Vol. XXV, No. 23 / Jerry Sirois, President / September 09, 2004.

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Unsure your excessing question is being answered accurately?
We’ll guarantee it!

The USPS across the country is engaged, and has been engaged, in continuous downsizing and therefore the excessing of jobs either out of installation, out of section, out of craft, or a mixture of all three. When a section and/or facility affiliated with our local is scheduled for impact due to excessing, at some point prior to impact it has been a practice for local management to meet with those employees to explain exactly what is going on and why! While it is not the kind of duty we like to perform, the Union will have representatives on hand to assist in answering the many contractual questions people have when impacted. Unless we notify the membership differently, we will continue to have representatives on hand for these most important informational meetings.

Excessing, saved grade, retreat rights, and all the various contractual elements that can affect persons in offices, crafts, and/or sections being impacted can be very complex and therefore confusing to even the most experienced Union representative. All factors and situations the excessing emanates from must be considered in order to arrive at the correct conclusion. Unknown or inaccurate background information can affect answers to the many excessing questions that surface when a person will be impacted due to excessing.

Because we want everyone to be extremely confident that our answers to your questions are accurate and will help you in making the difficult decisions you may have to make, we offer you this guarantee: If you are unsure an answer to your question is accurate, simply write your question down giving the date, your name, section, and other factors that you feel are relevant to your particular situation and we will give you a written answer that is signed and dated by the officer answering your question! Why have doubts? We’ll guarantee it!

AND THE WINNER IS!

Congratulations to the winner of our Toro and lawn boy package! Over 17 members who read our flash bulletin entered this drawing! Thanks to one and all, and keep reading our flash for the next offering of “one person’s junk is another person’s treasure” sure to be coming up in a future flash!

The winner is: Raye Lynn Thompson

ELECTIONS-ELECTIONS-ELECTIONS!
UNITED STATES PRESIDENT

Recently we have written of our local and national endorsement for John Kerry and John Edwards for President and Vice President of the United States! Please look for more info through flash bulletin, Northern Light, and possible mailings regarding this November 2, 2004 contest!

If you or someone you know is not registered to vote and/or will be away or have difficulty reaching the polls on November 2nd, you can call here at 612-623-0677 for information on absentee ballots and the registration process. This election is crucial and every vote will count! Please look in the October issue of the Northern Light where you will see more detailed information regarding the election and the candidates!

APWU NATIONAL ELECTIONS

Please be advised that our National APWU offices are in the election process. Ballots should be in your mail boxes during the week of September 13, 2004. If you have not received a ballot by September 20, 2004, contact the national at 1-202-842-8505 to request a duplicate ballot!

While there are many candidates running for the various national offices the local has endorsed the following candidates for the offices listed. Endorsements are not made lightly and sincere thought and discussion goes into each endorsement. Please look for your ballots and vote for your locally endorsed candidates!

It is important to note that former local officers Lyle Krueth and Troy Rorman along with former St. Paul officer Willie Mellen, all of whom the local endorsed, were unopposed in their elections and our heartfelt congratulations goes out to them! They have shown great concern with issues that affect our local, unprecedented accessibility, and most importantly, the willingness to listen to different points of view and incorporate different ideas if they feel it can benefit this great Union of ours! Congrats, Lyle, Troy, and Willie!

Endorsed Candidates with opposition:

William Burrus National President

Lance Coles Organization Director

R. Chris Chaney Director, Industrial Relations

Merlie Bell NBA Motor Vehicle, Central Region

We invite any member with questions regarding these endorsements, the process the local goes through for National Elections or any questions in general to call 612-623-0677 and ask for Jerry or Peggy. In addition, these would be perfectly good questions for the announcement portion of our general membership meetings (next meeting is on Monday, September 27, 2004, 1:30 PM at the NE National Guard Armory) and we always look forward to share details of how our decision making process works with members of our APWU family!