Flash Bulletins are paid for by members of the APWU. Information contained in these bulletins is intended for APWU members. Member questions and/or comments regarding any flash bulletin content are always encouraged. Reading of publications prepared for and financed by dues paying members by those who do not is yet one more example of non-members accepting benefits that have been paid for by others! 

*** Veterans News *** 

Employees have been advised to request a copy of their Official Personnel File (OPF) before the personnel section migrates those records to a digital format.  Veterans want to pay particular attention to items such as military buy back and making sure your status as a 5 pt. or 10 pt. veteran is correctly noted in your OPF.  Those seeking more details about Veterans Preference may want to check out the Veteran’s Preference Act, however, higher points are generally awarded to disabled Vets etc. 

Local Personnel Operations Migration to Shared Services –

What This Means to You!

During the last few years, personnel operations that were formerly domiciled in Minneapolis &/or St. Paul have been slowly transferred to the USPS Human Resources Shared Services (HRSS) facility in Greensboro, NC.  Personnel is responsible for the administration of virtually all employee records, hiring, employment status, changes in status, retirement, health insurance, and the list goes on and on.  You now call 1-877-477-3273 where you are prompted to deal with many of the issues previously serviced locally. 

Perhaps one of the more significant functions of the personnel department is the administration of employee job bidding, assignments, conversions and opportunity to select and obtain preferred duty assignments.  It is in this specific area where your Union works closely with personnel officials to ensure jobs are offered and awarded in compliance with our Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Many variables can and do apply.  Seniority, qualifications, timing, inadvertent employee bids, conversions, craft, and contractual factors go into who may be eligible for certain jobs and who may not be eligible.  Acute knowledge of all the nuances involved is essential!  

Experience has taught us that our preemptive involvement in the process reduces the incident of erroneous job placement, training inconsistencies, conversions, and necessity to file grievances that almost always impact several employees to one extent or another.  The impact to one or more employees in every improper job action is detrimental when things that have been fouled up need to be resolved.  If the Union is not proactive in the process inevitably we will be called upon and placed in a reactive mode to a situation that could have been avoided!  By and large, the officials we have had as job bidding contacts in personnel have been extremely cooperative, knowledgeable, professional, and have performed their duties seamlessly. However, those functions of bidding that were previously conducted and controlled by local officials will be “migrated” to HRSS on or about September 30, 2006.  While we will still have a local contact many functions in the job bidding process will no longer be within local control. 

We have had several meetings with managers in charge of local personnel services and many of the questions we have had related to the job bidding and awarding sequence have gone unanswered.  We have been told that there may be no bids posted in the entire month of October along with other changes that either will be, or may be violations of our contract.  If our contractually recognized procedure cannot be accommodated by HRSS it may create extremely unfortunate and far reaching impact to job placement opportunities.  These type grievances almost always create hard feelings and potential to enormous monetary liabilities for the USPS.  We’ll keep you advised to changes in the bidding process as they become known.  Until further notice you should proceed with the process as you have in the past.  

OUR NEXT COPA CLUB APPRECIATION & CASINO NIGHT VOLUNTEER MEETING WILL BE WEDNESDAY, August 30^th!

In order to accommodate as many volunteers as possible, 2 meetings per day will be scheduled- at Noon and at 6pm at our Union Hall located at 1234 4^th St NE in Northeast Minneapolis. You only need to attend one of the meetings. Additional meetings are scheduled as follows: September 6^th – noon and 6pm and September 13^th noon and 6pm.  If you can volunteer for this event or you just have questions, please contact our Co-Chair of this event, Peggy Whitney at 612-623-0677.  See you on Wednesday, August 30^th!

On Saturday, September 16, 2006, the Minneapolis Area Local will be sponsoring and hosting our initial “COPA CLUB APPRECIATION & CASINO NIGHT.”  In what we hope will become an annual event for our members, we will have free food and beverages for all our eligible 2006 COPA Club members along with free “Casino Money” COPA Club members can use to play any one of several games we will be providing with professional dealers etc. In addition, many prize drawings will be conducted and held all while everyone socializes and has a great time!  This will be a huge event and we will need as many volunteers as possible to help work the event and make sure all have a good time!

COPA APPRECIATION & CASINO FUNDRAISER NIGHT 

Where:
Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (Across from Twin Cities Metro Hub)
1330 Industrial Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Phone: 612-331-1900 

When:
Saturday, September 16, 2006
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM (Casino Games 7 PM -10PM)

Who:
All participating members and family members 21 years and older.

What:
Fun, Food, Beverage, Socializing, Casino Games, Raffles. 

Prizes valued at over $3000.00 will be awarded!

[back to top]