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 

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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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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,