South Carolina State Association of Letter Carriers

JIMMY SWINTON, DISTRICT ONE CONGRESSIONAL District Liaison
Cell: 843-813-7340 
Work: 843-569-2609/2610 
E-mail: jswin59563@aol.com 

Make Contributions to COLCPE here...... www.nalc.org/depart/legpol/pdf/elecfundtransfer.pdf

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The following is the contact information for Congressional District 1

Congressman Henry E. Brown

Washington D.C. Office

103 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3176
Fax: (202) 225-3407

Charleston Office
5900 Core Avenue
Suite 401
North Charleston, SC 29406
Phone: (843) 747-4175
Fax: (843) 747-4711

Myrtle Beach Office
1800 N. Oak Street #C
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Phone: (843) 445-6459
Fax: (843) 445-6418.

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March 15, 2010

                                                                 Letter To The State Membership

I am prompted to address the membership of the state of South Carolina Letter Association in an attempt to encourage

each one of us to become involve with the affairs of the union both locally and nationally.  What I mean by to become

involve is to support Committee of Letter Carrier Political Education (COLCPE) and register as an E-Activist.  In addition,

get involve with your local branch.

First, let's talk about COLCPE.  COLCPE was created by NALC in 1975 as a non-partisan fund used to develop

educational programs for letter carriers about critical political topics and to support candidates for federal office.  The

date is Sunday, March 14, 2010 and a day when all the news talk show appears on television.  There was a particular

show this morning with a women talking about how the banking industry has 34 lobbying firms in Washington, DC to

lobby politicians for the banking industry.  In addition to the 34 lobbying firms, they have a 35fth  entity to oversee and coordinate

the activities of the 34 lobbying firm.  The sole purpose of lobbying firms are to lobby for what the banking industry deems necessary

for their survival.  Sounds like a pretty good investment to me if this is what the banking industry does to protect it interest 

The "February Postal Record" issue posted the amount and number of letter carriers that donated to COLCPE for the year 2009. 

As much money as the banking industry has and continues to lobby for their interest, how come we as letter carriers do not see the

significance of donating to COLCPE to support our interest?  I do not believe some letter carriers understands the magnitude of what's

going on.  If you have been watching the news or reading about the postal service, there's a strong push for a 5-day delivery and

workforce flexibility.  By the way, if you are a Republican, Democrat or Independent letter carrier, the outcome of this push will affect

all of us the same.  Do not think for one minute those politicians are not listening  to what the banking lobbyist are telling them.  I heard

someone say long time ago, money talks and BS walks.  The point I am trying to make is whether you agree or disagree about how

the game is played, you have to play the game the way it is being played until its changed.  So, support what is in your best interest.

Second, is E-Activist.   NALC e-Activist Network to allow letter carriers to receive e-mail Action Alerts on issues important to

NALC members.  In other words, when a legislative issue comes in to the political arena, NALC desire all letter carriers to contact

their congressional member in Washington, DC to voice their concern about the issue that affect them.  You can contact your

congressman by e-mail, telephone or by writing a letter.  You can also choose to do all three forms of communication.  Just for your

information, our present contract under the 2006-2011 agreement with the NALC and the USPS is coming to an end.  This will be

a very difficult negotiation process for all parties involve and some tough decision has to be made.  So we still have time to become

involved in the process before the negotiation begins.  Contact you shop steward or local branch officers to find how to sign-up to for

E-Activist.

Last, attend your branch union meetings and read your "Postal Record" magazine and not just throw it away.  Go to your branch

meetings and find out what issues are affecting your local area and office you work in.  You can bet management has a plan for

survival and you better have one.   This is all done by being involve with your local union and all the way up to the national level. 

We are one of the few organization in the state of South Carolina that still have a active and viable union that fight for your interest. 

How can you just sit back and not support the issues affecting YOU personally?

In Solidarity

Jimmy Swinton,  CDL, District 1

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January 10, 2010

  I will keep this brief.  Here is some information on 5-Day Delivery.

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=15&sid=1844078  

Have a prosperous New Year!

Jimmy Swinton, CDL 1

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September 8, 2009

                                                            A TOOL YOU CAN USE

    Greetings to all my fellow letter carriers wherever you may be.  I hope the environment in your workplace is not at

the boiling point.  If it is, do not allow the rising temperature to overwhelm you.  I know it's hard, but do not lose

your cool and resort to anything other than being a professional letter carrier.  It is difficult, but what is the alternative?

    I will try to give you a little tool to use in this article that may help you.  Take this information and store it in your toolbox.

I will try to add a few tools every month to your toolbox.  But before I do, I think we all should give Buddy Ferguson a

"big thanks" for creating this  web page.  Secondly, give Ed Martin a "big shout out" as he would want it, for taking what

Buddy created and expanding on it.  Thanks Ed and Buddy for this invaluable tool.

    Now for the toolbox.  What I have done below is drawn a tool that will allow letter carriers to get a grip on the daily

morning projections for their borrowed route(s).  We cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated by the computer or even argue

with it for that matter.  We all know DOIS is only a management tool.

What I did was:

1.  A quick reference for how long you have to case your letters and flats based on 18 & 8.

2.  Show a breakdown of your Fixed Office Time (FOT).  Cannot be taken away and is the minimum allowance.

3.  You can use any combinations to make a quick estimate--estimate is not an exact.

NOTE:  You get "1" minute per every "70" pieces you pull down.

So with this info, you should be able to estimate your office time based on your assessment not what the computer says.

Be pro-active and not re-active--get involved

Jimmy Swinton

CDL, District 1 

A QUICK REFERENCE FOR CASING TIME IN THE OFFICE AND TOTAL OFFICE TIME

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June 6, 2009

Congratulations South Carolina State Association of Letter Carriers!!

      NALC Branch 3902 collected  96,877 lbs.  This is a 36% increase from last year.  This number does not represent

 all of the offices covered by Branch 3902.  But together as a State Association, all the branches in total collected

393,386 pounds of foods.  This figure does not include the food that went to smaller food banks across the state. I wish

to thank everyone that participated in this year's food drive. 

Stamping Out Hunger,

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**PREVIOUS POST**

WHERE HAS ALL THE TIME/MAIL GONE?

It is the end of July as I begin to write this article and seems like it was only yesterday when the state convention was held in Hilton Head, SC, back in April of 2008.  Before we know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be at our front door.  That is not a bad thing when you consider the time of year it is when the weather has gotten away from the dog days of summer.  Speaking of time, can anyone tell me where the mail has been going lately?

I have talked to several carriers about this mail issue and most of them can not figure why the volume is not the same as it use to be.  The fluctuation of the volume has been so unpredictable lately.  Some say well maybe it is the summer months and the volume usually drops off during that period.  Some say, “No, I have never seen it this bad where the volume is barely two tubs of mail in the morning”.  Who knows, but one thing is for sure is that things are not what they use to be.  A T-6 made the point that he can case two routes and be back in 8 hours.  If that is not a sign that volume is not the same then I do not know what is.  Some office may not be experiencing this but several carriers have expressed this concern.  At the same time to, let’s not get hasty and start negotiating minor route adjustments without the union input.  Minor route adjustment is not something most letter carriers are familiar with so why not let the union assist you only when that time arises.  It is always easier to fix something correct the first time than to mess it up and then try to correct it.  Let the people in charge determine the best course of action for these times.

Also several carriers have noticed reporting times moved back to as much as 8:00 and 8:30 A.M.  Years ago the clock in time was either 7:00 or 7:30 in the A.M.  Then the day after a holiday, the reporting time would be like 6:30 and mail would be everywhere.  Monday mornings were always notorious for large volumes of mail and quite a few carriers reported in early.  Lately for some offices the report time for after a holiday has been the same as the normal reporting time. 

Now, regardless as to what is going on with these times or the mail,  rest assure that you have a job and do not allow the times to change your pattern of carrying mail.  If you get done early, report back to the office as the guidelines instructs you to.  You can always find something do like working on your edit book, making sure your labels on the case are accurate and neat etc.  If you are a career employee, regardless of the volume of mail, be it 20 feet or 5 feet, you are still guaranteed a 40 hour week.  In the private sector some employee would make you hit the clock and send you home.  Do not allow the low volume of mail to cause you to deviate from the rules of delivering mail.  Remember, an honest day work for an honest day pay.

Lastly, get involve with COLCPE and become an E-Activist.  If you do not know what this mean, contact your shop steward or union president,