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                                                          TAKE THE APWU SURVEY!!!

                                                         By Laviena Vargas, President

Attention all APWU members:

The National APWU is sending out surveys for each member to complete and return. The purpose of the survey is to hear from each member about your personal experience or what issues you are facing due to short staffing or due to a hostile work environment created by management.

So many times, our voices are not heard. So many times, our issues with toxic supervisors or managers are brushed aside and swept under the rug.

Taking the time to fill out the APWU survey gives each of us the chance to be heard. It is not just one union member complaining, it will be hundreds and hopefully thousands of voices being heard nationwide!

On April 28th Workers Memorial Day, the Union is kicking off a campaign against one of the biggest safety challenges that we face- toxic work environments. The National APWU is sending stickers along with the surveys to each member. Please wear your stickers on April 28th to show the USPS management team that we are here at work, and we are demanding dignity and respect at work!

Now is the time for our union members to Unite and become one force to demand that harassment in the workplace be stopped. We all must let management know now is the time to properly staff all sections at the processing plant and each station, large or small, to include our AO’s. (Associate offices)

The Denver Metro Area Local stands with all our APWU union sisters and brothers nationwide as we all rally for dignity and respect!!

***PLEASE TAKE AND RETURN THE APWU SURVEY! ***

                                              Greetings Sister’s, Brother’s & Family

                                               By Kijana Myers, Executive Vice President

   It is here! The abusive management has taken on its own body. From the National APWU they have and are continuing to address these issues with Headquarters. The beginning of this month, I was attending the President’s conference and found out that an Arbitrator has done something unprecedented.

Arbitrator Harris case # SNY22-73. He clearly states that the PM violated ELM 665.24 and the Zero Tolerance Policy. People THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENEND!!!!! I want to emphasize that an arbitrator never tells the other side what to do, but in this case, he saw the behavior could not go unpunished. I put the case there for you to read the settlement for yourself.

We must continue to stand up for a stress-free work environment free from abuse and harassment. I know it seems like no one is listening but trust we are, but we need statements 1767 anything to support the abuse or harassment as we are not present when things happened.

I urge everyone to read that case management clearly lies about their actions and the Arbitrator saw right through it. What helped was the statements of the employees about the actions of individuals. Together we can combat these individuals, but it takes all of us doing our part.

We are in this fight together, let’s stay united and show management enough is enough.

                                                        YOUR WEINGARTEN RIGHTS

                                                 By Muriel Ponder, Maintenance Craft Director

  What are your rights if called into a meeting with an Officer of the Inspector General or a Supervisor or Manager at work?  The Legal Term is Weingarten Rights!

Before you answer a single question, invoke your rights to have a steward present and to consult with them at many time during the process. This right was guaranteed by the Supreme Court in 1975.  It gives YOU the right to ASK for a steward, to not answer ANY questions until one is provided and to end the investigative Interview if no steward is provided.

If you are called off the floor to meet with a supervisor or other functionary, for questioning, ask for a STEWARD!  If you are on the floor and the questions make you uncomfortable, ASK FOR A STEWARD!  If a supervisor calls you to their office to inform you of a decision based on a previous interview, that is merely informing you of a decision and does not entitle you to a steward though many supervisors will arrange to have one present.

Your Weingarten Rights in an Investigative Interview:

You may request Union representation at any time before or during the interview.  If it is refused, decline to proceed. When the employee requests a steward, the EMPLOYER MUST choose one of three options:

1.  1) Grant the request and delay questions until a steward arrives.
2.  2) Deny the request and immediately end the interview; or
3.  3) Give the employee the choice to proceed or to end the interview.

I strongly discourage continuing the interview without representation.  If the employer or OIG refuses to end the interview, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TO ANSWER any questions no matter how innocent the question seems!

Invoke your Weingarten rights by reading the following aloud in any such interview:

If this meeting can result in me being disciplined in any way,

I request that my union representative be provided and present.

I will not answer any questions until my union representative is provided.

Cut this section out and put it in your wallet.

                                              Few Things to Cover and Hope All is Well

                                                By Charles Quintana Director Clerk Craft

Greetings!  We have already had a couple of hot days and just a reminder to stay cool as the heat approaches. In the past the GMF and some Denver stations have had cooling issues. Just remember that if you are in a facility that is extremely hot to report it on a 1767 and make sure to send a copy to the Union so that we can assist if we need to.

Not getting a lot of overtime lately? This time of year is typically a little slow and management is always wanting to cut OT. Some things to look for to get some time back is if management is utilizing the OTDL correctly.

If they are working mail, then this cuts your OT. If management assigns other crafts into your area this cuts your OT. If management utilizes other sections (for those at GMF) this cuts your OT.

If management only calls PSEs for OT this cuts overtime for the volunteers. A written statement is needed if you think any of the above is happening and we have 14 days to file. If you give us two months of incidents on a statement today, we can only go back 14 days.

We could use more clerk stewards! Especially Tour 3 at GMF. If you need help let me know it’s a great learning experience and your chance to make a difference! We could use some at stations as well so if you want to learn let me know.

Hope everyone is having a great year and continue to have a splendid rest of the year!

For grievance concerns or questions on becoming a steward please contact me:

Charles Quintana phone (303)365-1524 extension13, email ccd@denverapwu.com