Author: Stephen E. Ambeau

CLARK V. SAVIDGE
S
SENTINEL

SENTINEL

Serving The Letter Carriers of Olympia, Lacey,
Tumwater and Shelton WA since 1892

Volume 47 Issue 6
June 2023

Upcoming NALC Dates
General Branch Meeting
(Meeting starts at 7pm, food served at 6:30)
June 7, 2023
Legends Arcade
4-7pm
June 11, 2023
Shop Stewards Meeting
(Meeting starts at 7pm)
June 14, 2023
Executive Board Meeting
(Meeting starts at 7pm)
June 21, 2023
CCA Seminar
(Starts at 7pm)
June 28, 2023

Table of Contents:

General Meeting Minutes Page 2
Stewards Reports Page 3
Presidents Report Page 4
Food Drive Page 5
Your Money Matters Page 6-7
Last Punch Bunch Page 8
CCA Corner Page 9
Legends Arcade Page 10
WSALC State Convention Page 12-13

Useful Phone Numbers
NALC Headquarter Switchboard (202) 393-4695
NALC Retirement (202) 393-4695 Ext 877
NBA Region 2 (360) 892-6545
Employee Service Line (877) 477-3273
Employee Assistance Program (EAP )(800)EAP-4-YOU (800) 327-4968 (877) 492-7341 TTY

NALC Members APP
Available now in the iPhone App Store and the Google Play Store for Android

Page #

Clark v. Savidge sentinel

General Meeting Minutes

May 3, 2023
Meeting Started at 7:02 pm.
Pledge of allegiance conducted.
Roll Call:
President; Al Floyd- Present
Vice President; Vacant
Recording Secretary; Elyse Boyajian- Present
Treasurer; Vince Corsi- Excused
Director of Media; Jade McBride- Present
Sergeant at Arms; Martin Guzman- Excused
Shop Steward; Kenny Abbott- Present
Trustee; Sierra Davis- Present
Members Present; Richard Abbott, Mari Anne Hanks, Jeff Curran, Scott Pearson
Prior Minutes Read:
Last month’s minutes were read and Scott Peterson moved to accept the minutes. Kenny Abbott seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Communications: There will be a labor law seminar coming up soon in Minneapolis if anyone is interested in attending.
Washington Labor Education and Research Center will be hosting a Summer Institute for Union Women; a comprehensive leadership institute consisting of skills building workshops, cultural activities, and education sessions.
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts will be hosting SOGO Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 4:00 pm, the final concert of Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia’s season.
MBMR:
Kenny Abbott won the first ticket for the drawing and he donated his gift card back to the pot. Since we had no drawing last month, Jade McBride drew a second ticket and picked an Ulta gift card.
Applications for Membership:
We have four new applications since last month’s meeting.
Committees:
Jade McBride said she has the Legends Arcade booked for an NALC 351 private group outing on June 11th, 2023, from 4:00-7:00 pm. Pizza and soft drinks will be included, along with game tokens.
Mari Anne Hanks reported that she had all raffle prizes for the food drive as well as donations from Fred Myer, Costco, Safeway, and Anthony’s Hearthfire. She is coordinating with the Girl Scouts of America for volunteers and she also has food donations in order to feed the volunteers on the day of the food drive.
Al Floyd reported the flyers for the Tacoma Rainiers v. Sacramento River Cats game will be posted in June.
Vince Corsi is working on the Holiday Banquet for January, 2024, which will possibly be held at Little Creek Casino.
Al Floyd will be checking on tickets for members to attend a Seahawks game.
Old Business:
Al Floyd stated we need to check with Vince Corsi regarding an update for purchasing cloud service.
We need an update from Martin Guzman regarding the closing out of the old bank account.
Al Floyd advised he is working on getting the new bylaws sent up to National.
New Business:
Good of Association:
Scott Pearson advised he is in need of ink to print more flyers for the food drive. He also is getting a price quote on new yard signs.
Al Floyd encouraged members maintain an attitude of positivity in the workplace at all times. It is important to create a positive and comfortable work space for everyone so that we can all do our part to create a work environment that helps to retain employees. Showing up to work, being on time, and keeping a positive attitude are small things that we all can do in order to make life easier for everyone.
Treasurer’s Report:
Due to Vince Corsi’s absence, Scott Pearson moved to table this matter until next month’s meeting. Jade McBride seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Food for Next Month’s Meeting: Meconi’s
Meeting Adjourned- 8:10 pm
Submitted by Elyse Boyajian, Recording Secretary

Volume 47, issue 6

Page #

Stewards Report– Olympia Carrier Annex (Jade Mcbride)

Lately management has struggled to get me adequate steward time. They have also struggled to get us our information in a timely manner. We are severely short staffed, and I know they are trying to get me time.
They sent out a message this week looking for volunteers to go to Lynnwood, under no circumstances should management be sending anyone out of our installation when we are hurting this badly. Upper management needs to solve our staffing problems and stop trying to create new ones. Management has also been performing office counts daily on the same people. This is intimidation and we will be investigating. Our routes are overburdened and the inspections keep getting delayed. Our office is down 6 routes a day and they've got stooges coming in to harass and intimidate carriers over office times. Waste of time and energy.

Stewards Reports- Main Office (Kenny Abbot)(Elyse Boyajian)

Greetings everyone!
A lot has happened for us to share since our last newsletter. Thanks to Mari Anne Hanks, and retired member, Scott Pearson, the food drive was another huge success and everything went smoothly for all.
Additionally, myself, and other NALC 351 board members attended the Washington State Convention earlier this month. We continue to process many grievances, on the daily, here at Oly Main. Last, but not least, winter has apparently made it’s final exit and summer has made quite an abrupt entrance. I have no clue what happened to Spring.
Firstly, a huge thanks to Mari Anne Hanks for all her efforts in coordinating the annual food drive. She is a force of nature and considering she has a full walking route, and she also does not receive any additional compensation for all her hard work as a volunteer, I don’t know how she finds the energy leftover to lead such a ginormous project. Mari Anne Hanks and Scott Pearson both deserve our gratitude for all the hard work they so willingly put forth in order to serve our community. Thank you Mari Anne and Scott, I really appreciate you both!
Continued on page 9

Stewards Report– Lacey/Annex (Al Floyd)

June 2023
Informal / Formal Step A
Special Inspection – 271.g – Grievances are still active. With this new Route Inspection and Adjustment Process, we have to wait on the final resolution.
Cross Craft – Grievances are still being filed, but not to the extent as before. We are starting to see a decrease in the utilization of City Carriers on Rural.
Mando’s –Grievances for just about every day, of every week, of every month, are continuing to be filed. Between the Annex and Lacey Stations, there has been roughly 60 – 75 grievances filed for improper Mandates between McBride and myself.
Carrier’s Moved off their Assignments – 20 – 30 grievances filed and resolved at Informal Step A.
Opt Violations – 10 – 20 grievances filed and resolved at Informal Step A.
Injured on Duty – Grievance filed and appealed to DRT for management failing to make every effort to find work for the grievant, in accordance with the contract.
Discipline –Attendance grievance filed and resolved at Informal Step A.

Page #

Clark v. Savidge sentinel

President’s Report: June 2023
By Al Floyd
The Installation
I mentioned last month about the Regional Office filing grievances for management sending our carriers out to other installations and how much money would they have to pay before ceasing with that practice. Well, as of up this month, it seems management as ceased. It never truly made any since what they were doing. Not only were they not solving a problem, they weren’t even putting a band aide on it.
We’re being told they have done some hiring and we should start seeing some relief. It going to take a while because there just are not enough trainers. But even that’s management’s fault, as the trainers they had, management either refused to utilized them, or “Black-balled” them, so no management would want to utilize them. Now there’s a mad scramble to find trainers in all area’s, Academy, OJI, LLV, and 2-Ton. There was once, a management team here, that sought to have the ability to conduct those trainings locally. They put in place a person to do the interviewing and the hiring. They put in place a couple people to help in the Carrier Academy, and were adding or did add people to conduct LLV and 2-Ton training. But when that management team left, the next management team came in and did nothing constructive or progressive. The one person that did the hiring, they took those duties away from her and said they were going to perform those duties themselves, “Yeah Right”! They refused to utilized, and in my opinion, Black-balled, another person from helping with the Carrier Academy. There was time when there was a fairly good amount of OJI’s, but because of that management team, the number went down to one. And, another one was asked on a time-by-time basis, if he assist, because of lack of availability. Let’s say it’s a good thing those 2nd, 3rd, and 4th management teams have left and current team is trying to do some things constructive and positive for the installation.
May 21, 2023
NALC and USPS continue contract negotiations
NALC and the Postal Service have agreed to continue negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current agreement, which was set to expire at 12 o’clock on the evening of Saturday, May 20, 2023, will remain in full force until a new negotiated or arbitrated agreement takes effect.
A mandatory 60-day mediation period will follow, as required by statute. NALC will continue to work towards reaching a negotiated agreement with the Postal Service during this 60-day period. Issues that remain in dispute after the mediation period would be addressed through an interest arbitration process, which would result in a final and binding decision on the contents of a new national agreement. The parties will select a neutral arbitrator to chair an arbitration board that would also include one management and one union arbitrator. (Postal Record)2023

Volume 47, issue 6

Page #

FOOD DRIVE
I would like to thank the union members for allowing me to go to the State Convention. I learned about the new medical health plan that is coming up with the Postal Reform Act. In future newsletters I will have more information for you about the deadlines and such.
The NALC “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive results are in this Newsletter. It was a Success, thanks to all of the volunteers. I will be submitting Thank Yous and donation appreciations next month (I’m running tight on the deadline for the Newsletter).
Submitted by Mari-Ann Hanks

FOOD DRIVE RESULTS
31st Annual Letter Carriers
Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
Saturday, May 13, 2023
2023 Pounds 2022
ROCHESTER (???) 1,525
DUPONT 493 ___
SHELTON 2,973 3,704
HOODSPORT (incl. Lilliwaup) (???) 1,172
HAGGEN 5/5 EVENT DID NOT HAPPEN IN 2022 0
EAST OLYMPIA 98540 1,800
LACEY,
TCFB MOTTMAN RD WRHS,
GRIFFIN/ STEAMBOAT RURAL RTS,
TUMWATER ANNEX,
OLYMPIA,
TUMWATER 67,600 74,720
____________________________________________________
Cash Donations $268 $519
FINAL TOTAL (Pounds) 72,866 81,121
Thank You for All Your Hard Work!
Great Job!

Page #

Clark v. Savidge sentinel

Volume 47, issue 6

Page #

Page #

Clark v. Savidge sentinel

“Last Punch Bunch”

Branch 351 congratulates
Marty Fleming,
Michael Whitener and
Ralph Gayle
on their well deserved
retirements.
Thank you for your decades of service!

Volume 47, issue 6

Page #

CCA Corner
by Elyse Boyajian
Kayden Gay started working as a CCA for Olympia Main back in July, 2022, and he has proven himself to be a wonderful asset to the USPS workforce. He is a hard working and diligent employee with a positive attitude and we could not be happier to have him on our team!
“Hi, I’m Kayden Gay, I was born and raised right here in the Pacific Northwest. I’m 23 years old and have lived in Yelm most of my life. Growing up, I enjoyed playing sports and hanging out with my friends and family. I played football for nine years and wrestled for seven. I really enjoy the competitive nature of sports and it’s taught me to use every opportunity to challenge myself. I live with my parents, younger sister, and our three dogs. Two of the dogs are my sisters’ and I have a black lab named, Echo. Echo has never met a tennis ball she didn’t like, or a river she could resist jumping into.
Outside of work, you’ll most likely find me gaming, at the range, hanging out with my friends and family, or at the park with my dog.
My work experience has varied over the last few years while searching for my career. In high school I started working for Jack in the Box.
Later, I moved into a sales position and tried my hands at HVAC for awhile before taking a job with campus security for the the House of Representatives. Finally, I came to the USPS in July of 2022.
Despite the endless hours, challenging customers, hot days, and being buried in packages throughout the holidays, I still enjoy coming to work every day. Working outside, meeting new people, and having a daily variety, are a few of the reasons I love this job!”

Page #

Clark v. Savidge sentinel

Volume 47, issue 6

Continued from page 3
Since I’ve only been a member of the USPS for a year now, this was my first opportunity, as a board member and delegate, to attend our state conference for the NALC. I had a lot of fun and I got to meet many wonderful people. We spent our days in workshops, learning new ways to better serve our local branch members with many different issues that we cope with on a daily basis. We learned about how to assist members in filing claims on E-comp for work related injuries, how and when to make member referrals to the Employee Assistance Program, (EAP), which offers mental health counseling services to employees in need. We voted on several proposed commendations and resolutions, and we also spent a great deal of time interviewing and voting on new State Board Members. A special side note, our very own Jade McBride, who is the current editor of the newsletter you are reading now, ran for the State Editor position and won. Congratulations Jade, I know you will do a wonderful job.
Our evenings at the convention were spent decompressing and hanging
out, getting to know members from other branches for myself, reconnecting with members from other branches, for those who have been here longer than I have. I did meet a lot of new people and I got to learn a more about how our union works. My favorite part, however, was attending the barbecue dinner and getting to watch the president of the Washington State Association, Mr. Brian Wiggins, tutor our very own Mari Anne Hanks, in the fine art of axe throwing. All in all, I may be a bit slow in learning all that is necessary to be a fairly competent shop steward, but I am making every effort, so that I can best serve you in the fullest capacity possible. It’s a lot of work
for every board member, but sometimes the work is actually fun.
Either way, it is satisfying to be of service and I am grateful to do my part for our local NALC branch 351.
Submitted by Elyse Boyajian

Page #

Page #

Clark v. Savidge sentinel

CONVENTION
The WSALC convention at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, WA on May 4th-7th was amazing. The weather was great, the venue was gorgeous and the state did a great job at putting on a successful convention.
We had speakers such as April Sims, President of the Washington State Labor council, NALC Director of Retired Members Dan Toth, and National Business Agent Nick Vafiades.
Some of the speakers spoke briefly and vaguely about our next contract. They stated their number 1 concern heading into negotiations has been fixing the staffing problem that has plagued the postal service the last few years. While they could not give specifics they did say that the membership would be “proud of the contract we get”. I truly hope this is the case.
I want to also take a moment and thank the members of this state for electing me to be the editor of the Washington State Letter Carrier (the state newsletter). It is my honor and privilege to serve as a WSALC officer.
Submitted by Jade Mcbride

Jade McBride getting sworn in as Editor for the WSALC

Debbie Dixon receiving a Commendation for her years of service as an RAA.

Volume 47, issue 6

Page #

Olympia Branch 351 delegate photos

Olympia Delegates, Al Floyd, Vince Corsi, Jade McBride, Elyse Boyajian, Mari-Ann Hanks and Debbie Dixon in Cle Elum for the 2023 State Convention

NALC Branch 351
P.O. Box 7715
OLYMPIA, WA 98507-7715

JUNE
2023

«First Name» «Last Name»
«Address 1»
«City» «State»
«ZIP»

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Olympia, WA
PERMIT NO. 298

BRANCH OFFICERS

Stewards / Alternates

President - Al Floyd
Vice President - Vacant
Secretary/Treasurer - Vincent Corsi
Recording Secretary - Elyse Boyajian
Editor - Jade McBride (602) 425-7651
(mcbridejade89@gmail.com)
Director of Retirees - Vacant
MBA Representative - Vacant
HBR Representative - Vacant
Sergeant at Arms - Martin Guzman
Director of Media - Jade McBride
Trustees - Jade McBride
Trustees - Sierra Davis
Trustees - Vacant

Branch Chief Shop Steward - Al Floyd
Main Office Shop Steward - Kenny Abbot
Main Office Shop Steward - Elyse Boyajian
Main Office Alt. Shop Steward - Vacant
Main Office Alt. Shop Steward - Vacant
Olympia Carrier Annex Shop Steward - Al Floyd
Olympia Carrier Annex Shop Steward - Jade McBride
Olympia Carrier Annex Alt. Shop Steward - Vacant
Olympia Carrier Annex Alt. Shop Steward - Vacant
Lacey Post Office Shop Steward - Al Floyd
Lacey Post Office Alt. Shop Steward - Vacant
Shelton Office Shop Steward - Vacant
Shelton Office Alt. Shop Steward - Vacant

Find us on the web: www.nalc351.com
Instagram: nalc351

All items published in the Clark V. Savage Sentinel are the property of Branch 351. Reprint permission is granted to trade union and labor publications, providing appropriate credit is given. Material submitted for publication must be received by the Editor no later than the 15th of the month. This is a monthly newsletter. Opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of NALC Branch 351 or it’s editor.

#