriers that they’re frustrated because management keeps pushing them, I feel you need to know your contractual rights. Section 131.33 states in relevant part, “Unless otherwise instructed by a unit manager, deliver all mail distributed to your route prior to leaving time for that trip and complete delivery within scheduled time. It is your responsibility to inform management when this cannot be done.”

Therefore, you need to fill out and submit a PS Form 3996 when you are in the opinion you cannot complete delivery within the time allotted. For example, if management alleges you have “undertime”, but you don’t believe you have “undertime”, submit a PS Form 3996 to inform management that the section you are given will cause you to be in overtime status. If management disapproves it, you still need to request authorization prior to going into overtime. If you are required to call in the afternoon, you should call if you choose to use your cellular phone.

There should be no other discussion other than requesting for instructions to either finish delivery or return the mail back to the office. In the event you are given the “infamous” instruction to finish delivery and be back in eight hours, you may complete delivery within the time you requested but not more than the amount of time you requested. If you’re instructed to finish delivery, but you work beyond the time you requested, any additional time you worked beyond what you requested can be considered as unauthorized overtime and maybe subject to discipline.

Step 4 Decision, M-00326, states in part “Although there was no expressed authorization to complete the delivery of the mail on an overtime basis, the permission would be inherent in the authorization to continue the delivery after notification that the grievants were unable to complete the routes.”

If management decides to conduct an investigation for unauthorized overtime, of course you are encouraged to have a steward present and definitely state whether or not you were instructed to complete the delivery of mail when you requested for instructions. At no time, you should work overtime without prior authorization.

Also on the rise, are disciplinary actions for alleged “stationary time”. In a nut shell, management will investigate and ask the carriers if they can explain why you have a stationary of time of 10 or more minutes in a specific location or locations. What they are looking for or their intent during their investigation is for you to incriminate yourself. They are simply relying on a report that shows you were stationary for an extended period of time in a specific location, however, they have no proof you weren’t working.

There may be circumstances that resulted in these so called “stationary times”, such as loading mail, break time, comfort stops, delivering to apartment buildings with multiple boxes, etc. Whatever it may be, it is still management’s burden to prove you violated certain rules or regulations. Although we encourage everyone to do their best and provide eight hours’ worth of work for eight hours of pay, we will not allow management to take inappropriate actions for baseless accusations.

Finally, as I write this article, a very serious safety issue has just occurred where a fellow city letter carrier was robbed at gun point.

After watching the video, I cannot imagine what she must have felt during this horrific incident. I am glad she wasn’t physically hurt, but I cannot say whether she will be recovering mentally. I encourage you to get involved with the NALC’s cause in having legislature to protect our brothers and sisters. Please contact your Congressional representatives and encourage them to support the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act (POLCA) H.R. 7629. This legislation will provide $7 billion in funding for the Postal Service to secure its infrastructure. It would increase prosecution rates for these crimes by requiring the attorney general to designate an assistant U.S. attorney in each judicial district to prioritize cases involving an assault or other crimes against a letter carrier. More information can be found in NALC’s website at NALC.org or the Postal Record.

In addition, management must conduct safety stand-up talks at least once a week to provide information to our brothers and sisters regarding safety. All shop stewards should be filing a grievance in their stations if this is not done.

In solidarity, Narciso Paderanga, IV EVP Branch 1111

GETTING IT RIGHT IS THE WAY TO GO

By Berkeley Chief Steward Liz Corriea

The issue on wearing seatbelts shouldn’t be questionable, they must be worn at all times. Especially, when your vehicle is in motion. For some reason we have carriers who won’t take this seriously and don’t wear seatbelts at all times. This is a California law, and everyone is required to obey this law! No one is above the law including those who work for the USPS. So, if anyone thinks that they cannot be ticketed, better think again. If you receive a ticket for not wearing your seatbelt, guess who’ll be paying for it?

Keep in mind that all rules and regulations apply to us Letter Carriers and must be followed at all times. For those carriers that have dismount and driving routes, the M-41 handbook under Safety Practices 812.3 states: Seatbelts must be worn at all times the vehicle is in motion. Exceptions for Long Life Vehicles (LLVs): In instances where the shoulder belt prevents the driver from reaching to provide delivery or collection from curbside mailboxes, only the shoulder belt may be unfastened. The lap belt must remain fastened at all times the vehicle is in motion. However, if management is conducting a street observation on you, they may ding you for not having your seatbelt on. Simply because they may not be able to see that you are wearing the lap belt. My route is a dismount, whenever I am delivering, I choose to wear both the shoulder and lap belt, because I feel safer and I don’t want to deal with management trying to prove that I had my lap belt on.

Berkeley Blues News

What kind of supervisors do we have here in Berkeley? One that I know is insensitive. Can you imagine being denied leave to attend a family funeral? Well, it’s a sad situation that we should even encounter such situations and yet we do. No one should ever be denied in such a situation. Working here in Berkeley can be disgusting and maybe that supervisor doesn’t give a care about their own family. If so, they shouldn’t take it out on others. This is very wrong. If this happens to you, seek help immediately from your Shop Stewards so that this can be resolved as quickly as possible.

We have lots of new faces coming and going here in Berkeley. Often so quickly that for the most part I am hoping that the new PTF can get past probation and stick around. The help has definitely cut down on overtime and improved working conditions, however management still needs to educate themselves on how to prevent overtime to the NON-ODL carriers. The battle still goes on.

Knowledge is Power!

UPDATE TO THE CHARGES AGAINST PRESIDENT BRIAN RENFROE

This is an update to the January 31, notification concerning charges received by the NALC Executive Council proffered against President Brian L. Renfroe by Director of City Delivery Christopher Jackson. After conclusion of the evidentiary hearings by the panel of three disinterested members, the panel submitted its report and recommendations on each of the four charges to the Executive Council in accordance with Article 10 of the NALC Constitution. On April 25 and 26, the Council met in Washington, DC to review and discuss the panel’s report and recommendations on each of the four charges. After review of the panel’s findings, the Council voted on each of the charges as follows:

• For the charge alleging “Neglect of Duty,” the NALC Executive Council found President Renfroe not guilty.

• For the charge alleging “Circulating False or Misleading Statements about a NALC Officer,” the NALC Executive Council found President Renfroe not guilty.

• For the charge alleging “Conduct. Impaired driving after hours in a NALC owned vehicle,” the NALC Executive Council found President Renfroe guilty.

• For the charge alleging “Abandoned Position and Dereliction/Neglect of duty,” the NALC Executive Council found President Renfroe not guilty.

Article 10 of the NALC Constitution states: “If the Executive Council finds the officer guilty, it shall be empowered to remove them from office, or impose such other penalty as it may deem appropriate.”

For the one charge in which the Council voted guilty, the Executive Council voted to revoke, for the period of one year, the driving privileges of President Renfroe in any NALC owned vehicle, in addition to any rental vehicles for conducting union business. President Renfroe will also record a public service announcement, in collaboration with the Director of Safety and Health and Director of Health Benefits about alcoholism and driving under the influence.

This decision of the Executive Council is subject to appeal to the National Convention in accordance with Article 10 of the NALC Constitution.

San Ramon Stewards Getting It Done!

By Terrence Lee Super, Second Vice President

As you all know, I am big on recognition. People should be honored and commended for the good things they do for the Union and its members, and that’s what my article is about this month. I want to recognize my Stewards in the San Ramon installation for doing something that is extremely difficult to do in ANY post office.

Getting management to agree to ANYTHING is a task within itself, but to get management to sign off on allowing the Union to have its own office within the building is huge! Does management have to give the Union a space to conduct Union business? Of course, but for them to actually give equity to the Union in the building, they actually don’t have to do that, and neither is it contractual. What I mean by that is, management giving the Union an office with its own space and key, meaning that no one else can access it, as well as sign off on it, is rare. Especially if you already had an office prior, which was San Ramon’s situation.

We already had an office, but it was very small as you can see here in the picture, but my Stewards, Anton Thompson and Shana Lum, were able to get equity in another part of the San Ramon installation. In fact, the new office is more than three times bigger than the other one, as you can see in the other pictures. Not only that, but once again, they were both able to get management to sign off on it! Meaning that if they tried to take it away for whatever reason, we would be able to file a grievance to keep it.

Huge shoutout to Shana Lum and Anton Thompson for working together to get a bigger and better office. As you can see, it looks amazing, and the San Ramon carriers are ecstatic that they can now have a private conversation without having to go to managements conference room. In the old office, we could never have a private conversation because it was right next to the break room. We would have to make sure that no one was there to actually have a conversation with a carrier confidentially. This is very important when carriers have to tell us personal things that have happened to them.

Shana, Anton, and I are the ONLY ones with the key, and the office is in a part of the building where carriers can feel confident that no one is in their business when they want to discuss things. I really wanted to make sure that the both of them know that their victory on getting this office was no small feat, and that both of their efforts are duly noted and very appreciated by the officers and members of our Branch. Excellent job you

two and keep up the good work!

Just a reminder to all of my Stewards, and ALL the Stewards of Branch 1111, even though I’m recognizing Shana and Anton in this article, I want to let ALL of you know that you are very much appreciated and that we could not do this job without you.

Keep learning the contract by reading and researching; this will skyrocket your Stewardship and will put you above management even more so than you are now! As we tell new Stewards that we train, “How can you enforce contractual rights if you don’t know them yourself?” You simply can’t do it. If you have no clue what our National Agreement states on a particular matter, there’s no way you can file a grievance and convince management to agree to anything. That’s just the way it is, so please Stewards, continue to read and research our contract and you will see the progression in your files, which will ultimately win your grievances.

Thank you all and be safe out there.

Old Office

New Office

BRANCH 1111 PICNIC

SUNDAY, JULY 14

6531 SAN PABLO DAM ROAD, EL SOBRANTE $5 REGIONAL PARKS PARKING FEE

PICNIC HOURS 10:00 UNTIL 4:00

LUNCH CATERED BY BACK FORTY BBQ 12:00-2:00 BEER, WATER, SODA, AND OTHER DRINKS PROVIDED

LOTS OF FUN FOR ALL BUT PLEASE BRANCH MEMBERS AND IMMEDIATE FAMILY ONLY

AlJ BRANCH 1111 SPRING SNAPSHOTS

Alamo Steward Jonathan Quintos hard at work and still smiling

Sahid Sulaiman (in uniform) welcomes new Fremont carriers L to R ; Moises Gamarra, Daniel Lopez and Ajay Kumar

Alameda carriers ready for the May 11 Letter Carrier Food Drive

If you have any questions, contact your Shop Steward or Full-Time Officer

Branch 1111

Sheet

1,085,905.07

$1,019,395,36

$1,046,051.28

Martinez carriers Dylan Porter, Dan Imam, Coles Harper, Michael Hewiston

Lam Le of Elmwood Berkeley all smiles on his last day after 34 years of service

Selfie of Kimberly Goddard from Lafayette PO enjoying her 1-year anniversary working as a City Letter Carrier

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS

GREATER EAST BAY BRANCH 1111

402 –37TH STREET

RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA 94805- 2134

(510) 237-5111

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Kiran Bala Alameda

Alec Mathieson Alameda

Stuart Kanady Alameda

Dennis Sierra Alameda

Bruce Stewart Alameda

Briana Wiltz Antioch

Marcella Simonaro Antioch

Demarcus Abrams Berkeley

Thomas Cosby Berkeley

Adam Gerardin Berkeley

Ricardo Herrera Berkeley

Brian Glasper II Berkeley

Naia Ardrey Berkeley

Badr Mayour Berkeley

Bing Ruan Berkeley

Walker Robinson Berkeley

Karolina Weglowski Berkeley

Samuel Hurwitt Berkeley

Imma Tijani Berkeley

BD Sumayra Concord

Jonathan Ha’apal Concord

Sean Hansen Concord

Evelyn Sanchez Concord

Rolando Lorenzo Jr. Concord

Sazaye Knuckles Crockett

Joshua Westfall Fairfield

Isaac Falley` Fairfield

Sally Luong Fremont

Moises Gamarra Fremont

Ajay Kumar Fremont

Daniel Lopez Fremont

Matthew Mendoza Fremont

John Alza Fremont

Robina Chera Fremont

Josemaria Nunez Leal Fremont

Robert Ruiz Gonzales Fremont

Alinim Purnomo Fremont

Sonja Buerstatte Fremont

Lenicia Hansbury Fremont

Mohamed Mansoor Fremont

Ruben Ornelas Fremont

Farooq Wakili Fremont

Lenicia Hansbury Fremont

Thuy Nguyen Fremont

Scott Peterson Fremont

Gemmo Reyes Fremont

Anna Rodriguez Fremont

Marcelo Guzman Livermore

Alberto Carillo Livermore

Pardeep Sandhu Livermore

Adam Wroe Martinez

Matthew Turner Martinez

Jake Wurschmidt Martine

Mark Stevens Moraga

Kelley Hargus Oakland

Renando Mendoza Oakland

Bakari Boykin Oakland

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

Michael Fletcher Oakland

Jose Alcala Jr. Oakland

Sebbazar Bayarkhuu Oakland

Bryan Denman Oakland

Canzhuang Li Oakland

Marvin Montano Oakland

Leah Oakes Oakland

James Von Blum Oakland

Brooks Blankenship Oakland

Mourad Kechad Oakland

Valena Turner Oakland

Jamal Van Johnson Oakland

William Anderson Oakland

Edison Murillo Sr. Oakland

Jessie Trinh Oakland

Hongji Wuzhen Oakland

Gregory Alexander Oakland

Yongsheng Chang Oakland

Joshua Esquivel Oakland

Jon Holverstott Oakland

Van Phan Oakland

Alexis Jimenez Oakland

Shane Landon Orinda

Tatianna Flores Richmond

Amit Joshi Richmond

Katrina Lowrey Richmond

Ivania Vargas Richmond

Lynette Fox Richmond

Dmonte Stevenson Richmond

Tenzin Thinley Richmond

Spencer Wichmann Richmond

Jose Grayda Richmond

John Haile Richmond

Patrick Payton Richmond

Johnson Saeteurn Richmond

Hongjen Wang Richmond

Ryan Doggins Richmond

Gladyth Gayda Richmond

Trever Roland Richmond

Danielle Mayorga-Zamora Richmond

Rosario Iniguez Richmond

Carlos Bellido Richmond

Suraj Bhandari Richmond

Jocelyn Cortez Richmond

Gostavo Roblete Richmond

Christina Sullivan Richmond

Keith Wright Richmond

Alexi Basas Rodeo

Brittney Quilter Rodeo-Hercules

Shanshen Zou San Ramon

Benjamin Togneri San Ramon

Michael Benipayo San Ramon

Thishecia Hearns San Ramon

Monica Lederer San Ramon

Nassir Ariyan San Ramon

Benedict Anicete San Ramon

Angelica Moreno Union City

Arika Weir Union City

Jiali Deng Union City