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The Twig of the Branch Branch 1477 West Coast Florida Letter Carriers

Serving:

St. Petersburg — Largo — Dunedin — Pinellas Park — Indian Rocks Beach

Punta Gorda — Englewood — Bradenton Beach — Palmetto — Ellenton

VOLUME 549 VOICE OF BRANCH 1477 MARCH 2015

Not what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. It is not an uncommon to hear that some carriers are more than a little concerned when they hear the Postmaster during a tour talk state something like: “If you have been relying on overtime to live, you’d better think about getting a second job – because overtime is going away” Over the course of a career however, it’s been said by nearly every Postmaster that came down the pipe: “overtime is going away” or “don’t build your budget on

overtime” and having it never occur usu-ally leads to the thought “yeah right”. So what’s different about today? For one, when the new Postmaster of St. Peters-burg reported and took the reins, also as the Manager of Postal Operations for the entire 337 area. The position now has

oversight of Clearwater, Largo, and Pinellas Park. Ms. Hartman also asked to speak to each of the local NALC and APWU Presidents in the area. In that meeting she laid out her goals of no more than 3% overtime. She included that last summer (2014) the overtime rate in the 337 area hovered around 24-27%. That means that what used to be a 1-1/2 of dai-ly overtime will drop to a quarter hour. In September 2013 to September 2014 the 337 area in Branch 1477 combined, processed 259 article 8 grievances primarily when non-ODL carriers were

forced to carry overtime off assignment in lieu of an Overtime Desired Listed Carrier (ODL). About 22 violations per month on average in that time frame. And boy did my phone ring off the hook. Since over-time reduction has begun the violations are down to less than half or just over 9 per month. City Carrier Assistants are hired by a cap identified by the District. That cap is monitored by the parties at the national level. Routinely the NBA is given an em-ployee on the rolls report that illustrates the numbers of CCA’s working by instal-lation. That report is then provided the local Branch. It’s important to remember that when a cap is administered at the dis-trict level, the district can assign the em-ployees were they wish not always where they are needed. The Suncoast District is capped at somewhere around 600 CCA’s.

The District can decide to staff an Installation the

size of Englewood with 15 City Carrier Routes with 7 CCA’s if they choose. Staffing one CCA for every 2 Carriers is possible. In an “On the roles report” from November 2014, the District has allotted 154 CCA’s for St. Petersburg. As of January 30th, St. Pe-tersburg have 98 CCA’s on the roles. St. Petersburg has been up to 114 or 115 but conversions knocked us back down allowing for even more cap room. But we have room under the District CAP for more hires. There are more than a few rules with overtime that

President’s Report

Joe Henschen, President Twitter: @JaHe1

NEXT BRANCH MEETING: THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 AT THE LETTER CARRIER HALL

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Continued from page 1. the Stewards are asked to monitor in the delivery units. Honestly ensuring that the overtime off assignment is distributed fairly throughout the quarter is a lot easier when everyone is working a lot of overtime. It’s not going to be easy in the quarters to come. Some basic rules deal with the fair distribution of overtime hours and opportunities over the course of a quarter. Work Assignment Only Carriers have some entitle-ment to overtime on their daily assignment and WA Technicians (T-6’s) on their swing, even if its over-time of a 12 hour regular. Auxiliary Assistance can be provided by ODL and CCA’s or anyone on straight time, or someone in an overtime status below the status of the carrier need-ing help. (An ODL or CCA carrier can carry a WA bump if penalty overtime would have resulted.) Straight time over OT and OT over V time. These rules have been around for years but back to what’s different today: Prior to the Das Award that allowed for hiring again, there were only 24 Transi-tional Employees in St. Petersburg. Some had been

on the roles since 2007 and before. We were grossly understaffed and mandatory overtime boarded on abuse. Since then we have lost only 17 Carriers to attrition but began hiring again. I started as a PTF Carrier in late 1988. Since that time we have seen these swings in overtime elimina-tion. For everyone the overtime has swung right back. In 1989 we had 1 PTF for every 3 cases at the Crossroads Station. We’d toss and line flats into de-livery sequence, then move to the next route. We’ve seen Routers and Buffers. Hand-offs and COR all designed to limit overtime. As long as deliveries grow and parcel volume continues to rise there will be overtime - not the double digit you may have ex-perienced but there will be overtime. For now try to enjoy the extra time. Please visit the Branch Web Page at: http://www.branch1477nalc.org/ there is a blog link on topics that change frequently. Drop a note about any idea for a chat either on the blog under “Latest News” or the “contact us” link. No Contract Ques-tions Please. Ask you Steward or call the hall for workroom floor rule questions.

Hubble’s Troubles

Route Adjustments Underway

The work hour/work load report is the moving paper for analyzing and evaluat-ing the routes office and street times un-der CDRAAP (M-1846). Data integrity issues should be addressed prior to any analysis and adjustments. Such issues in-clude, but are not limited to, amended clock rings, work hour transfers, designa-tion of work hour codes, and errors on PS Form 3999’s. During the life of this Memorandum, the work hour work/load report will be posted for review for the previous day. It’s imperative that we look at these reports daily to insure the route’s times and volumes are representative of the previous day’s work load. If data integrity is not addressed that day and corrected, it will not be able to be corrected the following.

A similar issue that may affect the adjustment of your route, is improper allied time entered or deleted from a PS 3999. Within (3) days of a PS 3999, the

examiner will review with the carrier an unedited, edited (with the audit trail) and any notes associated with the PS 3999. After reviewing the PS 3999, the carrier may add additional notes relative to the PS 3999. This process is to be followed for the life of the Memorandum. If this proce-dure is not be followed in your office, contact your steward.

So how is it going? So far, I and my Re-gional Evaluation and Adjustment Team counterpart have evaluated and adjusted routes in seven (7) delivery units In Sara-sota. In those units four (4) routes and on

(1) auxiliary route have been created. Closer to home Both Ellenton and Palmetto have netted an additional one (1) auxiliary assignment in each of-fice. I am scheduled to begin consultations and eval-uations in the Dunedin Office soon. I project by the time the TWIG hits your mail box we will have at least another full time assignment in the Dunedin office.

Chris Hubble, Second Vice President

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Contemplating Retirement?

If you are contemplating retirement, you

should, as a minimum, have funds equal

to two (or three) months’ worth of your

retirement income projections available

upon retirement. Your annual leave bal-

ance that you retire with, which can be as

much as 440 hours, is a good source for

these funds.

Most retirees will receive their “interim”

or temporary payments within six weeks

of their actual retirement date. For CSRS retirees,

this will represent about 85 percent of the anticipated

annuity before withholdings. It currently may take

two to three months to finalize the correct entitle-

ment, and then you will receive the balance of your

full annuity retroactive to your retirement date.

FERS retirees will receive only about 85 per-

cent of their anticipated FERS annuity with-

out any supplemental annuity included. Since

the supplemental annuity can be worth al-

most as much as the FERS annuity, you will

be receiving less than one-half of your final

annuities during this period of delay. There-

fore, it would be important for FERS retirees

to have a good cash reserve to utilize until

their annuity is finalized and the supple-

mental is also retroactive included.

These estimated timelines for finalization don’t ap-

ply to those who have issues relating to marital/

divorce issues, active OWCP payments, or other is-

sues that require additional verification.

O.D. Elliott, Director of Retired Members

The All Craft Retiree’s Breakfast on Feb-ruary 4th @ Denny’s on Missouri: In attendance were: Mike Pizzorusso, Bill Nilsson, Betty Williams, Bob Tillman, John Blackard, Wayne Moore, Ed Joyn-er, Henry Zeff, OD Elliott, John Bourlon, Ken Tennis and wife Pauline, John Syl-via and wife Mary Ann, Gene Wainscott, Tom Youngedyke, Joe Henschen, Tom Phillips, Zulma Betancourt and yours truly Bernie.

What a turnout compared to January’s with twenty hungry brothers and sisters. There were a few sur-prises at this breakfast with the attendance of several Branch officers; Joe Henschen, President, Tom Phil-lips, Treasurer, and Zulma Betancourt, Director of MBA. Also, a rare moment occurred when two past retired presidents, Bourlon & Elliott, met up with the current president, Henschen, for a photo op! We are talking about 38 years of experience in shaping and moving our branch forward, which is the best damn branch in the NALC! The only one who was missing was Les Stroup which would have made this a super rare photo op. Yep, you knew it was too good to be true – gas is on the rise. Surprise! Nope!

Here’s a little quiz for you old timers – match the nickname to the person: Nicknames: honey bear,

little general, gunney, radar, fast eddie, tuna, whistler, jimmy jet, ram, ma, kicker, crash, dr. bob, john 911, chef paul, cupcake, rever-end, joey the jeep, fritzy, rabbit, string bean, happy, doc, scooter. Person: Joe Dargino, Frieda Pickering, Dennis Reeling, Ken McBeth, Wardel Acheson, Bob Barry, Ber-nie Ososky, Lenny Zimmerman, John

Lopata, Ed Meeker, John Sylvia, Jim Leonhardt, Vir-ginia Hopkins, Bob Naja, Bob Johnson, Paul Ip-polito, J C Miller, John Smiley, Dave Finlay, Don Sine, John Alderman, Jack Chandler, John Prather, Gene Wainscott. I’ll have the answers at the next breakfast.

Sad Report: Retiree, Harry Davis, had a massive stroke on 2/3 and died on 2/12. Harry retired in 2007. Please keep Harry and his family in your pray-ers during their most difficult time.

Birthdays: Ken Martinaitis, Ron Eichelman, Tom Youngedyke. Free Breakfast – Gene Wainscott. Oldest retiree – Ed Joyner (‘84); youngest – Tom Youngedyke (‘14). Next breakfast 3-4-15. Remem-ber, Get Out There & Enjoy The Hell Out Of Your Life!

Largo Retiree Breakfast

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Meeting and Breakfast Attendees Pinellas Park First of the Month Bunch

St. Pete Breakfast

St. Pete Retireee Breakfast was held on Febru-ary 18, 2018 at Denny’s on 34th Street North in St. Petersburg the following happy retirees were in attendance: O.D. Elliott, Ron Cherry,

Hank Goettelman, Vince Deune, Don Goble, Zulma Betancourt, Don Goble, Mike Morcillo, Rick Renshaw, Al Henderson, Don Kosior, Clarence Keller, Ed Richards, and Dawn Rogers.

BRANCH 1477, N.A.L.C. GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

February 12, 2015

Meeting called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Presi-dent Joe Henschen. Invocation by Greg Welsh/Pledge of Alle-giance led by President Joe Henschen. Reading of Previous Minutes by Harry Strzyzynski. Motion to accept minutes as printed in the Twig of the Branch by Joe Ru-dolph, Seconded Sue Dombrowski. Reading of Official Correspondence by Har-old Strzyzynski: None NEW MEMBERS: 12 New Hires: Jona-thon Charles Velez (Largo/Seminole), Ebony Delancy-Lewis (St. Pete), Timothy C. Clover (Brandon Beach), Alberto Luis Riviera Sepulveda (Pinellas Park), Kenneth Bascomb Wallace (Largo /Seminole), Thomas Patrick Sullivan (St. Pete), Manny Ferreira (St. Pete), Christopher Allen (Englewood), Yasniel Hernandez (St. Pete), Daniel Caban (St. Pete), Elvid Torres (St. Pete), Juan McKinney (St. Pete) Motion to accept by Joe Rudolph, Seconded by O.D. Elliott. OFFICER’S REPORTS: TREASURER: - Tom Phillips: Financial Report was accepted by O.D. Elliott, Seconded by Gene Carroll. DIRECTOR OF RETIREES: O.D. Elliott – 8 New Re-tirees. Matt Gallow, Richard Puffer, Pat Suel, Charlene Rose, Dennis Futch, Jay Bevers, Danny Brumgart, Lisa Lambert. O.D. also presented Dave Meier with a 60 year pin. HEALTH BENEFITS DIRECTOR: Ken Grasso – No Report. TRUSTEE REPORT: Willie Cochran – Books were audited and all were in order, the next audit is February 19, 2015. DIRECTOR OF LIFE INSURANCE: Zulma Betancourt – Carriers receive automatic life insurance 5, 000 accidental. POLITICAL DISTRICT 10 LIAISON: Gene Carroll – I went to Tallahassee with O.D. Elliott to talk to Sena-

tors about Vote By Mail bill. FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: Ralph Brown – I’ve been appointed to the District Safety Committee, vehicle accidents are costly to the Post Office, Roll-Away Vehicles, also an-swered questions from the floor. EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: Tricia Meeks – Welfare Reports:

Sad:

Brother Adam Head, St. Peter Main, involved in a vehicle accident

Brother Tom Sullivan, Crossroad’s father passed away.

Ed Smith Retiree, St. Pete Knee Surgery.

Joe Rudolph, Open Air, Knee Surgery

Judy Dorris Chief Steward Largo/Seminole Father under-went surgery

Glad:

Devonne Grant, St. Pete M.O. is back to work after sur-gery

Kalani Workman, Northside birth of a son 2/1/15

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: Chris Hubble – An-swered all questions from the floor on 3999’s and other items. EDITOR: Don Lyerly – No Report.

GOOD OF THE SERVICE: By President Joe Hensch-en Swearing in of All Steward by President Henschen: Dunedin: Chuck Cavicchio, Chris Hubner Alternate Indian Rocks Beach: Mary Ann Gavin Largo/Seminole: Judy Dorris (Chief Steward) Ken Bushery Pinellas Park: Alicia Gary, Fred Assidy

Minutes of February 12, 2015 Membership Meeting

Harry Strzyzynski,

Secretary

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Continued from page 4 Ellenton: Bert Lewis, Bonnie Baldwin Alternate Palmetto: Bruce Berkey Bradenton Beach: Brian Andrews Englewood: Josh LaGrew, Susan Chavez Alternate Punta Gorda: Don Lyerly, Charis Larson Port Charlotte Annex: Sam Haddad St. Petersburg: Open Air Station: Tony Mells Northside Station: Sue Dombrowski, Russell Hertlein, Sean Shade Alternate Gateway Station: Clarisse High Euclid Station: Justin Wilt Midtown Station: Ben Hamilton, Cathy Marsh St. Pete Beach: Andre McCalla Gulfwinds Station: Rich Ramos, Matt Fernandez Madeira Beach: Greg Welsh Crossroads Station: Glenn Fagan, Pat Kelly, Jim Bum-bul Alternate Main Office: Sandra Pagan, Ryan Cain, Bill Heller Alternate, Zulma Betancourt Alternate New appointments to NBA Lynn Pendleton to RAA. Joanne Wright has been appointed compensation of-ficer. State changes O.D. will return to state office as Direc-tor of Retirees. The NALC Constitution States in Article 7 Section 2.a. Each Member shall pay monthly dues equal to two hours base pay for an NALC Grade 1, Step D letter carrier. With last years deferred COLAs from 2013 and 2014

totaled $1373 with 2.5% raises the current Dues the Grade 1 Step D Carrier now makes $26.43. The Branch 1477 bylaws include an additional $1.35 System error may mean dues adjustment for some members Due to a system error, approximately 30,000 NALC members failed to have the bi-weekly dues increase for 2015

Route Inspection: Joe has the 8 week analysis, signing contracts with Management ready for Largo/Seminole, Palmetto is next. 3-14-15 National Officer will attend the naming of the hall. March 8th hall cleaning need volunteers. Threats on the work room floor Joe has 2 cases they lead to discipline and possible removal. We are doing better with CCA retention. 198 CCA’s in our branch. Executive Board Okay’ed 12 people for State Training Joe will pick 12 to attend the 2 upcoming trainings. WINNERS OF DRAWINGS: 50/50 - $65.00 won by Devonne Grant Lotto/Power Ball – won by Devonne Grant Bob & Trisha Meeks donated a $20.00 Gift Certificate to Comfort Café won by Mary Ann Gavin. 2 – 25 gift certificates donated by Joyce Keller Arslyn Uniform, won by Bill Heller and Zulma Betancourt. Auxiliary Raffle: Zulma Betancourt, Joe Henschen, Ken Bushery, Bert Lewis won twice, Andra McCalla, Dave Meier, Charlene, O.D. Elliot, and Tom Phillips. Motion to adjourn Submitted by,, Harold J. Strzyzynski Secretary

Did you know as a NALC UNION Member you have Accidental Death Benefits?

In February 1985, the MBA and the NALC entered into a group contract for Group In-surance G-001 Basic Accidental Death In-surance, covering active and retired mem-bers in good standing. G-001 is a non-contributory, non-transferrable basic acci-dental death benefit provided at no cost to the member. This benefit is for the member only and has no cash value unless the death is the direct result of an accident.

A NALC welcome package is sent to each new member with the Basic Group Accidental Death Cer-tificate of $5,000 included. This benefit remains ef-fective as long as your membership is maintained in the NALC. As evidence of this coverage, this certifi-cate should be kept with your other important docu-ments.

The benefits are payable when the mem-ber's certificate of death states the cause or manner of death is accidental. The determi-nation is made by the pronouncing physi-cian, medical examiner or coroner. An in-sured member may appoint or change a beneficiary by completing a beneficiary form to be filed with the MBA Headquar-ters office you may get this form by calling 202-638-4318 or from the NALC website at nalc.org.

Also last month February, I had the pleas-ure to attend all three Retiree breakfasts: Largo, Pi-nellas Park, & St. Pete. Our Retirees are our Postal History, I had the opportunity to listen & share postal stories of the past, present & our future to come. I also joined the Auxiliary meeting & Tea party; it was so much fun, they are very busy busy. Amazing how they are so united after all these years, just how we should be now. Our FUTURE depends on what we do TODAY!

MBA Update

Zulma Betancourt, Director of MBA

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NALC Supports H. Res. 12, which calls for Congress and the Postal Service to take all appropriate steps to continue six-day mail delivery. The version introduced early in the 113th Congress (2013-2014) wound up with 228 co-sponsors from both political parties. The new resolution already has 76 co-sponsors so far. The Postal Services 500,000 career jobs support more than 7.5 million private-sector jobs in the paper, printing, publishing, financial services, direct market-ing and e-commerce industries. There is no indication that the Postal Service could con-tinue to deliver packages at competitive prices if it were to eliminate delivery of other mail, such as let-ters and periodicals on Saturday.

NALC supports H. Res. 28, which protects door de-livery for all business and residential customers. The resolution is identical to H. Res. 711, which was in-troduced last August during the 113th Congress and ended up with 75 co-sponsors from both parties. Six days a week nearly 40 million residential and busi-ness customers receive packages, letters, bills, and medication through door delivery. Since 2003 with the start of the program Customer Connect to the end of Fiscal Year 2014 it has generated over $2 bil-lion dollars. To eliminate this vital door delivery ser-vice that has generated significant profits would make no sense.

Reps. David McKinley (R-WV) and Paul Tonko (R-NY) introduced H. Res. 54, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore the service standards that were in effect as of July 1, 2012. Prior to July of 2012, overnight service for First Class Mail was standard. But on July of 2012 the Postal Service began Phase 1 of its plan, citing the need to save money, adjusted service standards so that over-night mail service was eliminated from most rural communities and severely reduced in metropolitan areas. This year USPS implemented Phase 2, which

further adjusted service standards in such a way that overnight mail service was eliminated nationwide and that mail sent outside of its originating area was slowed even further. These service reductions are being realized ahead of a plan to close or consolidate 82 mail processing plants na-tionwide by the end of 2015.

Sen. John Boozeman (R-AR) will take over the helm of the Committee on Appro-priations Subcommittee on Financial Ser-vices and General Government (FSGG)

and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) will become the rank-ing member. The Senate subcommittee has jurisdic-tion over preserving the long-standing six-day lan-guage that gets included in the annual appropriations bill.

Obama Calls for Sweeping Postal Service Reform in 2016 Budget Request. "The budget request proposes to cut Saturday mail delivery once the amount of mail being sent hits 140 billion pieces - a level USPS should hit around 2018. The president also wanted to phase out door-to-door delivery and allow postal workers to deliver to a central or curbside lo-cation. He also wants to give USPS executives more control over creating new business opportunities, which generally have to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission."

If President Obama’s Sweeping Postal Reform as proposed in his 2016 Budget Request is approved, over 80,000 jobs will be eliminated just for starters. I would urge everyone to call or write your Senator and Congressman asking them to vote against this request. Another way to keep up to date on what is going on is to sign up to E-Activist. It is easy to do, just go to NALC.org and click on sign up under E-Activist. Another way is to Contribute to COLCPE, which is the Unions Political Action Fund which is the NALC anchor for Legislative and Political activ-ities.

Legislative Update

Gene Carroll, CDL District 13

UNIFORMS (IN GOOD CONDITION) NEEDED

Please drop off at the hall or call 727-531-1477

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On February 8, 2015, I and most of the Branch Stewards attended a new shop steward training at the Union Hall. We were introduced to a lot of informative topics from the history of the NALC and an introduction to injured workers rights.

One of the things I found very informa-tive was a mock session of a pre discipli-nary interview that was involving a carri-er that was being charged with poor at-tendance. Seeing the entire process acted out made the process a little more clear. I had been through classes before and I had a basic idea of how each part of the griev-ance process works together but seeing it and being able to ask questions about the investigation before the discipline papers were issued, was very helpful. As this section of the day long class progressed, the focus on “Weingarten” rights were part of the focus. Hearing about these rights are always part of the dis-cussion when we’ve attended state or national train-ing classes but to see how they should be requested became very interesting.

The JCAM states:

Federal labor law, in what is known as the Weingarten rule, gives each employee the right to representation during any investigatory interview which he or she reasonably believes may lead to dis-cipline

Discussions. Article 16.2 provides that “for minor offenses by an employee ... discussions ... shall be

held in private between the employee and the supervisor. Such discussions are not discipline and are not grievable.” So an employee does not have Weingarten repre-sentation rights during an official discus-sion.

The Weingarten rule applies only when the meeting is an investigatory interview—when management is searching for facts and trying to determine the employee’s guilt or decide whether or not to impose discipline. The rule does not apply when management calls in a carrier for the pur-pose of issuing disciplinary action—for

example, handing the carrier a letter of warning.

I work in an office with some really good Carriers. Discipline is almost never issued. Being able to practice these rules are important for stewards. But in offices were discipline is rare, Carriers forget they have these rights too.

Remember that the contract requires you to partici-pate in an investigation but - If you think you can be disciplined as a result of your answers to questions – You must ask for representation.

“If my answers to your questions can result in disci-pline or affect my personal working conditions, I re-spectfully request my Union representation before I will continue”

Ask for your steward, once in they can help and ex-plain the questions asked by management. Stewards can actively represent you, so please ask for help.

Weingarten Rights and Investigatory Interviews

Clarisse High

Steward, Gateway

CHECK OUT BRANCH 1477’S NEW WEBSITE!

WWW.BRANCH1477NALC.ORG The branch has launched a new web page at Branch1477nalc.org. It is a work in progress but has a lot of information available. Please visit the site and use the contact us link to

email the branch with updates and ideas.

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The big scoop from the Marlene Markey-Margaret Perkins Tea shall henceforth be known as the Mystery of Pat O’Donnell. Was she Dick’s sis-ter, paramour, or trophy wife? We might never know as she’s keeping mum, for now...perhaps her church friends will spill the beans...Pat sat near Kay who claims eight children, 17 grands, and nine great-grands. Could the two of them be in cahoots? Close to Kay sat Diana Keller, the celebrity amongst us with two articles and numerous photos in the news-paper extolling her virtues. When prodded, her mother, Joyce Keller couldn’t help but brag about Diana, Dawn, Mallory, and all. I confess, I did some bragging too—my daughter, Carolyn, grands, Made-lin and Emma, sister-in-law Janet Hamilton, and friend, Chris Gruskin who designed darling mini purses filled with candies. Not to be out done, Kathy Northrup’s daughter created lovely, lacy, paper tea-cups as party favors.

By far, the most touching moment of our tea came when Sandy Hart introduced us to her 97 (98 on March 5th) year old mother who delighted us by proudly exclaiming she loved all her children, grands, great-grands, etc. How can such a young, with it, spry young lady claim to be 97? Sadie and Sidney helped pass out gift bags while keeping us in good humor when they giggled about our murmur-

ings. We had fun getting to know on an-other during the teacup exchange.

Our newest member, Zulma Betancourt brought her soon-to-be famous flan, and friend Saundra, both Letter Carriers at the Main office. I had a chance to chat with them awhile, and was charmed by them. More about Zulma next month.

Rounding out our group were Sally Madden, Melissa Williams, Sue Elliott, and Shirley Moran. Melissa made her delicious ham salad sandwiches, Sue made her very English cucumber/salmon ones. (To die for!) and Sally got Paul to bake cookies for us. Pat’s fruit extravaganza was very popular, and Sandy baked yummy brownies, and thoughtfully brought PB&J sandwiches and punch for the youngest ladies. I need to find who made the great nutty, honey bars. We missed Alvern Brown, Alice Wannike, and Mary Richards. Joyce remembered Margaret and Marlene for whom this tea is dedicated.

Our next social is the St. Patrick’s day dinner will be March 22nd at 3:30 pm at the Union hall. Our next meeting is March 4th, hosted by Sandy in her home. Thanks to Sandy, Alice, and Joyce for the goodies for the raffle, Joyce for cooking, Pat and Joyce will bake them March 12th.

Happy anniversary to Joyce and Clarence on March 28th.

Auxiliary 181 News

Dottie Tutt-Hutchinson

Presi-dent Joyce Keller 727 541-2194

Secretary Sandy Hart 727 397-7587

Treasurer Sally Madden 727 391-8055

Sunshine Lady Sue Elliott 727 526-6358

Chaplain Alice Wannike 727 851-2569

Auxiliary 181 Phonebook:

Sunshine City Carriers Charities By Clarisse High, SCCC Inc. , Secretary The Charter and articles of incorporation for the SCCC Inc. requires the annual appointment of its Officers. The Officers for 2015 are President Gene Carroll, Vice Pres-ident Dawn Rogers and Secretary Clarisse High. Currently we are seeking volunteers to donate a day or two for our efforts to help the St. Petersburg MDA Families fight this disease. I have been asked to make calls looking for volunteers to assist with the St. Peters-burg Grand Prix in late March and the Rays Concessions soon to be starting. Listening to some of the commit-ments and concern expressed when asked to participant I thought it would be good to share some research I have

done.

The MDA lists these fees for service. $53 pays for 1 day of medical supplies at an MDA Summer Camp, $100 provides a support group session. $150 funds a physical therapy consultation at an MDA Clinic. $500 covers the annual repairs of wheelchairs or other equipment. $800 will sponsor a week at a MDA Summer Camp.

Seven volunteers on any Sunday at the Trop contrib-utes $500 to MDA.

We are not asking you to work every Sunday just 1 or 2 of the 19 Sunday Home Games. We’ll talk about football later! Please contact me : (862)763-3319 or the hall at (727)531-1477 for more information

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PHOTO: U.S. Postal Service Truck Burns in Walnut Creek

JANUARY 16, 2015 17:18 PM

A U.S.P.S. truck was completely destroyed this af-

ternoon in Walnut Creek., CA

Randy sent the photo, and also says “This happened in Rudgear Estates in Walnut Creek just a little while ago. Postal carrier safe. Witnesses say he re-moved the mail from the burning truck and contin-ued the route. Truck reportedly malfunctioned when he started the engine.”

Postal Vehicle Catches On Fire In Lexington

Posted: Feb 23, 2015 5:26 PM EST

A lot of Kentuckians have not received their mail because of the weather and now a few more residents are going to be missing it because of a vehicle fire in Lexington.

A supervisor with the postal service says a mailman was delivering a package on Dale Hollow Drive when he heard a pop come from his truck. Moments later the vehicle was consumed by flames.

The driver was not hurt. Neighbors called 911. Dale Hollow Drive was temporarily shut down.

The post office supervisor says they will do their best to try to identify the mail that was in the truck but don't think they'll be able to get much done. If you believe you had important documents, you can contact the Lans-downe Postal Office to get more information.

The following Shop Stewards attended the February Workshop:

Tony Mells, Sue Dombrowski, Clarisse High, Ben Hamilton, Andre McCalla, Rich Ramos, Greg Welsh, Pat Kelly, Cathy Marsh, Ryan Cain, Sandra Pagan, Russell Hertlien, Chuck Cavicchio, Mary Ann Gavin, Judy Dorris, Alicia Gary, Josh LaGrew, Ralph Brown, Bill Heller, Zulma Betancourt, Bon-nie Baldwin and Susan Chavez.

Carriers attending the February South Meeting:

Susan Chavez, Paul R. Kreesee, Joshua LaGrew, Mike Gallo, Jackie White, Michael Churchill, Jamie

White, Romulas Sugar, and Sam Hadaad.

trending?

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PRESIDENT Joe Henschen 727-608-6772 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Tricia Meeks 727-560-8405 FIRST VICE PRESIDENT Ralph Brown 727-557-8225 SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Chris Hubble 727-643-8087 SECRETARY Harry Strzyzynski 727-563-0453 TREASURER Tom Phillips 727-531-1477 EDITOR Don Lyerly 941-286-5056

DIRECTOR OF RETIRED MEMBERS O.D. Elliott 727-608-6027 DIRECTOR OF MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSOCIATION Zulma Betancourt 813-597-8363 HEALTH BENEFITS REPRESENTATIVE Ken Grasso 727-397-9737 SERGEANT AT ARMS Glenn Fagan 727-741-2006 TRUSTEES Susan Chavez 941-697-2423 Willie Cochran 727-687-4163 Rich Ramos 941-204-7373

St. Pete Zone 1 Tony Mells 727-385-8579 St. Pete Zone 2 Suzette Dombrowski 727-644-9924 Alt Sean Shade 727-738-4845 St. Pete Zone 3 Clarisse High 862-763-3319 St. Pete Zone 4 Justin Wilt 727-729-0890 St. Pete Zone 5 Ben Hamilton 727-735-5125 St. Pete Zone 6 Andre McCalla 727-543-1848 St. Pete Zone 7 Rich Ramos 941-204-7373 St. Pete Zone 8 Greg Welsh 727-804-4726 St. Pete Zone 9 Glenn Fagan 727-741-2006 Alt Jim Bumbul 727-460-3581 St. Pete Zone 10 Pat Kelly 203-228-0941 Alt Jim Bumbul 727-460-3581 St. Pete Zone 11 Matt Fernandez 786-247-4185 St. Pete Zone 12/15 Cathy Marsh 727-420-5757 St. Pete Zone 13 Ryan Cain 813-957-7598 Alt Bill Heller 727-954-0548 St. Pete Zone 14 Sandra Pagan 813-454-9269 Alt Zulma Betancourt 813-597-8363

St. Pete Zone 16 Russell Hertlein 727-642-9116 Bradenton Beach Brian Andrews 941-748-5594 Dunedin Chuck Cavicchio 727-798-8506 Alt Chris Hubner 727-848-8828 Ellenton Bert Lewis 941-266-2109 Alt Bonnie Baldwin 941-722-0632 Englewood Josh LaGrew 763-232-8954 Alt Susan Chavez 941-697-2423 Indian Rocks Beach MaryAnn Gavin 727-596-5520 Largo/Seminole (Chief) Judy Dorris 727-403-2173 Seminole (76/77) Ken Bushery 727-267-3966 Palmetto Bruce Berkey 941-722-3249 Pinellas Park (81) Fred Assidy 727-656-9653 Pinellas Park (82) Alicia Gary 973-981-2174 Punta Gorda (50) Don Lyerly 941-286-5056 Punta Gorda (80/83) Chris Larson 941-815-0384 Punta Gorda (Annex) Sam Haddad 240-605-8404

B R A N C H 1 4 7 7 P H O N E D I R E C TO R Y

O F F I C E R S O F B R A N C H 1 4 7 7

UNION HALL: 727-531-1477 UNION FAX: 727-531-1478

EMAIL: branch1477@tampabay.rr.com WEBSITE: branch1477nalc.org

S T E WA R D S O F B R A N C H 1 4 7 7

Congressional Liaisons: District 13: Gene Carroll 727-742-1640 District 17: Lori Bell 941-815-6042

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Branch 1477, N.A.L.C. 5369 Park Boulevard North Pinellas Park, FL 33781-3421

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID

ST. PETERSBURG, FL

PERMIT 5489

March 2015