May Branch 1111 Newsletter

Greater East Bay Branch 1111 News Volume 41 Number 477

May 2022

All Smiles at California State Convention After the Appointment of James Henry to NALC VP

NALC President Fred Rolando and Branch 1111 President Ed Fletcher with newly appointed NALC Vice President James Henry. Congratulations James!

Branch 1111 News

May 2022

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 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 Jose Ochoa, Executive Vice President Narciso Paderanga, First Vice President Francisco Cabrera, Second Vice President Mary Abante, Third Vice President Terrence Super, Fourth Vice President John Ferreira, Secretary-Treasurer Mary Phelps, Asst. Sec-Treasurer Currently Vacant, Sgt-at-Arms Jacob Morgan, Insurance Officer Rickie Cox, Trustee Ron Jones, Trustee Currently Vacant, 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

Elizabeth Corriea, Marisela Fletcher, Ray Garcia, Irene Liljedahl, Shana Lum, 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, Mary Abante, Liz Corriea, Ron Jones, Jerry DePoe, Francisco Cabrera, Mary Phelps, Terrence Super, Jacob Morgan.

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

May 2022

Branch 1111 News

HYBRID MEETING STILL ON The Tuesday, May 24th Branch meeting will be hybrid: in-person or virtual. The Executive Council will consider if starting in June the meetings will be only in-person. We will be monitoring the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations and keep having in-person meetings as long as they are deemed safe.

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU

Piedmont retiree Ron Bautista receiving his Award from President Ed Fletcher

The following letter carriers retired recently: Ronald Bautista of Oakland; Mark Armijo of Pittsburg; Patti Anderson of Berkeley; Warren Williams of Fremont; Alecia Anderson-Owens of Alameda; and Rafael Martinez of San Ramon. We wish many years of leisure to all.

Branch Trustee Opening

Position: As per Articles 4.1 and 4.4 of our By-Laws, Branch 1111 is now accepting applications for one (1) open position on the Board of Trustees.

Qualifications: You must be a Branch 1111 member in good standing. Please list any prior experience you may have.

Duties: Article 6.11 of our By-Laws list the complete duties of the Trustees. Trustees shall examine and report to the Branch the condition of the books of the officers at least once every six months, compare vouchers and records as they correspond with collections and disbursements. They shall have custody over Branch property and perform other duties as required by the By-laws. The Board of Trustees shall be the Fiscal Committee for the Branch.

Deadline: Please signify in writing you willingness to serve as a “Trustee” for Branch 1111, and apply by June 17, 2022.

Patti Anderson (center) is congratulated on her retirement

By Berkeley DDU co-workers Sepideh Yazdi, Margarita Vargas, Petrina Armour, Jessica Chin and Shaswanda Vanhoose

Send to:

Secretary Treasurer John Ferreira 402 - 37th Street, Richmond, CA 94805

50/50 MDA Raffle Winners After a long break the 50/50 raffle is back. Here are the winners drawn last month: Rickie Cox-A’s shirt; Oswald Jacob(twice)A’s shirt and 2 game tickets; Irene Liljedahl-2 game tickets; Ed Fletcher-2 game tickets; and Francis Rodriguez Swint the 50/50 pot of $75.00.

Come try your luck at the next meeting.

Gold Card member Charles Lewis still hard at work after 51 years of service

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May 2022

A Brother Among All Brothers

By Edward P. Fletcher, President

At the California State Convention in San Diego, NALC President Fredric Rolando announced that National Vice President Lew Drass was retiring on April 30, 2022. Shortly thereafter he announced that he would be appointing Region 1 RAA James Henry to fill the remaining Vice President’s term of office. On that note, the members in the hall gave James Henry a standing ovation while cheering and applauding his new appointment. He is truly a union brother, among all brothers.

Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Being that Branch 1111 is part of Region 1 (California, Nevada and Hawaii) of the National Business Agent’s Office, I have known and worked with brother James Henry for at least a decade. He is a strong advocate for the NALC. He is highly qualified for the position of Vice President. He has worked his way up from a Shop Steward in 1988 and then to a Full-time Officer in Branch 1100 in 1999. He was on first Dispute Resolution Team Pilot Program. And he has served as a Regional Administrative Assistant (RAA) since 2011. In that time, he has done over 150 arbitrations across Region 1 and resolved numerous Pre-Arbitration decisions, including for our Branch.

Brother James Henry also served our country in the United States Marine Corps.

What it means to Fight for You, and With You In the Oakland Post Office in 2013, we filed numerous grievances concerning gross violations of the National Agreement and management creating a hostile work environment. The working conditions and complaints were so bad, that NBA Chris Jackson and RAA’s James Henry, Bryant Almario and Brian Voight conducted office visits in Oakland.

RAA James Henry and I were assigned to work on the biggest case. We spent many hours conducting interviews, collecting, reviewing information, and formulating arguments. In the end, all the cases were resolved in the Union’s favor. The manager and two supervisors were found in violation of the M-39 Section 115.4 and were barred from their supervisory duties in that Oakland Station. RAA James Henry showed me that he is a brother that will not only fight for you, but with you! That is union solidarity in action. The NALC will always stand on the rock of our Contract and fight to protect your contractual rights and continuously strive to improve the better welfare of all its members.

2022 State Convention Notes In addition to training, networking with other NALC Branches, and voting on new resolutions to be adopted for the purpose of future negotiations, we get reports from our NBA’s Office and our National Officers. What was heavy on my mind at the State Convention was the following issues: the Postal 4

Branch 1111 News Service’s continue ineptitude to properly staff all Postal Installations; excessive mandatory overtime; high attrition rates of new employees; the mass exodus of retirees; and the everdiminishing quality of life for us Letter Carriers. President Rolando, who also fights tirelessly for our members, stated the following on current issues: we will be starting committees for the next contract negotiations, including on staffing, conversions, retention, the DRT process and safety - all with sub groups; addressing the maximum work hour violations; proposals on increasing the starting pay and the use of an all career work force; a Joint Route Inspection Agreement using average Office and Street times rather than the traditional 6-day Route Count and Inspections (which was just agreed to by the parties on May 10, 2022). President Rolando also covered Postal Reform and thanked everyone who contacted their congressional representatives. The mandate to “Prefund Future Retirees Health Benefits” is gone. Six-day delivery is codified in the Bill.

Medicare Integration was also achieved in the Bill. It will help reduce the rising medical costs for the USPS and employees by making Medicare Part B (65 years old) the primary health plan.

Chronic Understaffing is an Iceberg the USPS Needs to Avoid In short, the Postal Service’s catastrophic failures to properly staff all Post Offices are similar to the implosion of a historic building. Or another analogy is that the USPS’s bad business model of chronic understaffing is like an iceberg floating in rough waters. You can see it and if you don’t avoid the iceberg, it will cause a titanic collision which could rip apart and/or sink the Postal Service. In my opinion, such willful dereliction of duty to serve our customers and protect the mail, must be stopped. Those USPS leaders who fail to deliver our nation’s mail, fail to report undelivered mail, purposely schedule and rotate the non-delivery of routes and take out only the parcels to make it seem like the routes are being delivered should all be placed on ice.

Cal State Association of Letter Carriers VP Ron Jones and Branch President Ed Fletcher glad that the State Convention is finally being held after multiple postponements

May 2022

Unions: What’s in it for Me?

Branch 1111 News everyone decides to use this selfish strategy? Then nobody gets anything! So cooperation can be profitable, but if some people try to take advantage of others, it can lead to worse outcomes.”

So Care about your job, your rights, your contract, your Union and thus your fellow man or woman.

By Francisco Cabrera, Second Vice President

I’m so glad my supervisor has my back! He said I’m his favorite carrier. I’m the best carrier in the office.

The Union lies. They want me to lie and file a grievance. I don’t need to defend myself. Everything will work out.

Everything is in order. I write statements for management anytime. My supervisors are just trying to do their job. They didn’t want to write me up. They were forced to.

I have the right to volunteer for a swing. I’m just trying to help my supervisor. The Union wants to ruin everything. They’re filing grievances when I volunteered. I don’t mind helping. Why can’t the Union leave me alone? I don’t need the union. I don’t need nobody telling me what to do.

This is the best job ever. I love the post office. I even got a tattoo of the USPS eagle on my arm. I don’t want to file a EEO against my supervisor. We are friends.

Sound familiar. Whether its Starbucks, Amazon or the USPS. You hear the same rhetoric. Sometimes it stems from ignorance, other times fear, oftentimes selfishness. No human organization is perfect. But it’s what we have. You don’t throw your car away because it gets a scratch not even if it gets a good dent. Why would you burn your union accomplishments and throw them away? It shows you don’t care about your job. You only care about what’s in it for you.

An Article in “Frontiers for Young Minds,” published: August 29, 2017 points to a relevant study. “A standard game that is used to study prosocial behavior is called the Public Goods Game. In this game, four players are given an equal amount of money, for instance $10 each. Each player then decides how much of this $10 they want to contribute to a “public pot,” knowing that they keep for themselves what they do not contribute. Once everybody contributes their amount, the total amount of money in the public pot is multiplied by an amount, for instance by 1.5, and is then equally divided between all players. Multiplying the amount of money in the pot with a number larger than 1 increases the value of the money in the public pot, which makes investment in the public pot attractive.

For instance, if all four players put $10 into the pot, then the pot amount will be $60 after the multiplying step (four players give $10 each, multiplied by 1.5 = $60). This means that each player will receive $15 at the end of the round ($60/4). If this happens, everyone has $5 more at the end of the game than at the beginning. The magic of cooperation! However, and this is the “trick” of this game, a clever player can make even more money by not contributing anything and hoping others will. For instance, if a player contributes nothing in the above example, they keep their original $10 for themselves and also receive an additional $11.25 from the group pot (three players give $10 each, multiplied by 1.5 = $45, divided by four players). By behaving selfishly, this player ends up with $21.25, which is of course $10 more than all the others get. But what happens if

Work Medical Restrictions and You

By Jose Ochoa, Executive Vice President

You go to work and present an 8, 9 or 10 hour a day doctor’s restriction and your inept supervisor immediately rejects it because “it doesn’t have Biomechanics” or “the nature of your illness” so you are instructed to work more hours.

Sound familiar?

Have you tried asking that supervisor to explain what biomechanics are/means, most of them have no clue!

Having an 8, 9 or 10 hour a day restrictions has nothing to do with biomechanics or the nature of your illness, because you are able to perform all of your carriers duties. There is nothing in such restrictions that would prevent carriers to deliver the mail in an efficient manner. Those types of restrictions do not render the carrier unable to perform the duties of the position, Therefore your medical restrictions are in compliance with the ELM 513.362 AND 513.364 M-01807 dated March 19, 2012 prior to Megan Brennan becoming Postmaster General, Reads: “When craft employees provide medical documentation indicating that they have a disability and cannot work more than 8 hours or that they require other accommodation that may impact their ability to deliver the mail in an efficient manner, this can be challenging for a manager with limited resources who is trying to move the mail. However the answer is neither to work disabled employees outside of their restrictions, nor to discipline them for being unable to complete their route. Significant liability may result from those courses of action.”

M-01360 step 4 “An inability to work overtime does not necessarily prohibit an employee from performing his or her normal assignment. Accordingly, such individual working with such restriction is not necessarily on light duty. Employees restricted from working overtime may bid on and receive assignment’s for which they can perform a regular eight hour assignment” Always submit a 3996 form, if the supervisor refuses to take the overtime from your route, make him/her aware that no matter what, you’ll be returning to the office within your hours limitation. Do not allow management to work you beyond your limitations!

Fill out a PS form 1767. This is not a case or situation when you follow instructions and grieve later! You are to follow your doctor’s instructions, not negotiable!

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Branch 1111 News

May 2022

Filing a Claim

By Narciso Paderanga, IV, First Vice President

From our recent trip to San Diego to attend the California State Association of Letter Carriers’ 56th State Convention, I bring you some new information for most of you. Conducted by Tony Rios, Director from the Department of Labor, Office of Workers Compensation Program, along with Kevin Card, Assistant to the President of the NALC, the training I attended was very informative.

Mr. Rios talked about the history, as well as numerous facts regarding the USPS employees who are injured on the job. It was indicated that most of the claims received by the DOL, OWCP came from USPS employees, the reason being is that of all the federal agencies the DOL serves, the USPS has the most extensive or most physical job.

In a nutshell, it was encouraged to have all letter carriers submit new claims (on-the-job injuries or illnesses), whether traumatic injuries (CA-1) or Occupational Illnesses (CA-2) through ecomp.dol.gov. Some of the advantages are as follows.

Danville carrier Dhiraj Patel loading up for what looks like a busy day.

The claimant has total control of his or her case or claim from the start. By filing online, it eliminates the potential of late filing or submission of your documents by your supervisor to the appropriate departments. You will also have proof that you submitted a claim. How many times have management delayed or failed to submit new claims and asked the carrier to complete a new form?

The claimant can also check the status of his or her claim in real time. If an issue arises relevant to the claimant’s claim, the claimant is notified immediately via “dashboard.” In addition, the claimant has a faster way of submitting necessary documents or forms in order to get his or claim accepted. You or your representative have the ability to see everything about your case and all documents submitted to the DOL. Prior to this, a request had to be submitted in writing and the DOL will send the claimant a copy of his or her entire file on a cd or compact disk.

Prior to September 2020, the paper forms had to be converted by the “Case Create” office, but this office has been shut down. With the new system in place, you have total control and the amount of time has been decreased significantly.

The NALC at the national and regional levels also have employees ready to be your representatives for your claim. As a member, you can designate NALC as your representative via ecomp.dol.gov as well.

Approximately 75 percent of claims filed by USPS employees are still done via paper. There are information and videos available for our members to learn how to file claims online. You can also contact your steward or your full-time officer for more information.

In solidarity!

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Fremont Irvington carrier Larry Saenz displaying a decorated food donation bid at Montessori School in Fremont

May 2022

Welcome Back Food Drive!

ByTerrence Lee Super, Fourth Vice President

The Food Drive is back after a two-year hiatus. This is so wonderful to see, simply because of all the families who are less fortunate and in such a need of this event. Earlier in the pandemic, the Food Banks took a pretty big hit even though people were donating cash to them. Two years is a long time for not having such an important event that brings and stocks food for the good of the community and for the people in need.

I want to give a special shout out to Neil Zarchin who is the Food Drive Administrator for the Contra Costa and Solano counties and has been instrumental to this program in our area.

There is so much that happens that the public may not be aware of in preparing for this event--and really all year around! Neil goes above and beyond the call of duty, and the Branch appreciates him for his hard work and dedication to this cause.

I would also like to give a shout out to Katherine Avila who is the Food and Fund Drive Coordinator for Alameda County. This is her last year doing this event, so we would all like to thank Katherine for her dedication to the Food Drive and all the blood, sweat, and tears that go with it. Both Neil and Katherine give their all for the communities in need and they do it with a sense of pride and grace that we definitely thank them both for their wholehearted efforts in this program.

Of course, I can’t finish this article without giving thanks to EVERYONE else behind the scenes when it comes to this event. From the carriers, truck drivers, volunteers, the Food Drive Coordinators and the Stewards in each of the installations around our territory we cover who are instrumental to the success of this event. I apologize If I left anyone out, but every person who had a part, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. The community thanks you all as well.

To our Letter Carriers, you have no idea how valued you are in this because you will be the ones actually picking up the food. It’s difficult because on that day you have to deliver the mail as well. Please know that your work on the day of the Food Drive does not go unnoticed, communities everywhere will always remember what you Letter Carriers did and for being involved in the biggest Food Drive ever.

Thank you ALL for what you do. Be safe out there!

Branch 1111 News great to see the delegates from Region 1, which I truly believe has strong leadership.

There were several classes to choose from. I took the Article 8 class, because it’s such a big issue in Berkeley. I thought maybe there could be something that can be helpful for what we are experiencing, however, most of our problems are due to the fact we don’t have enough employees.

The other class I took was on Legislative. This is a very important class for me as it helps us to learn about the Politics of the Postal Service, and how we need to educate Congress on our issues, in order to have them support our issues. Most of us in this class are Congressional Liaisons for the congressperson that we all represent in our districts.

I have the privilege of being Congressman Mark DeSaulnier Liaison for District 11, which is a real honor, as he is very supportive to our issues. It was nice to see a former Berkeley retiree participate in a Mock training in the Legislative class which was our previous editor John Jekabson.

The Convention session was very informative. We had our National President Fred Rolando give a speech on Friday, in which he had a lot to share with us. There were other great quest speakers as well. Some of the issues discussed at our convention, included, Food Drive, EAP, the NALC Disaster Relief Foundation, the future Postal Vehicles, and much more. I enjoyed the whole sessions, being a part of this great Union is fantastic, knowing that we together make things happen.

BERKELEY BLUES NEWS! Unfortunately, Berkeley is experiencing over-exhausted employees who are having their SDOs cancelled. They are worked so hard that possibly these are contributing factors as to why we are having so many accidents. Could it be that some carriers are not getting enough sleep? Perhaps this is happening at other cities too, just not enough employees to do the work.

WOW! it used to be that the Postal Service was a great place to work, now I am not so sure, things have changed a lot.

A BERKELEY HERO

THE 56TH STATE CONVENTION

By Berkeley Chief Steward, Liz Corriea

I would like to thank my union brothers and sisters for sending me to our 56th State Convention, which was held in San Diego. The Convention includes all of Region 1, which covers the states, Nevada, Hawaii, California, and Guam. It is always

A Letter of Commendation award was recently given to one of our employee Robert Armour (above) who went beyond the call of duty when he helped a lost elderly person, near his route, who was confused and Robert personally walked him all the way home, making sure he got there safely. Great job Robert. It’s nice to know that there are good people out there.

Knowledge is Power!

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Branch 1111 News

May 2022

STATE CONVENTION IN SAN DIEGO

Delegate Paul Petersen

Delegate Sam Green

Lorena Gonzales addresses the Convention

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The 56th California State Convention of the CSALC (California State Association of Letter Carriers) was held in San Diego April 28 through April 30. Branch 1111 sent the following compensated delegates: Ezekiel Bradley, Elizabeth Corriea, Edward Fletcher, Samuel Green, Oswald Jacob, Colleen Karnthong, Ron Jones, Lynne Miller, Narciso Paderanga, Sullivan Smothers, Leticia Sanchez, Petra Ortega, Marisela Fletcher, Paul Petersen, John Jekabson, Mary Phelps, and Rickie Cox. (Pictured above) The Convention had been postponed because of COVID health concerns so this was a time to catch up on CSALC goals and thank local activists for their diligent work. Branch 1111 member Ron Jones, the State Vice President, was on the podium to open up the proceedings. Present were 464 delegates from 39 California branches.

Overall there was an atmosphere of celebration and confidence now that the long fight for postal reform has been won.

The first day was taken up by various 3-hour classes on Steward training, grievance filing, Retirement, OWCP, article 8, clock ring fraud, and legislative lobbying. Our delegates attended all the presentations.

The Convention business session took up most of the next two days which included an informative talk by National President Fredrick Rolando, and stirring political speeches by Congressional Representatives Sara Jacobs and Scott Peters.

The most applause, however, was for Lorena Gonzales the new leader of the California Labor Federation as she challenged us all to keep up the battle for workers’ rights. Let’s accept the challenge.

May 2022

Branch 1111 News

Delegates Laticia Sanchez and Oswald Jacob cheer the speeches

Mariscela Fletcher likes what she hears

Delegate John Jekabson at a legislative roleplay workshop

Newly appointed NALC VP James Henry at the podium

Branch 1111 delegates give a standing ovation for a well-run convention

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Branch 1111 News

May 2022

LETTER OF RESIGNATION

Where is everybody?

By Mary Abante, Third Vice President

By Jerry DePoe, President Emeritus

On April 30, 2022, I submitted my resignation as a Branch 1111 Trustee. I started working my letter carrier job in Union City and am now finished representing the members of our Branch. I have served for 55 years as one of your union representatives in various roles.

The Membership was extremely generous and honored me when they allowed me to serve for as long as they did. My emotions were mixed as I thought about positions from a Shop Steward to President. I started as a Shop Steward in 1966 and ended as a Trustee in 2022 (minus when the Army drafted me for two years) I served as a representative in Branch 5431 (Union City), Branch 4607 (Fremont, Union City, Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore) and Branch 1111 (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 and Walnut Creek). Those 55 years created countless memories, mainly happy and positive, but of course, some were sad memories. My favorite job was investigating grievances and handling arbitration cases.

I will always feel a huge debt to the MEMBERSHIP as YOU allowed me to continue year after year as one of your representatives. As I sit here preparing my last article, I find it extremely difficult finding the words of my love and solidarity for YOU the membership. I will always have those memories and the love I have for YOU. The words of THANK YOU sound so small for what you have given me.

Working so close with Brothers Dixie Copeland, Robert Rutter and Charles Thompson created a special appreciation and solidarity.

Dixie taught me how important solidarity and maintaining a constant eye on the membership's money as it belonged strictly to the membership! And, Branch representatives had to recognize and follow the Branch By-Laws and the NALC Constitution. Dixie and I always shared rooms at the many conventions we attended and Dixie always took advantage to educate me during those conventions.

Thank you Dixie!

Robert was always sharing his excellent "union knowledge" with me. With Robert, it didn't matter if he kept me well past the union office closing time and especially on those driving trips to conventions.

Thank you Robert!

Charles served in several positions but my favorite was when he was the Executive Vice President. Charles always stepped in when I would lose control of my emotions. He always had magic in his words that calmed me down and would put me on the right road.

Thank you Charles.

Each time I was re-elected to a position I always felt that I was working for all of YOU and all of YOU were my boss. I cannot state strongly enough how much love I have for all of YOU. 10

It is the Postal Service’s responsibility to properly staff its facilities in order to meet its contractual obligations. This is written in Article 3 and virtually unchanged since the first negotiated National Agreement in 1971.

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Article 3. in part… B. “To hire, promote, transfer, assign, and retain employees in positions within the Postal Service.”

The parties negotiated these contractual obligations over the years to protect employees from working mandatory overtime. In facilities that lack proper staffing, that employee protection is often sacrificed by supervisors as they manage the daily workload.

What is management doing to help you the carrier other than berate or threaten you with discipline because you’re not working efficiently or fast enough?

The Postal Service is seeking to hire 2,800 front-line supervisors over the coming months, in an effort to improve staffing across its network.

USPS is planning to hire supervisors to work in customer service, distribution operations, maintenance operations and transportation operations, and will host virtual career fairs through the summer.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, in a recent interview, said USPS is looking to staff up with front-line supervisors under its 10-year plan to improve operational efficiency.

“We haven’t filled our supervisor ranks. We have to get our supervisors fully staffed and have the right workloads and the right training [for] the most important position in the organization, in terms of running the organization, in terms of running the place. We’re working on all of that,” DeJoy said in an April 17 interview.

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

Notices were sent via mail to current craft employees to apply for these supervisory positions.

More supervisors, less carriers, more mandatory overtime. When staffing is insufficient, supervisors will often resort to assigning overtime in such a way that it violates your contractual rights. As justification USPS usually claims an “operational window”- management’s self-proclaimed deadline for the completion of all deliveries.

Notify your shop steward when management violates your contractual rights.

Where are all the carriers? The essential workers who the public relied on during a worldwide pandemic.

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".

We don’t need more supervisors. We need more carriers.

When will USPS realize the carrier is the most important position in the organization?

May 2022

Branch 1111 News

Fremont Irvington office showing their together spirit promoting this year’s Food Drive

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NALC Branch 1111 Balance Sheet As of April 30, 2022 ASSETS Current Assets Bank Accounts 100 - Petty Cash 213.96 126 PPCU-50 166,353.20 Mechanics Bank Accounts 234,470.82 PPCU-Acct 70 25,638.83 United Bank Accounts 236,809.31 Total Bank Accounts $663,486.12 Other Current Assets Total Current Other Assets 0.00 Total Current Assets $704,609,59 Fixed Assets 189 - Accumulated Depreciation -156,914.57 190 - 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 $ 389,294.56 TOTAL ASSETS $1,093,904.15

Branch 1111 News LIABILITIES & EQUITY Total Liabilities Net Revenue 3900 Unrestricted Net Assets Equity

$13,523.01 -32,502.98 1,112,884.12 $1,080,381.14

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

$1,093,904.15

Alameda County Food Bank Coordinator Katherine Avila with coordinators Darlene Amey of Eastmont and Branch 1111 Alameda County Irene Liljedahl

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

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

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Danielle Finger Joseph Martinez Emmanuel Mensah Andrew Rodriguez Bjorn Fox Dameka Jackson Mulugeta Mano Hazel Vasquez Keith Wilson Jonathin Bryant Staci Eagleton Mark Jermaine Go Christina Soares Bal Bhandari Parry Trucco Jr. Desiree Pollock Kassie Cook Jenaha Whitt Joshua Gruber Letisha Harris Arno Rodriguez Louis Wu Belen Barquin Larry Beam Eric McCray Scott Kuehner Kiev Smith Freda Brown Elias Conanan Jessica Gibson Thomas Smith David Bibb Luz Ortiz Cotto Swati Singhi

Alameda Antioch Antioch Berkeley Berkeley Berkeley Berkeley Berkeley Berkeley Berkeley Berkeley Clayton Danville El Cerrito El Cerrito Fremont Fremont Fremont Lafayette Oakland Oakland Oakland Oakland Oakland Oakland Pleasanton Richmond Richmond Richmond Richmond Vallejo Vallejo Walnut Creek Walnut Creek

Leese Dunubilo Arminta Jeffryes Alesha Piziali Namdev Sharma

Walnut Creek Walnut Creek Walnut Creek Union City

Alamo retiree Mark Escalante gets his award from Branch 1111 President Ed Fletcher

On May 24, the Branch will hold a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting.

Call the Branch Office at 510-237-5111 if you’re interested in taking part.

Meetings will now be counted as official