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November/December 2008 Award-winning newspaper Vol. XXXVIII, No. 6

A L S O I N S I D E :

• Minor route adjustments . . . . . . . . . . —page 3• Postal accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . —page 4• Convincing voters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —page 6• Calendar 2009 and 2010 . . . . —pages 9, 10• Economic analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .—page 11• Labor’s rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .—page 12

For Obama in Nevada 2008

Part of the Branch 214 volunteer group of carriers for Obama in Reno, Nevada, November 2, 2008 .

For list of all volunteers, see page 7.

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THE VOICE November/December 2008

B R A N C H N O T E S

Branch OfficersLili Beaumont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PresidentRay Fong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Executive Vice-PresidentBill Thornton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vice-PresidentKaren Schuler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary-TreasurerKaren Eshabarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Field DirectorCarol Maggio . . . . . . . . . Assistant Secretary–TreasurerCharles Gonzalez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sergeant-at-ArmsFranklin Woo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NALC Health BenefitsLeonard Cruz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Safety and HealthCathy Simonson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EEO OfficerMike Callahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MBA representativeKim Truong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director of OrganizationRoberta Bojo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TrusteeJune Buccat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TrusteeSheila Gardner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trustee

Voice StaffIvars Lauersons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EditorEdwina Wu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Associate EditorGerry Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GraphicsPermission is given to trade union and labor publications to copy or reproduce any article contained in this publication, providing appropri-ate credit is given . Permission to others must be granted in writing by the Voice Editor or Branch President . Opinions expressed by contribu-tors are their own, and not necessarily those of Branch 214 . If possible, all articles and letters to the editor should be submitted on disk in a standard word processing program with a hard copy included . Articles typewritten or written may also be submitted .

GOLDEN GATE BRANCH2310 Mason St., 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94133

Phone: (415) 362-0214WEB page:

http://www.nalcbayarea.comOffice hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday

Branch 214 notesWelcome the following new stewards: Ronaldo

Caluag (Daly City); Cherry Vargas (Daly City); Berta Quezada (Parkside).

Welcome the following new alternate stewards: Chela Manzo (San Leandro South).

The Vallejo office of The Voice, Herb Mitchell in charge, helped with the production of this issue.

Our talented Voice contributors were once again reprinted in other union publications. Our award winning cartoonist Ed Cuadra had his cartoon “Under Time”, March/April 2008 Voice about the difficulties of getting the new scanner to read in bright sunshine, used in “Eigh-teen and Eight,” Branch 4016, Flossmoor, IL.

And it was also printed on the back page of the Sep-tember, 2008 “Nalcaster”, Branch 258, Reading, PA.

Karen Schuler, Secretary-Treasurer, and expert on injured carriers had her article, “National Reassessment Process: Phase 2 or Thinning the Herd!” from the May/June 2008 Voice reprinted in the September-October 2008 “The Mail Bag News”, Branch 2902, Chatsworth, CA.

Talented retiree Mike Williamson had his article, “I Don’t Negotiate”, September/October 2008 Voice on the perils of form 3996 reprinted in the October 2008, “E. A. Baker Union Update”, Branch 782, Bakersfield, CA.

Ageless in CaliforniaRetiree Bill Healy turned 99 years old in September.

He was born on September 6, 1909. He joined the Post Office on June 30, 1936 and has been an NALC member since 1936. Bill received his 50 year pin in December, 1996 and his 60 year pin in December, 2006. He has been an NALC member for 78 years. Congratulations!

October, 1998. William (Bill) Healey, on left and Vernon R. Capps

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September 25, 2008 MDA Lock Up

On September 25, 2008 Officers Lili Beaumont, Karen Eshabarr and Karen Schuler went to an event to raise money to send kids with Muscular Dystrophy to summer camp. Thanks to the generous donations of family, friends and the membership the jailed officers raised $3,480.08. NALC has been trying to reenergize our commitment to the letter carriers’ chosen charity the Muscular Dystrophy Association by selling sodas and having auctions prior to the monthly branch meeting.

We have raised a total year to date of $4,602.08. There will be a silent auction at the December Branch Meeting on December 3, 2008. Another Silent Auction will be held at the Annual Lunch honoring retirees and stewards on December 7, 2008. Our goal was to send 6 kids to summer camp at $800 each. We’re almost there! Once again a big thank you to all the generous members of Golden Gate Branch 214!

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November/December 2008 THE VOICE

P R E S I D E N T

It’s the economy

And it’s the post officeBy Lili Beaumont, President

Members should be cautious when purchasing Holiday gift cards for Christmas presents because many retail stores are closing rapidly. One never knows when store brand gift cards may have zero value if the chain closes its doors. A brief description of what is going on in the business world outside of our postal service follows:

• “Foot Locker” is to close 140 stores all planned in fiscal year 2008.

• Gap Inc. will be closing 85 stores in fiscal year 2008. All store closures will be weighted toward the “Gap” brand.

• “Home Depot” Inc. announced that is shutting down 15 stores amid a slumping economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world’s largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons.

• “Levitz” and “Bombay” stores have already been closed. The furni-

ture retailer, “Levitz,” is going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December after being in business since 1910.

• “Linens & Things” is under liquidation and closing all stores by year end.

• “Macy’s” is closing 9 stores.• “Mervyns” is closing stores.• “Sprint Nextel” will be closing 125 retail locations

and will be letting go 4,000 employees amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter. Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of com-pany-owned stores.

• The owner of retailers “Lane Bryant,” “Fashion Bug,” “Catherines Plus Sizes” will be closing 150 stores nationwide.

• “Zales” and “Piercing Pagoda” are closing a total of 105 stores—50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.

As all these and more stores close, obviously, people lose their jobs. It is also that many more advertisements that the postal service LOSES in revenue. Although this depressed economy has not yet affected our postal ser-vice to the point where people are losing their jobs to the extremes of the rest of the country, the postal service is also hurting financially.

Bailout for post officesIn fact, the Postal Service (USPS) made the front

page of the November 17, 2008 Federal Times with the headline “Next up for bailout? USPS”. Excerpts from this article indicate that although the postal service cut expenses by nearly $2 billion, the revenue did not pick up proportionately resulting in a net loss of $2.8 billion in fiscal year 2008. As a result, the USPS has asked Con-gress to allow it to dip into a trust fund to pay for its retir-ees’ health care. The USPS also plans to cut 100 million work hours this fiscal year which projects to a savings of billions of dollars. There are also rumors of eliminating Saturday delivery and closing down and consolidating post offices. Nevertheless, the USPS also predicts to receive 8 billion FEWER pieces of mail this year as first class mail continues to diminish and second-class mail volume declines because magazine agencies are folding.

The object of our agency’s survival has become to cut back on expenses and generate revenue. So far, with the help of many carriers, the USPS has been able to cut expenses, but we are lacking in revenue generation.

Selling to your customersAll carriers should seize any opportunities to engage

their customers and encourage them to use the postal service for mailing needs. The market is very fertile for Express Mail and Parcel Post delivery products. Our prices are much more reasonable than the other courier companies—FedEx, UPS, and DHL. In fact, now is a perfect opportunity to capture the business left behind by DHL especially since the USPS delivers the final mile for DHL already to some customers. For the carrier who is trusted by their customers, it is as easy as asking “Would

you be interested in saving money on your courier/deliv-ery needs?” If the answer is “yes”, all the carrier needs to do is have the customer complete a customer connect “lead” card, bring it back to the post office and give it to a supervisor or to the customer connect coordinator. The “Business Development Teams” within the postal service will contact that customer and answer all their ques-tions and determine if the USPS can accommodate that customer’s needs. The carrier’s job is done. The carrier’s role in customer connect is that simple, and the carrier has a (new) contractual right to participate in customer connect.

An alternative route adjustment processBecause of the economy’s state, mail volume—the

bread and butter of the USPS—continues to decline rendering many routes less than eight hours, and put-

(continued on page 5)

Gift cards may be worthless in bankrupt stores.

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O P I N I O N

Circling vultures

November 14th– Accountability Day

By Audrey A. Davis, shop steward PCA

We have seen images of people on television during the New York blackout in ’77, Rodney King riots in L. A., and after natural disasters breaking windows to steal TVs, sneakers and diapers.

What you won’t see on the evening news are scenes of business men in suits deliberately distorting their firm’s financial accounts and then running to the bank with their bonus checks. When working class people do it, it’s called looting but for business executives it is simply “creative accounting.”

Devastating effortNew technology, such as the

internet, email and faxing are hav-ing a devastating effect on the value of the U. S. Postal Service. We are face to face with the grim reaper and like these other crisis situations there are people who will use it as an opportunity for personal gain. The financial bank-

ing crisis is similar to the disintegration of the Postal Service in that there is absolutely no accountability for those in charge.

The unethical dealings in the banking industry are believed to be one of the main reasons for the looming worldwide economic recession. Instead of anyone being held responsible, penalized or punished in any way, just the opposite; Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson, who made $700 million dollars off of the subprime mortgage loans, was rewarded with an appointment to be the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and then put in charge of $700 billion dollars to fix the crisis that he helped create! Other former Goldman Sachs employees now head the New York Stock Exchange, the World Bank, the White House staff, and firms such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.

In the holeMeanwhile, the Postal Service is over $2.3 billion in

the hole this year and no matter how badly they man-age, no one is held accountable. In fact, just the oppo-site; postal managers are giving themselves “Pay for Performance” bonuses. Postmaster General Jack Potter and seven other senior postal officers received hefty pay increases this year; Potter got the largest increase of 39% to $258,840 a year.

At the worksite it is obvious that some (if not all) of these bonuses are obtained under false pretenses. The cri-teria to receive the additional pay are usually things like; lowering sick leave usage, cutting overtime, fewer acci-dents and on-time delivery. We see first hand that supervi-sors are using their own version of “creative accounting” to show that they have improved even if they haven’t.

Unscrupulous conductWe expect that the people in charge will try to improve

the situation and it is shocking to see this kind of unscru-pulous conduct. These are not isolated incidents. A cul-ture has developed that allows this predatory behavior to thrive.

Just as these bankers turned government leaders have taken $700 billion from American workers to bail out the failing banks the USPS managers are insisting that craft

employees have to increase productivity to make up for the crisis that they have created.

Pressure to work harderThere is a brutal and unrelenting pressure to make

carriers and other postal employees work harder with no regard for the devastation they leave in their wake. The injuries, the exhaustion and the anguish that goes with forcing people to do more than is reasonable is taking its toll on us. Roland Garshol (ex-President of NALC Branch 214) said it best, “The Postal Service is an insa-tiable beast, they will never have enough.”

In order to get that extra dollar in their pocket supervi-sors and managers routinely:

• threaten and harass carriers who use their sick leave

• use supervisors to do craft work in order to keep down the station hours

• delay, hide and “lose” injury reports• trick employees out of using FMLA• cheat on the 5 o’clock window to make it look like

all delivery is finished• tell carriers not to clock out (end tour) if they are in

penalty overtimeAgain and again we find that the rules and laws only

apply to us. Those in power act with impunity. The vul-tures are circling and there doesn’t seem to be any help on the way. Looks like we better do what we gotta do to protect ourselves.

Note: A tragic shooting occurred at the Royal Oak, MI post office in 1991 where five people were killed. Since then chief shop steward Charlie Withers has struggled to make November 14th officially become Accountability Day. Looks like we need it more than ever.

Bonuses are obtained under false pretenses.

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November/December 2008 THE VOICE Page �

P R E S I D E N T

Born November 18, 1925 in San Francisco, CaliforniaDied October 19, 2008 in Daly City, California

“82 years, 11 months, and 1 day”

The retirees of Branch 214 have lost our President of the retirees for twelve years due to cancer. Robert (Bob) took over as President of Branch 214 Retirees on August 5, 1996 from William (Bill) Lawrence. Bob was the brother of Raymond, a former supervisor in the Post Office. Bob worked for 33 years in the Postal Service. He just received his 60 year pin as a NALC 214 member in August. The Murrays were third genera-tion San Franciscans. His great,

ting full-time carriers in a situation where they may be frequently pivoted or asked to do work in addition to their bid assignments but within their eight hours. The national parties have agreed that the best way to deal with the mail volume’s steady decline is to adjust the routes appropriately to the volume drops but to create a process that is not too acrimonious for the carriers. On October 22, 2008, President Young entered into agreement with the USPS on an Interim Alternate Route Adjustment Pro-cess (IARAP) which will basically be the new process to evaluate and adjust routes nationwide (at least during fis-cal year 2009). The traditional six-day route inspections where management spends a week counting a route’s mail and one-day following the carrier deliver the mail on that route is soon to be obsolete except for situations where the carrier requests for a special route inspection under the national agreement and the M-39 handbook section 271.g. Under this new process (IARAP), the data used to adjust the routes is limited to May and September unless additional time periods are agreed on by the dis-trict and local parties. Only the regular carriers’ actual, demonstrated times for office and street are used. Once the union and management agree on the data to be used, the carrier on the route will be consulted on their thoughts of the value of their route and any anomalies on the route that may not be reflected in the data. Problems with the data arise on a route when the carrier is not moving his/her clock rings correctly (i.e. punching in, moving to and from the street, punching out), or if the carrier is perform-

ing auxiliary assistance on other routes but is not show-ing that work in their clock rings, or if the supervisor is making the carrier’s clock rings. The union preaches that carriers should make their own clock rings and that carri-ers should accurately reflect in their clock rings not only the hours they are working but where (on what routes and if it is office or street work) they are working those hours. This is critical for ensuring that every route evaluated gets a fair adjustment.

The union’s objective in this adjustment process is to make all routes as close to eight hours as possible. This

means both adding to routes that evaluate out to less than eight hours and cutting routes that evaluate out to more than eight hours. It also means visiting all stations within one complex except for stations in a complex that have just been through a route adjustment between April 1st and November 15, 2008. If the data shows that routes should be eliminated, then vacant routes will be first tar-geted for abolishment. Then routes whose regular carriers are junior in seniority may be targeted for elimination. The purpose for this is to avoid or minimize displacing senior carriers off of their bid assignments which may disrupt the whole station.

These route adjustments are supposed to make routes

Robert (Bob) Charles Murraygreat, great grandmother is buried in the Mission Dolo-res Cemetery in San Francisco.

Bob was truly devoted to the retirees and brought insight to all of us at the bi-monthly meetings. His knowledge of what was happening in Washington was

very helpful to us all. We will miss him very very much.

Bob was married for 50 years to his wife, Margie, and they have three children, Steven, Robin, and Katrina. They also have five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. May Bob rest in peace. Graveside services were at Skylawn Cemetery in San Mateo County.

Vernon R. Capps,Secretary, Branch 214 Retirees

Beaumont (continued from page 3)

The post office is asking to dip into a trust fund for quick cash.

Bob Murray with Lili Buencamino, President, Branch 214, at Dec. 3, 2006 retiree meeting.

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O P I N I O N

A small step

Convincing votersBy Ivars Lauersons, Editor

November 3, 2008One person sitting on a bus going to Reno in early

October 2008 can make a difference as to who is elected President of the United States. And the forty or so other NALC members from the Bay Area who were on the bus multiply this effect. And there we join several hundred others who have come to Reno, Nevada to call on union households and urge them to vote for Senator Barack Obama for President.

We were part of an NALC, California State Asso-ciation and Nevada State Association organized walk for Obama in a city in a swing state where a Democratic vic-

tory was possible, and the five electoral votes of Nevada could be cast for the Democratic candidate. A similar effort was being held in Las Vegas, and variations of this get out the vote and push for a Democratic candidate were duplicated throughout the country.

Homes of union membersIn Reno we would be contacting only homes of union

members, and encouraging them to vote their economic interests. This was a task made much easier by the very recent $700 billion bailout that had passed Congress and the very visible deteriorating economy.

Can one person make a difference? In a close election, very much so. It is not only your vote. It is also your effort to get others to vote your way, to make one per-son become part of a group, and to multiply your single voice.

A ripple effectIt’s not quite the classic chaos theory, which argues

that the air that a butterfly’s wings disturb in the Ama-zon in Brazil disturb air currents, which disturb more air

currents, and so on, until it results in a hurricane along the U.S. Gulf Coast. But there is a ripple effect from combined small electoral efforts. If Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado vote Democratic, their combined electoral votes could offset a loss in one of the larger swing states in the Midwest.

Unions have been prepared for this Presidential elec-tion, and a lot of Senate and House races, by mobiliz-ing people to register new voters and organizing phone banks. The Reno walk was only part of this effort. We were prepared by our union leadership to inform people of Senator Obama’s positions on gun ownership, on taxes, on health care, on labor friendly legislation, and to answer any other questions.

Polite persuasionWe were not to assume if people did not wish to vote

for Senator Obama, they were not making a rational deci-sion. We were polite. Thinking another way than ours is

At a union member’s house, Reno, Nevada, October 5, 2008, from left, Kevin Wood, Branch 709, Reno, Ivars Lauersons, Branch 214, San Francisco, Ray Gauthier, Branch 193, San Jose.

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Listening to instructions on the walk for Obama, at the union hall in Reno, Nevada, organizer Maria Rosa, of Communications Workers of America (CWA) 9413, Reno, Nevada.

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Our aim was to give Nevada’s five electoral votes to Obama.

Can one person make a difference?

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O P I N I O N

Branch 214 Volunteers for Obama,

Reno October 5, 2008 and November 2, 2008

Judith ArandaLili BeaumontRoberta BojoRich Deleon

Ray FongKaren EshabarrSheila GardnerRoland Garshol

Sue GarsholCharles Gonzalez

Tony GallardoGioconda Herrera

Sharon IvoryKa-Ming Lau

Ivars Lauersons

Norma LeonardoFrances Lopez

Kian McCarthyCarol MaggioMelvin Moore

Eldridge PoolerBerta QuezadaMartha Raup

Matthew RessioKaren Schuler

Cathy SimonsonBill ThorntonKim Truong

Bobbi Turner

Taking advantage of a bus breakdown on route 80 in the Sierras on the way home from the walk for Obama, letter carriers wave to passing motorists with “Obama ‘08” t-shirts.

Norma Leonardo, Branch 214 member, is second from left.

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not a sign of moral degeneracy or lack of patriotism. Two sides can be right.

In our case, another carrier from San Jose, Branch 193, Ray Gauthier, and a driver from Reno, Branch 709, Kevin Wood and his son Trevor, all wearing our Obama

T-shirts, got generally a friendly reception. Some said they would vote for Obama, one family was concerned about taxes on over $250,000 family income, and one person was in too much of a hurry to talk to us.

If we made a big difference by our walk, then Nevada will go Democratic. If the election is close in Nevada, we will still have made a difference. We made a difference as a group, and a group is made up of many single persons.

P.S. November 5, 2008President-elect Barack Obama won the state of

Nevada.

Lauersons (continued from page 6)

We contacted union households in Reno.

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U N I O N A C T I V I T I E S

Branch 214 MeetingsBranch meetings, 7:00 P .M .

December 3, 2008 ILWU Hall, 400 North Point, SF January 7, 2009 ILWU Hall, 400 North Point, SF February 4, 2009 ILWU Hall, 400 North Point, SF

Steward meetings, 4:30 P .M . December 3, 2008 Union Office, 2310 Mason St ., SF January 7, 2009 Union Office, 2310 Mason St ., SF February 4, 2009 Union Office, 2310 Mason St ., SF

Retiree social meeting, 12:30 P .M . Dec . 7, 2008 Annual Retirees & Stewards Lunch Italian-American Social Club 25 Russia Ave ., SF February 2, 2009 740 Del Monte Ave ., South SF April 6, 2009 740 Del Monte Ave ., South SF

IN MEMORIAMRobert Murray

WELCOME NEW MEMBERSJennifer Para-Levy (TE-San Leandro)

Marda Zerit (TE-San Leandro)

Roland and Sue Garshol

This is happiness at home, the day of retirement.

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Branch 214 President Lili Beaumont, right, honors former President Roland Garshol and wife Sue Garshol, steward and formal “A” representative at retirement event on July 31, 2008.

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ioIt’s a double last punch bunch.

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Receiving various certificates of merit on last day.

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O P I N I O N

A quick history

What happened to the economy?

By Lynda Beigel, retiree

What happened to the economy? It went from a farm-based to a factory based to a retail sales based to a loan-funded invention based to a pyramid scheme based econ-omy. At the same time, we increased the CO

2 percentage

in our air over 2700% and it is still rising.

Farm life

Life was fine for the average 19th century farm family when the weather cooperated, even if hours were long.

But weather has a habit of acting without our choosing and situations like the dust bowl of the 1930s and loans that could not be repaid, com-bined with the 40 hour week that unions brought to the cities, moved the young people off the farm. In the 1970s the hippies started mov-ing back to the land and initiated the organic farming industry of today.

They are avoiding bankruptcy by choosing small farms and multiple crops and living within their means.

At the end of the 19th century and to the mid-20th, industrialization and fear of debt-fuelled growth, com-peting large corporations (like the railroads, automobile, tool, airplane and appliance manufacturers, steel mills,

food processors) and small, independent ones (furniture manufacturers, specialty firms, pharmaceuticals, those that formed our cities’ industrial districts), combined with an ethic that meant the CEO earned only about 20 times what the average productive employee earned gave economists the impression that continued growth was inevitable.

Deregulation

Concurrent with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, we saw a drastic change in direction. Deregulation was the word of the day for government. The people seemed

to want every toy available, even if they had to borrow to pay for “the good life.” Manufacturing was sent over-seas; union jobs disappeared. The workweek grew longer and the part-time job came back. The “contract worker” was introduced in white collar areas, the office worker became redundant—replaced by the call center. The economy became consumer based; instead of measuring production, economists measured purchasing. The more that was purchased—whether affordable or not—the bet-ter the economy looked. When industry could not support

growth, the corporate world turned to mergers (eliminat-ing competition), measuring purchases instead of produc-tion, and redistribution of wealth to the top 5% from the middle 60% and lower 20%.

Dot-com boom

And these trends peaked in the 1990s with the “dot-com boom” where start- up companies were measured by the amount of borrowed money they could spend. Along with all this spending came massive real estate inflation. When the middlemen, merger moguls, and computer geeks had all the toys they wanted, they needed bigger houses and gated communities to keep them in.

The downfall

When borrowing became saturated, the financial wiz-ards turned to unregulated pyramid schemes (“deriva-tives”): betting on whether companies would increase or decrease in value. And in the new century they used our savings and pension funds to do it. This fall, when the house of cards came down and all the financial assets

we thought were secure lost our principal, the moguls and wizards got off scot-free. That’s what is wrong with voting Republican; today’s GOP has no common sense! It does not represent small business any more than it rep-resents the American worker.

In light of this, what do we have to be grateful for as we enter 2009? Our union, our families, being wiser than we were a year ago, and renewed dedication to demo-cratic ideals and processes.

A CEO earned only 20 times the wages of a worker.

The economy became consumption-based.

And then came the unregulated pyramid schemes.

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V I C E - P R E S I D E N T

Obama presidency

Is labor’s agenda in jeopardy?By Bill Thornton, Vice President

After the euphoria of the Obama election, some con-cerns emerge over a direction of an Obama administra-tion. While the election of Barack Obama was an event of epic proportions, there is the sinking feeling only days after the election that labor/progressive programs may fall to the wayside. What will become of health care reform, changes making it easier to unionize workplaces and the future of the Postal Service and letter carrier jobs?

Already, we see some disturbing signs of direction of the new administration with possible choices of

Treasury Secretary. They are mostly Wall Street types and this is no big surprise. Nobody expected Che Gue-vara.

Early appointmentsBut then there is the choice of

Rahm Emanuel as Presidential Chief of Staff. Emmanuel is a Chicago Congressman, former Wall Streeter, Clinton point man in the passage

of NAFTA and a “… militant advocate for free trade policies …” (Rahm Emmanuel,” Face of Change?” John Nichols, Nation, November 5, 2008). While in Congress, he voted for the 2002 authorization for the Iraq War and

has been an architect of keeping the Democratic Party in the center of the political spectrum.

Congressional counterpointProgressives may take heart in the presence of local

Bay Area Congressman Pete Stark as chairman of a House Committee dealing with health care. Stark supports a single payer system which is preferable to Obama’s more market based system that nonetheless promises more or less universal health care. Single payer would definitely be universal and would cut out a lot of the middlemen (insurance companies, etc) that were big contributors to both major presidential candidates.

Right to organizeUnion membership in the United States continues to

plummet to fewer than 8% in the private sector, from about 20% in 1980 and in the 35 % range in the 50’s and

60’s. 35 % of public service workers are unionized. This appears to be an historic opportunity for unions to raise their numbers.

The AFL-CIO polling results show that over 50% of nonunion workers said they would vote to join a union if they could. That’s sixty million. The hang up in union-izing these workers has been an incredibly effective employer resistance.

The big prizeFor labor the big prize following the Obama/Demo-

cratic tsunami is the Employee Free Choice Act, or “card check”. This allows unions to gather signatures to certify unions, rather than to submit to the election pro-cess. Business hides behind the nobility and morality of

the secret ballot, but the reality is that when a union elec-tion approaches, businesses bring in cadres of union bust-ers, including law firms that specialize in making sure that the union is never certified. The bill also authorizes an arbitrator to impose a contract if the parties don’t reach agreement in 120 days. Currently, the union loses its right to be sole bargaining agent after (1) year if the parties do not reach agreement. And businesses can easily stall for this period, effectively negating unionization.

But there will be plenty of pressure for the President-elect to back away from, or water down such a proposal, or put this issue on the back burner behind the war and economic meltdown. This would be a shame and seem wrong after labor contributed so much to Obama’s election.

Labor spent almost a half billion dollars during the presidential race and contacted over 13 million union voters by phone or with personal visits in 24 states. In the last 4 days of the campaign a quarter million union vol-unteers made over 5 million phone calls and visited about 4 million union households (New York Times, November 9, 2008). Branch 214 was part of the get out the vote campaign for Obama and Democratic candidates in the

swing state of Nevada. There were trips to Reno in June, October and in November, two days before the election. At one union household that Sheila Gardner and I visited, the voter complained of the number of visits by unionists and said that the next visit would result in a call to police. (An indication of the effort of labor, if not the result

After the euphoria comes a reality check.

Union membership continues to plummet.

Labor’s big prize is the Employee Free Choice Act.


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V I C E - P R E S I D E N T

wanted.) But generally it was a very satisfying experi-ence for participating Branch 214 members, especially since Obama took Nevada and Democrats picked up a Nevada Congressional seat.

Carriers’ big concernFor letter carriers, the survival of the Postal Service

has become a major concern. There are huge losses and a talk of layoffs and questions about whether the Postal Service will survive in the long run.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has met with the UAW and the Detroit car companies with talk of some kind of bailout/loan package for Detroit auto companies. Postal Service employees would appropriately expect such largesse towards the Postal Service and its employees in time of financial distress.

Where are we headed?Nobel prize winning economist and New York Times

columnist Paul Krugman has said, “… many commenta-tors are urging Mr. Obama to think small … America, they say, is a conservative country, and voters will

punish Democrats if they move to the left. Others say that the financial and economic crisis leaves no room for say, health care reform. Let’s hope that Mr Obama has the good sense to ignore this advice … this year’s

Thornton (continued from page 12) presidential election was a clear referendum on political philosophies—and the progressive philosophy won …” Paul Krugman,”The Obama Agenda,” New York Times, November 7, 2008.

An Associated Press story, reported in the New York Times, November 14, 2008, said that the Postal Service ended its fiscal year $2.8 billion in the red. The post office had a net operating income of $2.7 billion in 2008, but ended up in the red because of the requirement for a $5.6 billion payment to a benefit fund for retirees. Postmaster John Potter said that the agency was mak-ing cuts in hours and overtime but that no layoffs were planned.—Ed.

At the Northern Nevada Labor Temple, National President Bill Young, hand upraised at front of room, facing camera, exhorts union activists, including Branch 214 members, prior to labor walk for Obama, October 5, 2008.

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Labor contacted over 13 million voters in 24 states for President-elect Obama.

Beaumont (continued from page 5)

eight hours proportionate to the present mail volume. If volume continues to decline, or maybe even increase, then this alternate route adjustment process will be activated again to readjust the routes accordingly during fiscal year 2009. If a carrier believes that their route adjustment cre-ated an overburdened route, he/she should document the overtime, auxiliary assistance, mail curtailment done on their route and then request for a special route inspec-tion under the M-39 handbook section 271.g. Despite the adjustments and probable reduction of routes, regular, full-time, carriers will still be guaranteed eight hours of work per day with their benefits and wages intact. There are no lay-offs announced at the present time so nobody will be losing their jobs, and most carriers will be able to retain their bid assignments. I believe that’s a good deal for the carriers since the rest of the country is slowly becoming unemployed.

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U N I O N A C T I V I T I E S

Harry Lee-MarinaHarry S. Lee was born in Canton, China and moved

to San Francisco when he was ten years old. He grew up in Chinatown, and after attending City College of San Francisco, he decided to get a job as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service. Harry has been married to his lovely wife, Luisa, for 30 years. Together they have three wonderful children – Jeffrey, Valerie, and Monica.

Harry started in the Postal Service at the Marina Sta-tion in San Francisco on April 4, 1970, after 9 months of probation. After Harry became a regular letter carrier, he bid on Route 2302, and has been delivering mail on that same route ever since. He has never missed a day of work and has never called in sick, accumulating a remarkable 4024 hours of sick leave. In total, Harry has dedicated forty years and six months of his life to the Postal Ser-vice.

On November 1, 2008, Harry, previously known as the Iron Man, will finally give up his push cart and slide his time card one last time. There have been many fond memories accumulated over the span of his long career. Among Harry’s fondest memories are his devotion to professionalism and his immense pride in service to his customers. Harry has shown a tireless work ethic and has an impeccable safety record. He has never had an acci-dent in his entire career.

Harry retires at the age of 58 and a half, and plans to take on a new role of being a grandfather to his first grandchild. Additionally, he will take time to enjoy some traveling.

By Valerie, Monica and Jeffrey Lee

Classic last punch photo.

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Harry with wife, Luisa, his two daughters, Monica and Valerie and his first grandchild.

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Kathy Wilson of Collections bids farewell to C.P. David.

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C.P. David of Collections retired recently from the San Francisco Post Office after a long career.

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November/December 2008 THE VOICE Page 1�

B U D G E T

Approved Budget— October 1, 2008–March 31, 2009

Spent Projected 4/1/08- 10/1/08- 9/30/08 3/31/09Expense 1. Salaries, FT, PT, Stewards, Assignment Time: President’s Salary (FERS) 30,988.00 31,500.00 Executive Vice President’s Salary (CSRS) 31,718.00 31,885.00 Vice President’s Salary (CSRS) 31,718.00 31,885.00 Secretary-Treasurer’s Salary (FERS) 30,200.00 30,700.00 Field Director Salary (FERS) 30,200.00 30,700.00 Asst. Secretary-Treasurer’s Salary (CSRS) 13,671.00 14,250.00 Health Benefits Representative Salary 1,172.00 1,210.00 Sgt/Arms, MBA, EEO, S&H, Trustees, Dir of Org (8) 5,275.00 5,430.00 Shop Steward Salary 33,616.00 35,000.00 Assignment Time/Paid Time and Services (excl. Voice, Ed) 34,990.00 35,000.00 Leave Replacement 10,673.00 10,000.00 TOTAL 254,221.00 257,560.00 2. Officer, Steward Expenses President’s Expenses 2,153.00 2,000.00 Executive Vice President’s Expenses 1,655.00 1,500.00 Vice President’s Expenses 1,854.00 1,500.00 Secretary-Treasurer’s Expenses 2,060.00 1,500.00 Field Director Expenses 1,345.00 1,500.00 Asst. S/T Expenses 729.00 750.00 Misc. Expenses (Other Officer & Stewards) 820.00 1,000.00 Leave Reimbursement 591.00 2,000.00 Officer’s Leave Fund (30% of potential liability) — — TOTAL 11,207.00 11,750.00 3. Taxes & Officer’s Benefits Officer’s Benefits 29,904.00 32,000.00 Payroll Taxes 22,057.00 23,500.00 Property Taxes 5,252.00 5,500.00 TOTAL 57,213.00 61,000.00 4. Building/Office Expense Architect/Tenant Improvements — — Building Maintenance & Repair — 4,000.00 Hall Rental/RWC Office 2,850.00 3,000.00 Loan Payment/Mortgage 15,921.00 18,200.00 Janitorial Service Office 2,935.00 3,000.00 Office Utilities (Phone/Water) 5,246.00 5,500.00 Printing — 5,000.00 Insurance (Disability/Business Liability/Bonding) 4,744.00 5,000.00 Insurance (Representational Liability) 8,955.00 — Maintenance (Security/Service Contracts/Serv-Maint) 6,625.00 6,700.00 Computer Expenses 10,000.00 10,000.00 Office Supplies/Equipment/ Office Expense 11,000.00 11,500.00 Postage 6,000.00 6,000.00 Payroll Services 4,233.00 4,300.00 TOTAL 78,509.00 82,200.00 5. Building Corporation BC Architect - Base Building — — BC Pre-Construction Costs — — BC Elevator 570.00 750.00 BC Garbage 224.00 275.00 BC Insurance — 2,500.00 BC Janitorial 1,667.00 1,550.00 BC Office Expense — 25.00 BC Professional Fees 439.00 500.00 BC Serv Maintenance — 500.00

BC Utilities (PG&E/Water/ Elevator Phone) 4,842.00 5,000.00 TOTAL 7,742.00 11,100.00 6. Fees & Dues Professional Fees 673.00 1,000.00 Affiliate Dues 4,660.00 5,725.00 TOTAL 5,333.00 6,725.00 7. Convention & Conferences Convention Fund 12,600.00 12,600.00 Seminars & Conferences (HBR Seminar/ State Leadership Conf) 267.00 8,500.00 Committee of President’s Meeting/ National Rap Session - odd yrs 911.00 2,500.00 TOTAL 13,778.00 23,600.00 8. Education Training, Seminars 7,429.00 20,850.00 Issue Education/Labor 2007-2008 1,477.00 5,000.00 Other: Books, Materials, NALC Supplies 720.00 2,675.00 TOTAL 9,626.00 28,525.00 9. Communications Voice, TV-214, Website: Lost Time 3,703.00 4,000.00

Expenses 14,546.00 14,750.00 TV 214 — 1,200.00 Website — 4,375.00 TOTAL 18,249.00 24,325.0010. Entertainment Good of the Order/Other Refreshments 3,092,00 5,500.00 Annual Dinner Honoring Retirees and Stewards — 5,000.00 Recreation/Picnic 500.00 1,000.00 TOTAL 3,592.00 11,500.0011. Representational Expenses Representational Expenses — 500.00 Contract / Picket Action / Legislative Action 382.00 500.00 TOTAL 382.00 1,000.0012. Other Retirement and Other Gifts 3,953.00 5,000.00 New Member Services / Recruitment 135.00 500.00 Branch Elections — — Food Drive 8,356.00 300.00 100% Union Celebration ($4/person) — 250.00 Branch Items 1,332.00 — Miscellaneous 192.00 700.00 Bank Savings 15,015.00 8,991.00 TOTAL 28,983.00 15,741.00 TOTALS 488,835.00 535,026.00

Projected Income # of Per Projected) Members Member Income)Active Members (7 pay periods @ 20.27) 1,910 141.89 232,294) (6 pay periods @ 20.27) 1,910 121.62 297,750)Retired Members 392 2.25 882)Interest Income 1,100)Miscellaneous Income 3,000)

TOTAL PROJECTED INCOME: 535,026)

Total Projected Expenses (535,026)

Projected Surplus —)

Spent Projected 4/1/08- 10/1/08- 9/30/078 3/31/09

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A Non-Profit OrganizationU .S . POSTAGE

P A I DSan Francisco, Calif .

Permit No . 10302

GOLDEN GATE BRANCH NO . 214NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS, AFL-CIO

2310 MASON ST ., THIRD FLOOR

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94133

Address service requested

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Gerry Lee classic

Sometimes a cartoon is forever

At the 1982 national convention held in San Francisco, Gerry Lee created a cartoon showing the diversity in the post office at that time. This cartoon has been used by other branches through the years. Also, over the years, Gerry Lee’s signature has disappeared and people may not know the origin of this artwork.

We’d like to thank the branches listed below for using the cartoon to welcome their new members, and ask that they give credit to “Gerry Lee, Branch 214”

We are reprinting the original version from the August/September, 1982 issue of The Voice.

Other papers using the cartoon this year:“Eighteen and Eight,” Branch 4016, Flossmoor, IL

May, 2008

“The 330 Digest,” Branch 330, South Bend, IN April, 2008

“Queen City Letter Carrier,” Branch 43, Cincinnati, OH April, 2008

“Postman’s View,” Branch 231, Fresno CA March, 2008

“The Seventy-Niner,” Branch 79, Seattle, WA June, 2008htt

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november/december 2008 award-winning newspaper vol ...spenceburton.com/nalc214/voicenov08.pdf•...

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