Long Island New York Area Local, APWU

June 2014 maintenance update

Posted On: Jun 02, 2014

Wow it’s been a long time since I updated this page.

I guess I’ve been a little busy, anyway, let’s see what’s new.

First I would like to welcome Chris Howe who is our new Northeast Area Maintenance Business Agent to

the Long Island District area. I am hopeful that Chris will be able to help us move forward in regards to

the maintenance craft issues we have here on the Island. Welcome to the neighborhood Chris.

Right now the big issue is the conversion of PSE’s to career. Wow, I really never thought I would hear

myself say that. The way things have been going the past few years, I never thought the USPS would be

converting non-career employees to career, ever in my life. This is a good thing. Now, even more than

ever, we need to stay awake, do our jobs, and keep an eye on management. We must communicate

with each other. We must continue to assure that management maintains our workplaces in the

required clean, safe and healthy manner and staffs all facilities properly. Management must cover

custodial absences. Management cannot reduce the frequencies of cleaning simply because of annual

leave, sick leave or to ‘save hours’. Section 116 of the MS-47 Handbook states, once a staffing level is

determined it must be maintained. We must hold them to that. The MS-47 also states that the staffing

package should be reviewed annually. So if the building is not clean enough, adjustments must be

made. The reason I talk about this is because every job counts, now more than ever. We must assure

that management covers all duty assignments and maybe create new duty assignments if necessary.

Ok, so back to PSE conversions. Maintenance Craft PSE’s will be afforded the opportunity to select a

vacant custodial position according to their district seniority. Chris Howe will be working with

management to create a District-wide preference sheet and all PSE’s should be contacted shortly.

Right now, from the lists that I have seen we have some 30 PSE’s in our District and we have about 14

jobs. So to be honest not every PSE will become career, however some may decline the offer. So who

knows. This is why it’s important that we communicate with each other and make sure management is

always doing the right thing. Or remind them that we are watching.

I’m going to try to keep up with letting you all know what’s happening, but you can always call me.

Happy Spring and Summer

Steven Mohring

Maintenance Craft Director

APWU, LINY Area Local

1210 West Main Street

Riverhead NY 11901

631-680-4538