William Schneider, Vice President
On May 18th the Branch held our annual golf outing benefiting MDA. This year was one for the records. We had 108 golfers representing stations throughout the city and the Associated offices. There were numerous stations who took up collections and sponsored holes as well as our individual hole sponsors. With the help of many volunteers, the day was another success. Special thanks go out to Leslie Berner (Germantown) and Monique Miller (Southwark) for using their own leave and donating their time to the Branch. The closest to the pin contest was won by Tom Gerhart (Spring Garden), long drive, Anthony DeVito and the team low score at -8 were S Minuto Sr, S Minuto Jr, T Minuto & J Murphy (Roxborough). Congratulations to all our winners. This year we raised $5,589 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. As always, a special thanks to Frank Woltemate (Fox Chase) for keeping the golfers hydrated. Also thanks to Geary & Flip for all their help. I Look forward to seeing everyone next year on May 16.
Keystone Branch 157, NALC
2023 Scholarship Recipients
| Kevin Pownall | Roxborough | Penn State University |
| Jason Lee | Bustleton | Penn State University |
| John Palombaro | Frankford | LaSalle University |
Congratulations to all our recipients and their families!! We wish them the best in all their future endeavors!
Bill Schneider
Vice President
Keystone Branch 157
(January 01, 2016)
I'll begin by wishing all of the members of Branch 157 and their family members a Happy New Year, and a safe and healthy 2016. Speaking of safe and healthy, I'd like to remind all of our brothers and sisters of their rights under the Federal Employees' Compensation Aimagect (FECA). As Federal civilian employees of the United States, we retain benefits under FECA for work-related injuries or occupational diseases. The administrator of these benefits is the Office of Workers Compensation (OWCP). All employees are covered under this act regardless of position held or length of service.
The first type of injury I'll talk about is a "traumatic injury". A traumatic injury is an injury that you can pinpoint exactly where and when it happened. Normally this is a slip, trip, or fall. It also could be a strain or pull of a joint or muscle. The first piece of advice I would give all letter carriers is to report an injury as soon as possible to your immediate supervisor. You may experience an incident where you sustain an injury, but you're not sure if it's a serious injury. You should, at the very least, report the incident. If you feel as though you are alright, you can state that you "are not seeking medical attention at this time". Although FECA allows you up to 3 years to file a claim from the date of injury, I can't stress enough, the importance of reporting the injury as soon as it happens. The form used to report a "notice of traumatic injury" is a CA-1. When a CA-1 is filed, you will be required to write a statement explaining in detail how the injury happened. It is important that you obtain a CA-16 from the supervisor. This is the authorization form for immediate medical treatment. This treatment should be by a physician of yourchoice. Also, you should obtain a "Duty Status" form CA-17. The left side of this form should be completely filled out by the supervisor. This form will give the treating physician a clear depiction of your job requirements and allows the physician to determine how much, if any, of these duties you can still perform. It is very important to get a CA-17 filled out at your initial appointment and all subsequent doctor's visits. This is the document that the Office of Workers Compensation uses to determine your work status. This can have an effect on compensation benefits.
The other type of injury I'll cover are "Occupational Disease" or a "non-traumatic injury". This is an injury, illness or condition that was sustained by the employee as the direct result of the work environment over a period of time longer than one work day or shift. In other words this condition is something that happened over time. This particular condition does not have the same reporting requirements that a traumatic injury has. If you feel as though you have this type of condition, the first thing you do is see your personal physician. When your personal physician gives you a diagnosis of your condition, you explain what you do every day and ask if the condition is related to your duties as a letter carrier. If the physician relates the condition to your duties, he needs to write a narrative giving his opinion on how the diagnosis is related to the work duties. The form used to report and occupational illness or injury is a CA-2. Along with the CA-2, you are required to submit a statement, a narrative from your physician and as always a CA-17 (Duty Status Report). Just as you would with filing a CA-1, you need to get a CA-17 filled out every time you visit your treating physician. Again, I want to express how important it is to have the physician fill out the CA-17 as it has a big effect on your compensation benefits.
I realize at times this can be a confusing process, especially if you've never been through it before. Just remember, we are always available at the local union hall to answer any questions and give you the proper direction you need. My last bit of advice would be ; after reporting the injury to your immediate supervisor, your next call should be to NALC Branch 157 (215-824-4800) to ensure you are properly handling the situation.
Happy New Year
Timothy Mulvenna
(September 01, 2015)
I just wanted to reach out to all of the members to remind them of the language in Article 8 concerning the forcing of overtime for non-odl carriers. Article 8.5D "Mandatory Overtime" states "One purpose of the Overtime Desired List is to excuse full-time carriers not wishing to work having to work overtime. It further states "Before requiring a non-ODL carrier to work overtime on a non-scheduled day or off his/her own assignment on a regular scheduled day, management must seek to use a carrier from the ODL even if the ODL carrier would be working penalty overtime"
There are limited circumstances when non-ODL carriers can be forced to work overtime however. Article 8.5D also states If the overtime desired list does not provide sufficient qualified full-time for overtime, management may move off the list and require non-ODL carriers to work overtime on a rotating basis starting with the junior employee. It also states "Management may seek non-ODL volunteers rather than selecting non volunteers on the basis of juniority ". In recent years however, management has abused this article and violated the parameters set forth in Article 8 when using non-ODL carriers to work overtime. This has lead to an increased volume in grievances.
Article 8.5g sets the parameters for forcing non-ODL employees. It states "Full-time employees not on the "Overtime Desired" list may be required to work overtime only if all available employees on the "Overtime Desired " list have worked up to 12 hours in a day or 60 hours in a service week. That said management has made the "Window of Operation" (WOO) argument when they violate Article 8. With this argument, management cites "simultaneous scheduling to meet the window of operation". Management attempts to say they need all carriers back, with their collection mail, prior to the final dispatch truck. At times this has been a legitimate argument with arbitrators buying into this argument. However, management must establish this so called window of operation and stick to it. For example management cannot schedule carriers on the ODL until 8:00 one night and then schedule until 6:00 the following night citing "Window of Operation". If a WOO is established, they must adhere to it on a daily basis or lose the right to argue WOO. The union would also look to see if management reasonably utilized the supplemental work force (CCA). ?As a union, we must monitor these overtime situations on a daily basis. If you are forced to work overtime as a non-ODL carrier , you must report it to your steward as soon as possible. In turn your stewards must request the necessary documentation to investigate and ensure management has complied with Article 8 . If you are unsure if a violation has occurred please call our local union hall.
(May 21, 2015)
On May 21st Branch 157 had our annual golf outing. This event occurs every year with the proceeds going to Muscular Dystrophy. Many stations throughout the city and the associate offices were well represented as there were 13 foursomes totaling 52 golfers. There were also numerous stations who took up collections and sponsored holes as well as individual hole sponsor. Geary Wertz (in true Geary fashion) came back from his retirement to run the event as always. Bill Schneider helped Geary organize and run the day. Special thanks to Renee Bar-Solomon and Nancy Konstance for taking annual leave and donating their time to the Branch to help throughout the day. The winners for the day were the Fox Chase representatives (Frank Woltemate, Jim Wallace, Gerry Nelson, Andy Tolen), The prize for closest to the pin was Charles Hutchinson from Bustleton station. The prize for the longest drive was Kevin Carlisle. In the end the real winners were the children with muscular dystrophy. Thanks to Geary Wertz, Bill Schneider and all who helped to run a successful event for MDA.
(March 01, 2015)
Greeting to all 157 members. I recently was appointed by 157 President Randy Zebin to the position of Chief Steward /Treasurer as Geary Wertz retired in January 2015. While I appreciate the confidence and support of President Zebin and the letter carriers of Branch 157, I do recognize the fact that I have some big shoes to fill. Geary Wertz served the members in this position for the last 10 years. Prior to being the Chief Steward and Treasurer, Geary worked as a Steward in his offices (Germantown and Fox Chase) for many years. Geary was an instructor at the Carrier Academy . He also served on the UMPS team prior to the implementation of the dispute resolution process (DRT). After the creation of DRT, Geary served the members as the "Formal A designee"
The story of Geary Wertz was not defined by the union positions he's held. Geary was a true friend to every letter carrier in the branch. He was a wealth of knowledge and someone you could lean on for help with almost anything. For many years we all had the opportunity to call the Union Hall and pick Geary's brain on contract grievances, disciplinary issues, and general advice on dealing with Steward's duties. We sent carriers from our stations to see Geary about OWCP issues and questions about retirement. Geary was more than just a Steward. He always went the extra mile to find the answers and keep the carriers he represented on the right track. ?From a personal point of view, Geary has meant everything to the progression I have made in representing letter carriers. He was the crutch I leaned on when I first became a steward. He took the time to show me how to process grievances at the Formal A level. When I became an arbitration advocate , Geary gave me extensive training and the information I needed to be successful.
On top of being a great Chief Steward , Geary handled the finances for Branch 157 for the last decade. This can be a full-time job in itself. Geary did this with a level head and without complaint. Filling Geary's shoes, is certainly the toughest thing I've ever been asked to do. Geary, we all wish you well in your retirement. You certainly earned it in every way. We are all fortunate to have had you in our corner. We'll miss you buddy! As for myself, I can only promise to continue to push myself to be as dedicated and professional as the man who came before me.
Timothy Mulvenna
Chief Steward/Treasurer