Post Convention Workshops

(This article appeared in the March/April 2008 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Joyce B. Robinson, Research & Education Department Director

The Research & Education Department is proud to announce that the APWU will sponsor its 11th Educational Conference, a National Convention event that provides union members with a wealth of information to take home to their locals and state organizations.

Thirty different workshops will be offered on Saturday, Aug. 23, the day after the conclusion of the national convention. Like the convention itself, the seminars will be held at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas.

Registration

The pre-registration deadline is Friday, July 18, and space is limited. The deadline is firm for participants with special needs: If you need a sign-language interpreter, for example, you must meet the pre-registration deadline. Delegates who miss the deadline may try to sign up for workshops at the convention. The choices for late registrants will be limited, however, and certificates will not be available.

To enroll in workshops, fill out a workshop registration form and return it to:

Workshop Descriptions

The following are summaries of the workshops, along with their starting times. Except where noted, the post-convention workshops are three hours long:

APWU Search : For arbitration advocates, an overview of APWU’s arbitration-award retrieval system, with emphasis on how to identify relevant keywords and the use of simple search techniques to retrieve relevant cases. (9 a.m.)

Coping with Stress: How best to recognize and control stress. (9 a.m.)

Dealing with Difficult People: How to develop critical communication skills through the use of tact and diplomacy. Through a combination of instruction and role-playing, students learn to handle complaints with honesty and integrity. (1:30 p.m.)

Disabled Veterans’ Benefits: How to help disabled veterans obtain benefits. (9 a.m.)

Due Process/Just Cause: An in-depth discussion of how to protect APWU members from unwarranted discipline. Proper investigation techniques will be explained in detail, along with common arguments for defending employees against unwarranted discipline. (1:30 p.m.)

Editors’ Training: The art of producing high-quality union publications, with emphasis on the importance of effective communication. (9 a.m.)

Excessing in the Clerk Craft: Excessing inside or outside an installation, with emphasis placed on relocation provisions. (1:30 p.m.)

Family and Medical Leave Act: A “how-to” session on FMLA forms, eligibility, leave requirements, and guidelines. (1:30 p.m.)

Fiduciary Responsibilities of Union Officers: Advice for union officers and trustees, with an emphasis on legal requirements. (9 a.m.)

Internal/External Organizing: The proper strategies and techniques to maintain job security through organizing. (1:30 p.m.)

Interrogation by the Office of Inspector General/Postal Inspection Service: A review of the Kalkines Warning, the Weingarten, Miranda, and Garrity Rights, and instruction for stewards on how to best defend APWU members during investigations. (1:30 p.m.)

Labor Law Fundamentals: A look at the National Labor Relations Act, with a focus on the rights of APWU members, and a discussion of how to identify unfair labor practices. (9 a.m.)

Legal Issues — Union Publications and Beyond: An overview of the application of libel, copyright, and federal election laws to editorial practices at union publications and on union-operated Web sites. (1:30 p.m.)

Legislative Issues and Political Action: An examination of current legislative issues and the important upcoming elections. (9 a.m.)

Limited-Duty Employees in the Clerk Craft: A review of Section 546 of the ELM to help APWU stewards ensure that the USPS is in compliance when assigning limited-duty employees from other crafts. Workshop includes guidance on posting limited-duty employees’ former bid assignments for bid in the Clerk Craft. (1:30 p.m.)

Maintenance Craft Grievances: A look at changes in Article 38 of the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement and in the Joint Contract Interpretation Manual, with instruction on handling Maintenance-Craft-specific issues and grievances. (9 a.m.-noon or 1:30-4:30 p.m.)

Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) Appeals: Instruction on the principles and procedures for appealing a case to the MSPB. Subject matter will include eligibility, notice requirements, the contents of an appeal, the use of witnesses, and requests for evidence. (1:30 p.m.)

Motor Vehicle Craft Grievances: An overview for Motor Vehicle Services stewards on how to document grievances, with emphasis on due process, just cause, and defending employees against discipline. A mock arbitration will be presented. (Full-day workshop , 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

Motor Vehicle Craft Issues: A review of Article 32 (Subcontracting) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Article 16 (Disciplinary Procedures) as they apply to MVS employees. (9 a.m.)

Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP): A summary of the role of the OWCP representative, types of claims and forms, continuation of pay, wage-loss compensation, job offers, the appeal process, scheduled awards, medical narratives, second and referee opinions, fitness-for-duty and functional capacity evaluations, and the claims examiners’ reviews. (9 a.m.)

Parliamentary Procedure: An overview of the application of Robert’s Rules of Order to the democratic-meeting procedure. (1:30 p.m.)

Personal Money-Management: Help in designing a realistic spending and savings plan, with emphasis on how to get out of debt, and on saving for retirement. (9 a.m.)

Protecting Clerk-Craft Work in Smaller Offices: An overview of such issues as crossing crafts, maximization, supervisors performing bargaining-unit work, and the use of casuals. (9 a.m.)

Regional Instruction 399 (RI- 399): An outline of the local union’s responsibilities under the Dispute Resolution Procedure. (1:30 p.m.)

Retirement Planning for Civil Service Employees (CSRS): How retirement affects CSRS employees’ benefits such as health and life insurance, with information about eligibility requirements and survivor benefits, and instruction on computation of annuities. (9 a.m.)

Retirement Planning for Federal Employees (FERS): How retirement affects FERS employees’ benefits such as health and life insurance, with information about eligibility requirements and survivor benefits, and instruction on computation of annuities. (1:30 p.m.)

Saving Retail Jobs: Information for window clerks on how to protect their jobs and minimize staffing reductions. (9 a.m.)

Shop Steward’s Training (Basic): Guidelines for new stewards, with a focus on proper documentation of grievances. (Full-day workshop, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

Shop Steward’s Training (Advanced): An overview of the arguments to make at Step 2 and instruction on how to rebut the USPS Step 2 decision letter, with emphasis on documentation as a means of helping the union prevail in arbitration. (9 a.m.)

USPS Payroll System: An overview of topics such as how to read pay stubs, understand deductions, and how payroll adjustments are made. (9 a.m.)

USPS Reassessment Process: An overview of the program, with updates, and advice on preparations for Phase 2 rollout, individual rights and legal protections, limited-duty and rehab-job offers, OWCP processes, grievance handling, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints, separation-disability, and Merit Systems Protection Board restoration-right appeals. (1:30 p.m.)

Why APWU Health Plan: An overview about how union members can save money and receive excellent benefits and coverage by enrolling in the APWU Health Plan, with premium costing $20 biweekly for self/family coverage through 2010. The workshop will cover the new features of the plan and provide tips on getting claims paid promptly. (1:30 p.m.).