Status of Pacific Area Reassessment Program in dispute
by Dan Sullivan
June 23- Omar Gonzalez, the source for a story reporting that the USPS had put the Pacific Area Reassessment Program on hold, isn’t backing down from his claim despite a denial made through the union by the postal boss in charge of the program in Washington, D.C., Kevin McGovern.
Gonzalez, the APWU Western Region Coordinator, insists Pacific Area Human Resources Manager Manuel Botello told him at a May 17 meeting that the program had been temporarily halted in the area.
But McGovern told APWU Human Relations Director Sue Carney that Botello denies telling Gonzalez the program was put on hold.
The purpose of the Reassessment Program is to cull injured workers from the payroll by dumping them on Workers’ Compensation and then retraining them for private sector jobs.
“I went back to review my notes taken on the 17th of May,” Gonzalez said in an email received yesterday. “At that meeting I was prepared to discuss issues of Rehab Reassessment . . . It was Mr. Botello who expressly stated, ‘Oh, that is on hold pending review of the impact of EEOs, MSPBs and grievances.’ Of course, they deny it.”
Gonzalez also said that a story of mine, which quoted him telling delegates to the California APWU Convention on May 18 that the program had been put on hold, failed to report that he also told delegates “I believe management like I believe Bush.”
In a June 22 posting on the web site 21cpw.com, Gonzalez dismissed the USPS denial as hearsay, noting that the source of the story, APWU Human Relations Director Sue Carney, “said that USPS Manager McGovern said that Botello said he denied telling Western Region Coordinator Omar Gonzalez the Rehab Reassessment project was on hold.”
The Postal Service has refused requests for interviews about the Reassessment Program, referring all questions to the union, which they say has been briefed on the project.
Gonzalez said he rejected a request from USPS Pacific Area management that the two sides sit down and review general issues arising from the controversial program instead of the union filing multiple grievances.
“I informed them we needed to intervene not just review. I also informed them the withdrawal of a limited duty job offer could generate a grievance over violations of the Rehab Act, a grievance over a violation of the ELM 540, a grievance over failure to make a real effort to find work, a separate grievance over non accommodation of deserving employee and a host of other related issues.”
Gonzalez believes the union must aggressively oppose the Reassessment Program.
“Not only do we have to assist injured employees, fight dirty management and their HQ bosses, but we must also educate able bodied members that it is the rights of all employees we are fighting for,” he wrote on 21cpw.com.
“The fact is we know we are under attack whether the attack is on hold or not. We can’t trust management will do the right thing.”
Dan Sullivan can be contacted at
Correction: In previous stories I referred to USPS Pacific Area Human Resources Manager Manuel Botello as Manuel Vetello.
June 25th, 2006 at 9:28 am
NO, Mr. Gonzalez, “we” are not under attack, the injured on duty are under attack! If you were to poll the overall workforce and what we think of the reassessment program, the consensus would be that we are all for it…..something has to be done about this problem, otherwise, the “able bodied” end up doing all the work and the injured continue to sit around doing nothing for the rest of their careers. I hope the union will protect our jobs, our bids and our futures in the upcoming negotiations, I could’nt give a crap about the injured on duty and what happens to them!!
June 25th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
I disagree! The strength of our union is solidarity! We don’t leave our wounded behind.
If we do that now what next. How about older workers, workers who’s English is not perfect,
maybe short workers, who wants people who are short. Don’t be an ass hole. We are all one!!!
June 25th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Uhem, donald duck, you are being a bit um,,idiotic here! this isnt war ok, this is business, we are not leaving our “wounded behind. if you want to carry them on your back, please feel free to do so. if you had the sense of a billy goat, and could look at the numbers and what they are costing us, maybe you would change your outlook. and by the way, it’s not “workers who’s english is bad”, it would be “workers whose english is bad”, just like your english abilities, or more to the point, lack of it!
June 28th, 2006 at 3:55 am
Soriano,
Do you really want Postal Management to determine which Federal laws and union contract articles they will follow? Let’s assume you are correct. All rehabs are lazy good for nothings who refuse to work rather than victims who can’t do the work they once did. Not much unlike most clerks and janitors I know or most managers for that matter. Why are Rehabs the only ones required to work 8 hours a day? And let’s assume for the moment that maybe they don’t deserve to be protected by the contract provisions that require the USPS to provide alternative work within their limitations. If the union allows the USPS to ignore the law & contract in the case of rehabs where does it stop? What happens if next the USPS says “mail volumes have dropped, we have to layoff to stay afloat”? What if the USPS determines that it’s more cost effective to lay you off after 25 years of slave labor because keeping those with less than 6 years of service saves more because they make less money? Do you want the USPS to have that freedom? Of course you don’t. The law is the law and the entire contract must be enforced or eventually it will be you it is effected. You, like me, are only a heartbeat away from having your entire life destroyed by an on the job injury. I’m sure you will be the first to cry foul if the Union doesn’t do anything to protect your contract rights. Fighting to enforce the contract isn’t about worthless rehabs, it’s about YOU, your rights, and your protections. God help us all if management is ever given the power to make decisions concerning the craft without the protections of Federal law & the contract.
June 28th, 2006 at 8:45 am
I am a Rehab worker who wants to work and I pride myself on doing a good job. I always have! Recently we moved to a new building and at first, light,limited and Rehab, employees were not invited to go. You should have seen all of the “meraculous recoveries.” They are the people who give the truly injured employees a bad name. This goes on in every postal facility. If I were the Postmaster General I would fire each and every one of the liars and then sue them for fraud. NOT ALL INJURED EMPLOYEES ARE BUMS.
June 29th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
i put in 22+ yrs as a rural carrier and then got hurt.i wanted to work as much as i could.in the beginning the dr. said i could only sit and do things.the bitch stupidvisor said there was no work, which everyone knew was a lie.they would rather pay me to sit at home, which i absolutely hated, even tho it would have been painful to work.finally after several months the manager contacted me as to why i wasn’t working.i told him about his stupidvisor refusing to let me.i was back at work the next week.yes, unfortunately there are a very high percentage of liars about their injury.i was also told from the very beginning that i should take a disability retirement.no one understood that some of us would much rather work than retire.i do have restrictions but helped w/ others work as well as my jobs.i worked faster than most and got lots done.it’s not my fault that i was injured. the PO should be held responsible.they say safety is a must, well i was being very safe and i still got hurt.PO needs to own up to their responsibilities and look at each case on an individual basis.not that they have the mentality to do anything right!!it’s pretty sad when the only ones who become stupidvisors and sometimes managers are the ones that were the worst carriers in history and the slowest!!so they promote the bad seeds instead of getting rid of them.what’s wrong w/ this picture? why shove IODS out the door if they are doing a very good job even tho they are injured?get rid of some of the lazy stupidvisors and uppermanagement who sit on their butt doing not much of anything and making decisions about how things should be done when they have possibly never carried mail for even 1 day!!
August 6th, 2006 at 8:43 am
To everyone: I have now come to my senses. I really have been a selfish jerk and need to be a better person. I shouldn’t be picking on iod’s like I have been doing and need to work on being a better person. I can’t believe I was such a jerk and apologize to everyone who I may have offended. cha-cha.
June 14th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
i am a rehab at the houston office doi 3-14-1998 i found out about glover in 2005 upon being traf where it was posted in the lunch room at this point i sent in my paperwork also letting them know i was just finding out about it.my i asked them to check with usps about why my old station did not have a posting at the station.i now find out that there was a cd rom usps sent them and a mailing list i have asked them to check as to why i was left off when i had almost loss my foot in my date of injury and the records would clearly show i was never sent a letter and somehow left off the cd rom ..is there somebody to write to about this muy d o i is 3-14-1998