PLAN B

I have previously written about the coming national convention and the consideration of Resolution 216 to address the declining membership base. I opined that the solution to eliminate positions when they become vacant is highly unlikely to seriously address the expected loss of membership; Resolution 216 is part of a two part plan, one that requires convention approval and one that will follow administratively The delegates will be asked to empower the president or craft officer as appropriate the authority to eliminate vacant positions, but since vacancies are unpredictable once convention authority is achieved, Plan B involves the transfer of funds from the general treasury to the authority of the president to be used to incent officers in specific positions to retire. Case in point, the maintenance craft has a director and three assistant directors so it has been a long standing objective to reduce the number of positions. Incumbents in the maintenance craft would be offered X dollars to retire before or after the 2013 election and a vacancy would be created and abolished consistent with Resolution 216. Elected positions throughout the union, including Business Agents and Resident Officers would be cherry picked for retirement incentives and would receive an amount determined by the executive board or president. This amount is expected to exceed $40,000 per incentive, sufficient to encourage the officer to retire. So for each officer who earns in the range of $100,000 or more per year, a postal retirement, plus 30 days severance pay, and unused annual leave will also be paid an incentive that is targeted on a personal level, while union members who want to retire cannot get a letter answered or a phone call received. It would be nice if the Postal Service offered union members $40,000 or more when their positions are being abolished

This intricate plan is being developed and pursued at a time that the members whose dues will be used for this Ponzi scheme who are eligible to retire are being denied a postal incentive because of unrelated disputes; forty thousand or more for officers, and zip for the members.

The convention delegates will be asked to approve Step 1of this attempt to avoid delegate determination of the union’s structure and defer to the decision of the president/craft director the distribution of retirement incentives. Through the selection process of identifying specific officers, the administration intends to create vacancies and apply the authority – authorized by Resolution 216.

Bill Burrus