General Membership Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM at 918 Benjamin NE, Grand Rapids.
Meeting was opened with the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation.

Roll Call of Officers:

Present:

Jennifer Amos, President
Bill Scutt, Clerk Craft Director
Amy Marcus, Executive Vice-President
Steve Lang, Maintenance Director
Karen Hodges, Recording Secretary
Scott Larabel, MVS Director
Linda Chandler, Treasurer
David Janes, AO Director
Vacant:
Sgt-at-Arms

Application for membership:

Joseph Bell Maintenance
Dave Vanderploeg VMF
Ray Bailey Clerk

Motion to accept. Carried

Officer’s Reports:

Treasurer’s: Chandler: October report read. Carried

Vice-President’s: Marcus: Spoke on zone 3/7 jobs. APPS grievances were filed. Went to Flint to see how the PARS were run. No jobs on T-2, will be changing 3 automation clerks on tour 1 and 3 clerks on tour 3. Bill and I attended the job summit. Stewards training went well.

Clerk Craft Director: Scutt: I will become a steward pending training. Had a complaint regarding the pop corn machine not being on the floor. Complaint about the chairs being taken out of 030. Attended the job summit. RI399 has been productive. Mailhandler’s aren’t too happy that I am back. Asking the stewards to watch out for vacant bid jobs. Kelly VanValkenberg has taken on that job and will stay in contact with Bill thru email.

Maintenance Director: Lang: PARS coming in. A lot of prep work for the Robot CIOSS. Got a good settlement on Flat sorters being moved. Jim Ruark’s daughter has been diagnosed with leukemia, waiting on bone marrow transplant. You can write her at Kelsey Ruark @ Carepages.com. Will be having a spaghetti Benefit dinner in Sand Lake.

MVS Director: Larabel: Welcome Dave Vanderploeg, mechanic as a union member. Won a couple major grievances, contract out trailer hauling and another on contracting out repair work. DIE’s; utilize these people with DIE’s. Thank the rest of the stewards for helping Mike Hill.

AO Director: Janes: Multiple grievances out there. Twenty four offices that have 1 vacancy and some 2 vacancies. Carrier and Postmaster’s are doing the clerk work and the PTF’s aren’t even getting 40 hrs. Now is the time if you want an AO job.

President: Amos: We have 40 AO offices and we have people helping the AO director Janes. Talked to Fred Quillin to establish an Automation Committee to help track jobs. Kelly VanValkenberg will be doing this. Dan Quillin submitted his resignation. Thanked him for a good job. Thank you for sending me to the National Convention and I attended many meetings there. Linda and I went to Treasurer’s training in Pittsburgh. Thank you for coming to the meeting tonight. Phil Marckini had his name in lights at the national convention for COPA Congrats to you. We will be having an informational picket at the main post office, Thursday October 26 from 4:30 TO 6:30 pm. This is in regards to the consolidation of post offices.

Committees

COPA: $32 from cans from the P-1 and $20 from NE Station.

A&E: Stoddard. Golf outing June 2, 2007 at Rogue River Golf Course in Sparta for American Diabetes Association again. Looking for 80 golfers. We donated 6500 to ADA, this past year. Would like to thank Jackie Pike for about $1200 worth of door prizes and the other members for working. Marcus: There will be an adult Christmas Party. Possible rotating a children’s party one year adult the next, and so on. Will be Saturday December 2 at the 5th Street Hall, 7- midnight. Cash bar. To attend you will have to pay a $10 deposit for reservation and then you will get your $10 back when you attend.

POWER: Hodges: We will be having a POWER POW WOW, Saturday November 4th at 4:30 PM at the union office here on Benjamin. It will be a punch and dessert event. We will be showing labor videos and we will be having a speaker to discuss the Proposal 2 (affirmative Action). We hope they will stay for the November General membership meeting.

Correspondence:

Thank you for the flowers from the family of Patti Marklevitz.

Board recommendation:

To reimburse Catherine Beemblossom $176.85 for overage for travel (gas & toll expenses) for driving Karen Hodges and Catherine Beemblossom, to the National Convention. Because Karen was a last minute delegate to the National Convention, saving the local hundred’s of dollars in airfare. Carried

New Business:

FYI death benefits – check out in the state newspaper Put this in your files

Motion: Stoddard, Second: Maklevitz: For WMAL donate $1000 to sponsor a 4 some for the 2007 Charity. Golfers will be picked at the March meeting and you must be present. This is not transferable This will be part of the 2007 budget. Carried

Motion: Austin, Second Maklevitz: To spend up to $7000 to purchase Union made T-shirts for the membership to be spent over the next 2 years and these will be distributed thru the union office, stewards, officers, and you will have a coupon in the newsletter to redeem for the shirt One per person. And these will be available for the picket. Carried

Motion: Hodges Second Chandler: To bring back the $250 door prize drawing from the membership list and you must be present at the meeting to win. Carried

Labor Management Will be held October 23rd.

Drawings

COPA $23.00 Jennifer Amos $23.00 she donated $22.00 of it back to COPA

$10.00 Drawings: Phil Markini, Mike Long, Steve Lang, Tammy Byrnes, Jackie Pike

Meeting adjourned at 8:56 PM

Respectfully Submitted

Karen Hodges
Recording Secretary

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