APWU Web News Article 84-2012, July 18, 2012
APWU President Cliff Guffey is blasting House Republican leaders for their “utter failure to solve the nation’s problems.” Guffey made the remarks in response to recent signals that the chamber won’t act on postal reform legislation until after Congress’s August recess – and perhaps not until after the November elections.
In light of the failure, the union president is calling on APWU members to focus their attention on the upcoming elections. “The House leadership’s inaction demonstrates the importance of changing the politics in our country,” he said.
“We must wrest control of the House from elected officials who are more interested in scoring political points than in conducting the nation’s business. And we must take control from extremists who would like to privatize the Postal Service,” Guffey said.
“Congress created the USPS financial crisis,” he said, referring to the mandate in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees at a cost of approximately $5.5 billion a year. No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which forces the USPS to pay a 75-year liability in a 10-year period.
“Eighty-five percent of the Postal Service’s debt is the result of the pre-funding mandate,” Guffey pointed out.
“The Democratic-controlled Senate passed a bipartisan measure in April that would spread out the payments, but Republican leaders in the House have shown no interest addressing the cause of the crisis,” Guffey said.
“Instead, when it addresses postal reform, the House plans to consider a bill that would destroy the Postal Service as a public institution,” he added. H.R. 2309, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), would require the USPS to make $3 billion worth of cuts in post offices and mail processing facilities within two years. It also would prohibit postal unions and management from negotiating restrictions on layoffs, and it would empower an appointed board to reject negotiated labor contracts.
“House leaders have no plans to address the cause of the crisis, but when the Postal Service is unable to make the pre-funding payment in August, you can be sure those same politicians will scream about a ‘default’ and mislead people by suggesting a ‘taxpayer bailout’ is imminent unless drastic cuts are made,” he predicted.
“The House should set aside H.R. 2309 and consider real reform,” Guffey said. “In the meantime, postal workers should set their sights on November.”
There is just one group of employees that nothing will ever happen to. The following is a quote from the APWU contract:
“While serving as a steward or chief steward, an employee may not be involuntarily transferred to another tour, to another station or branch of the particular post office or to another independent post office or installation unless there is no job for which the employee is qualified on such tour, or in such station or branch, or post office.”
This means that as long as there are bargaining unit employees remaining on a tour, or station or branch, or installation to be represented, the steward may not be excessed and the other employees no matter how much senior to the steward MUST be excessed. To all the returning military vet employees:
How’s that working out for ya? It’s nice to see how the APWU worked out that self preservation clause. Now you all know why they want to be union stewards in this environment! Besides that…they also get their own private parking spots!
“Guffey what have you done for clerks lately?”….for starters, I’m saving you from yourselves by not supporting a VERA for clerks. Don’t you get it…you will have those mailhandler vacancies as landing spots which will lessen the number of excessed employees. AND, there’s that watershed agreement that is the best contract ever negotiated (as soon as we figure out what it means). While those senior vets are being excessed far from their homes and families, rest assured that our junior stewards will remain behind in protected status filing grievances. Worst comes to worst, I will be eligible for that APWU Officer Only retirement plan that your dues paid for. Thanks…without your dues, I’d have to actually work for a living.
Choking Tragedy Strikes APWU Family- Guffey chokes Bell’s Chicken for the Last Time
APWU Web News Article 86-2012, July 20, 2012
The Colorado shooting tragedy has touched the APWU Family, Cliff Guffey and Greg Bell the top heads of the APWU fell to their deaths after choking each others chickens on July 20, during a midnight tryst at showing of the Fatman movie, The Gay Blades. police reported.
“We are deeply saddened by this senseless act,” said APWU President Sharia Law. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Gumby family and to the families of the other victims,” he said.
Guffey what have you done for clerks lately?
Stop holding us clerks hostage..I want out!!! Offer the clerks an incentive ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Londo…who is being arrogant here? You sound like Rush Limbaugh. That Fat, Pill Popping Blow Hard is just brainwashing YOU!
Please tell me Londo….that you don’t work for the Post Office. Maybe the Dems cannot “save” the Post Office….but the GOP want to dismantle it! If you work for the Post Office and you do not believe this…….than YOU are an Idiot!
Joe Schmo…sounds like you have totally forgiven the dimmycRATS for their role in passing the PAEA(..yes, they voted in mass for it) while not forgiving the republicans. By your logic, the dimmycRATS abandoned the USPS by not addressing our concerns in the first two years of the current administration. They are playing weak minded people like you but you can’t bring yourself to see that. Is your bulb really that dim?
The arrogance of you libCLOWNS claiming to know what is in anyones best intrest is typical and your ignorance is breath taking to say the least. The republicans can no more fire me that the dimmycRATS can save my job, this I know to be true.
Republican/Democrat WTF. Just vote for your Job. In this case it is Democrat! You can spin it any way you want but it’s really that simple. Unfortunately we are labeled with the “Government” Tag. We all know the rest of the Story.
Let me ask you lefty clowns something…if those evil republicans are out to get us postal employees, why aren’t all of them signed on to H.R. 2309?
Go ahead…spin it morons!
sure bob…rah rah rah…all dimmycrats all the time…right?…NOT!
Vote straight democrat in november ,republicans turned a deaf ear to this country on Postal reform.Your vote to oust them out of office may get thier attention.Remind them that you will have the last laugh!
Cliffy…let me see if I got this straight,
You call the effort by republicans to have federal employees pay more for retirement a “pay cut”…but when you negotiate a national contract and increase our health care premiums that somehow is not a “pay cut”…your a freakin idiot if you think that the one is and the other isn’t.
You sound just like your masters in the dimmycRAT party that say the health care law is not the largest tax ever levied against the middle class in this country.
Oh…and by the way, how is that “uncapped cola” that you used to exaggerate the pay benefits of that clerk killing contract working out?…FOOL!
I just finished reading a book about Jimmy Hoffa. Then I saw a picture of Cliff Guffey and I puked.
I believe the union wants to do nothing now as not to loose members via retirements. Well guess what.!! I know a lot of union members that are going to quit the union anyway.
What needs to be done is to get this incentive going…. so those of us who what to retire would do so and leave jobs open for members who are with young families.
This is the civil thing to do…. other issues have nothing to do with our matter at hand…
Just get on with it ok?
Keep the pressure on congress, Pres. Guffy! Everyone know ISSA and his cronies want the Postal service to fail so they can privitize it; then their pockets will become fuller! They will then become the one percenters and above! These kind of congressmen need to be voted out n November! The wealthy care nothing about average americans keeping their jobs or livlihood! This country will go down in a hand basket if most of the republicans have rtheir way! How are the Americans citizens going to vote! Are you going to help them do away with your jobs and this country! A vote for the wrong individual or party will definitely accomplish this! Stand firm for your rights and what you believe in! Decent living for all men!
Judy,Judy,Judy…..you just woke up and realized that the APWU is no different than the Republicans in the House who are holding politics over important issues? Oh…you don’t know the half of it hon ! It’s ALL about politics in the APWU just ask any regional coordinator !!
LOL !!!!!!! This is hilarious. And so are the posts which only show the sheer ignorance of the lemmings. President Goofey is blasting House Republican leaders for their “utter failure to solve the nation’s problems? Or maybe for not coming to APWU’s aid and solving their problems…the inability of Goofey to fix the broken and monumental watershed agreement? The inability of Goofey to justify how junior union stewards get to bump senior military veterans who are getting excessed (while they remain) under a self protection clause
called “superseniority”? Or maybe Goofey’s silence on the fact that he, along with several other residents and officers of 1300 L Street, will get to enjoy their own personal APWU Officer Only Retirement plan which was paid for by union dues and NOT available to the normal dues paying lemming? How does everyone feel about that? How do returning military vets feel about getting bumped by non-vet junior union stewards? How do you feel about paying for a retirement plan that you can’t use but is exclusive only to them? How do you feel about union stewards getting their own personal parking spots in facilities all over this country while you have to search for one? How does everyone feel about all expense paid trips to Los Angeles in August for a pin trading convention where the whereabouts of delegates isn’t tracked? How’s all of this working for y’all while Goofey points fingers and deflects attention from the cold fact that APWU will never support any VERA where your dues will leave along with you. If they can’t profit in some way from your exit, screw you and keep paying dem dues. The end is near!
I agree 100% with Judy Carlton, Guffey stop the BS and get us our early-out incentives.
New word for postal employees to learn….instead of management use the word “damagement”
eg. We are in a huge mess because of the upper damagement’s shortsightedness.
This guy Guffey’s new name should be Velveeta lips -He’s such a cheese eater.
Goofey, you need to stop crying about Congress and cry to Donohue to get our incentive money to get out of the Post Office before there’s nothing left TO leave.
Unfortunately Cliff, there are far fewer union members now than in 2008. The claw hammer, that APWU once had, looks more like a ballpeen now.
YES mr. Guffey, for once in your life get a fire under your ass and work out an incentive for the eligible apwu clerks that want to leave. That is what we pay our dues for. So lets get the show on the road.
Many of us clerks seem to agree that our early out incentives are being held hostage over all these other issues. Please, I beg you, to negotiate our outs so we can get on with our lives, or are you worried that you might not have as many union dues, because if that’s the case, then you’re no different than the Republicans in the House who are holding politics over important issues, taxes and the Postal Service being 2 of them. And if you are negotiating the out, then please post something on the APWU web site so that we can see progress or even movement in that direction. The fact that we see nothing day after day leads us to believe that it’s not happening.
Cliff, Jump
just kidding, leap
Cliff, congress needs to blasted for UTTER FAILURE in your opinion?
In our opinion you should be Tarred and Feathered for your UTTER FAILURE
to solve any of APWU’s Problems. You are a worthless A—–E who would
hold his own members as a BARGAINING CHIP in trying to win back some
work that your incompetance in Bargaining could not do. How can you even
look yourself in the face when you look in the mirror? How do you live with
yourself knowing how many members have made it known that they want
out with an incentive that the USPS is willing to give them and you will not
let them have it. You are as worthless as a leader of this Union and I use
the term leader lightly, Mo Biller would be ashamed to know you as I am sure Bill Burris is.
So you speak of UTTER FAILURE, just look in the mirror if you can bear to and
you will see what UTTER FAILURE really looks like.
Since you have been an UTTER FAILURE as APWU President why not try for
ONE winner during your tenure and NEGOATIATE an INCENTIVE for the
CLERKS who want to leave and for once in your tenure know what SUCCESS
is all about.
Wingman……yes I agree….we (the postal worker) are being hung out to dry. Guffey has his nest all feathered just like all the other Political Leaders. While we wait for the slaughter.
Retired in Seattle….I see the same thing when he talks. He is such a poor representative and a poor speaker………oh what the hell……a freaggin Dork!
Guffey, You make me sick. I have been a union member for 35 years and you by far have done NOTHING for the membership. I contemplated hanging around to see if that measly incentive would come, but it hasnt. So, Im outta here.
I have heard that the reason that YOU arent agreeing to any sort of incentive is because you are trying to bargain with it. The last contract ‘gave’ us back 800 EAS positions, but the language was SO poorly written, that namagement is holding out, AND the union isnt doing anything about it.
There were all sorts of deadlines to enact new contract language(s) but once those deadlines came and went, nothing was done. Its hard to fight managament at the local level, when the National isnt giving us the infr we need.
Go to the APWU website and click on the BMC/NDC heading. I m guessing that the most recent post BY the APWU national is months old.
BRING BACK BURRUS. He cared about us a hell of a lot more than you do.
Oh yea, why is it that every time I see you testifiying, you make a complete baffoon out of yourself.
Wingman. I couldn’t have said it any better!!!!!
I’m a city letter carrier so I’m not up to speed on Guffey’s internal handling of the APWU. I do wish Fred Rolando would get a little ballsier on the city side. The NALC convention is next week and it will be very interesting, especially since our contract has been turned over to arbitration. We’ll see what the general atmosphere toward postal management is when our contract is settled. Donohoe and company have lied repeatedly, he has endorsed Darryl Asshole’s – oops, I mean Issa’s H.R. 2309, which is a Postal Service killer and his ideas for “saving the Service” have been positively imbecilic if not downright suicidal.
When you consider he endorses Issa, you have to suspect that he’s on the take, or is so fucking stupid he doesn’t understand what he’s doing, and either possibility is pretty strong. Obama is not helping by putting Stephen Crawford on the Board of Governors and promoting five day delivery, either. Granted, Romney would be much worse, but the employees of the Postal Service are being hung out to dry, and our unions are our best defense, so get out there, union leaders and earn your pay.
Yo Cliffy….WHY ARE YOU HOLDING THE CLERKS HOSTAGE FOR OUR INCENTIVES. WE SHOULD VOTE YOUR SORRY TAIL OUTTA HERE ELECTION TIME FOR UNION PRESIDENT! YOU OUTTA BE ASHAMED!!
How about blasting yourself Cliff for your failures -NO COLA- to your dues paying members.
After Recess? A Break? These Guys need to be stripped of their Job’s and place their Fat, Good For Nothing Asses out on a Chain Gang and get a feel of what Labor is. Pencil Pushing Assholes can’t muster up the Balls to do whats Right! Am I intolerant? Dam Straight! Shame on All of Them!
Go Get’em Guffey!