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Notary service is now available to local members. Contact Joe Shevlin for info. 6/29/08--Red Bank Local Members Enjoy Blue Claws Outing WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE 4/25/05--Ed Parker Dies Suddenly/Summer Event Announced 2/28/05--Resolution For State Convention Passed 8/24/03--Monmouth Makes GAO "Vacant" List
Red Bank Local Members Enjoy Blue Claws Outing
Members of the Red Bank Local,
their For the $10 ticket price (children under 5 were admitted free), members enjoyed a buffet of hotdogs, burgers, BBQ chicken and ribs, an assortment of salads, watermelon, chocolate-chip cookies and more in a picnic area reserved for the Local down the right field line. The Del Marva Shore Birds (Orioles affiliate) held a no-hitter until the Blueclaw bats woke up in the fifth inning. The game was delayed for about a half hour as the skies opened up. Ultimately, the Blueclaws defeated the Shorebirds 3-1. The Lakewood Blueclaws are the Double-A affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies. All in all, it was another excellent family outing.
7/18/05 "WE DESERVE BETTER" Ballots are scheduled to be mailed from July 18 through July 20. They must be received at National by August 5, 2005. Any member who does not receive a ballot by July 25th should immediately contact their steward. Whether or not you agree with the recommendation of the Red Bank Local leadership, we urge everyone to vote. It is absolutely essential, at this critical time in our history, that members demonstrate to the Postal Service and to our leadership in Washington that we care enough about our futures to stand up and be counted. VOTE! ATTENTION UNION MEMBERS
7/05 WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE Where we stand. The leadership of the Red Bank Local has unanimously voted to recommend a “NO” vote on the Contract Extension. Here are a few reasons why. Length. The Contract Extension offered by the Postal Service is for one-year. Whatever our negotiating position today, we do not see any reason to believe that we will be in a better position to negotiate a year from now. The Postal Service has posted profits in the BILLIONS in recent years. A year from now, the Postal Service might “arrange” to be in the red, once again, so that they can cry poverty as they usually do in contract negotiations. A year from now, the political climate will be just as anti-worker as it is today. When the previous Extension was considered, there was a reasonable belief that the 2004 elections would change the political landscape. There is no scheduled election that will change that landscape before this Extension expires. Postal Reform Bills are pending which may, ultimately, contain language that could damage our collective bargaining rights. Given the political climate referenced above, it is not inconceivable that Postal Workers will have collective bargaining rights eliminated entirely by this time next year. Our bargaining position on such crucial issues as healthcare and retirement may be weaker in a year, while it almost certainly will not be stronger. If the proposed Extension were for 3 or 4 years, we might view it differently. If the one-year deal would mean that we would unite and face management, side-by-side, with Mail Handlers and Letter Carriers, we would say, “Hell, yeah!” But this, we’ve been told, is not even being considered. Therefore, we believe that now is the time to think about long-term security for our members. We don’t trust the USPS. We believe the one-year offer demonstrates that THEY are afraid to go to the table, now. We believe their current fear of negotiating gives us a better hand--right here, right now. In short: WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE. Upgrades. While we are happy to see the upgrades which this Extension would provide, and while those employees so designated are certainly deserving, the targeted positions represent less than 4,000 out of well over 200,000 APWU represented employees. In particular, we feel that window clerks are long overdue for an upgrade. These employees are the face of the Postal Service. They daily deal with long-lines of Postal Service customers and have responsibilities and accountability even some level 6 employees (and many managers) do not. If the proposed Extension offered upgrades for window clerks, we would certainly support it. And, while the USPS may be unlikely to willingly commit to such upgrades on their own, it should be remembered that Letter Carriers received their upgrades to Level 6 at arbitration. For all we know, this issue alone could be why the USPS prefers extension to negotiation. It is certainly a subject worthy of more negotiation—THIS YEAR—than could possibly have occurred to date. In short: WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE. Transfers. It has been expressed by local and National leaders alike that a top priority in any future talks with management must be making it easier for employees to voluntarily transfer, and restricting management’s ability to arbitrarily deny transfer requests—especially in an era where excessing is commonplace and likely to become more so. USPS has repeatedly expressed that they are agreeable to such provisions, yet they always back down from these promises when it counts. If the offered Extension contained provisions which truly served to prevent arbitrary transfer denials, then we might be in favor. But the transfer language of the Extension is vague and unenforceable (at best). In short: WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE. Contract Enforcement and Employee Treatment. Contract negotiations are about more than money. We believe the contract needs to be strengthened at almost every turn. In particular, we believe there is a need to negotiate for remedies which will encourage management to abide by the contract we already have. At present, management violates the contract at will, knowing that punitive damages are unheard of and even awards which include payment of interest are extremely rare. More often than not, management’s continual violations result in huge grievance backlogs. To ease backlogs, grievances are all-too-frequently “washed.” Knowing that they will routinely not have to pay for their violations, management is emboldened to commit ever more violations. In spite of language won at our last arbitrated CBA, management changes the ELM habitually and does not even adhere to National Level awards and agreements. We recognize that a Contract Extension, by its nature, cannot change the basic terms of the CBA. And, were the monetary terms of the Extension significantly greater, we might be inclined to accept the proposal before us. However, we do not believe that the proposed 1.6% raise in March 2006 is significant enough to justify giving up for even one more year our right and responsibility to negotiate other contractual improvements. Since we last went to the bargaining table, the members of the APWU have expressed at 2 National Conventions and numerous Craft Conferences priority areas for negotiation. If this Extension passes, yet another National Convention will pass before resolutions adopted 2 Conventions ago are ever raised. Your managers get bonuses, every year, 3 or 4 times that 1.6%. They are rewarded for violating our contract. Whether or not we can expect more money from negotiation and/or arbitration, we believe their must be managerial accountability. Yes, we feel we deserve more money, but we sure as hell believe we deserve to be treated better by management. We deserve to have the USPS honor the Agreements they’ve already made and the Awards we worked so hard to win. In short: WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE. If not now, when? We believe that accepting this Extension would be an admission that we are not as strong a Union today as we were in the past. We do not believe we can afford to take that posture with management, even if it is based solely on their perceptions. There were sufficient reasons for going this route the last time. But it has been many years, now, since we last sat across the table from management and said, WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE. We see no reason to forfeit our right to do this for one more year. We believe we can do better. We believe we have the opportunity to do better this year, by negotiating further now. We do not intend, in any way, to disparage the good intentions of our National Officers nor the Rank and File Committee. We believe that it was appropriate for them to submit this offer to the membership. We simply believe that the appropriate action for the membership is to reject this offer. By rejecting this offer, we will be telling the USPS, in no uncertain terms: WE DESERVE BETTER—WE DESERVE MORE. For the reasons given, and more, the Red Bank Local asks its members to VOTE “NO” on the Contract Extension --The Red Bank Local
Red Bank Local Announces Summer Event The Red Bank Local has announced that this summer's membership event will be "APWU Family Day," an evening of Blue Claws baseball at First Energy Park in Lakewood, N.J. on Sunday evening, July 31, 2005. The Local has secured the picnic area at the ballpark for this event.
Tickets will be limited to the immediate household of Red Bank Local members and
will go on sale on June first. Tickets are $10 each. Children 5
years of age and under will be admitted free. See your shop steward for
more information. The Red Bank Local was saddened by the sudden passing of Tour 2 Custodian Ed Parker on March 30, 2005. Ed worked at Monmouth for the past 17 years, following 14 years at the Bulk Center. He was a good Union brother and shall be greatly missed. Ed was 55 years old. [complete obituary from Asbury Park Press] In other Local News, Red Bank Local members voted to accept the Constitutional change, proposed at the February meeting, allowing Local officers and stewards to participate in the APWU 401(K) plan, which compensates these officials for retirement benefits sacrificed while performing Union business. Members also voted to send a Resolution to the New Jersey State Postal Workers Union Convention (April 27-29) intended to reduce the costs expended in conducting NJSPWU elections. Proposed Change To Constitution and Bylaws To participate in the APWU Sponsored 401 (k) Plan The Red Bank Local Will Vote on April 3, 2005 at the regular meeting to Amend their Constitution by Adding three (3) New Sections to Article 14 of the Local Constitution and Bylaws. 1. Participation Language: The Red Bank Local shall participate in the APWU Nationally Sponsored 401(k) Retirement Plan. All employees (those who receive salaries or LWOP) shall be eligible. 2. Language for a matching contribution: The Red Bank Local shall make matching contributions for each Participant’s Elective Deferral Contributions during each pay period up to a maximum of Six percent (6%) . 3. Constitutional Language for Administering the Plan within the Local or State Organization: It shall be the responsibility of the Red Bank Local Secretary-Treasurer, Treasurer, to administer the 401(k) Plan, which shall include submission of all enrollment information to the Plan Committee, withholding employees’ contributions and distributing them in accordance with the Plan reporting requirements and Plan Adoption Agreement. 2/3 vote of members attending is required for passage. Resolution for State Convention Passed At the February Red Bank Local membership meeting, held at the Red Bank Elks on February 27, members passed a Resolution urging New Jersey APWU Locals to petition their municipal and county governing bodies to oppose USPS consolidation plans until and unless the Postal Service can prove such would not result in increased transportation costs or reduction in delivery standards. The Resolution also would require the New Jersey State Postal Workers Union to so petition the NJ State Legislature. The Resolution will now be submitted to those in attendance at the 34th Annual NJSPWU Convention in Atlantic City, NJ, April 27-29. Members also voted to send all Red Bank officers, stewards, and alternate stewards to this year's State Convention. Monmouth P&DC Makes GAO List of "Vacant/Underutilized" Properties (Eatontown, NJ)--In a recently released GAO
report, the Monmouth Processing and Distribution Center in Eatontown, New
Jersey, is See the complete list (from GAO report, via Lu's News) Lu's News: Why the GAO did the study Service takes another hit: NJ Mailboxes disappearing
The Red Bank Local, APWU, AFL-CIO, is a non-profit organization.
This page last updated 07/06/2008 |
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families and friends, gathered together at First Energy Park in Lakewood,
New Jersey, on Sunday for the Local's fourth annual "Night at the BlueClaws"
picnic. 
listed as having 12
acres of "vacant or underutilized" property. One of four New Jersey sites
listed in the study, the 12 acre total at 307 Industrial Way ranks 8th,
nationwide, among 114 individual parcels of land. The report indicates
that the 12 acres are currently being held for possible future construction.
