To Fayetteville APWU members: I am in receipt of letter from headquarters informing us that some of our workers will receive $35 settlement on grievance. Mr. Tunstall didn't specify grievance or who among us would be awarded, but we can only guess settlement involves maintenance craft (exclusively) since only 21 employees would be receiving $750 divided among them. Thanks to Stacey Bailey for filing Step 1 & 2; thanks to Randy Cope and Tom Henry (Fort Smith friends) who carried it forward. Who says Union doesn't buy turkeys for members at Christmas? Stacey just did! (Course, some non-members ARE the turkeys.) (And we're anticipating big arbitration decision in a few days. Of course, the malcontents will never be satisfied no matter if they were served gold bars by the Union.) -- Loren Adams Here is the letter from headquarters: ______________________________________________ November 16, 1999 My office has been advised that your Local will be receiving a grievance settlement of $750 which will amount to $35 per person. The question was asked whether or not these payments could be made in the form of gift certificates. Ordinarily, such awards which are paid in lieu of compensation, would be considered taxable income, particularly if it had been paid directly to the grievants by the USPS. In this case, however, since the method of distribution appears to have been arrived at by the Local, rather than as an integral part of the award, and since there is not an employer-employee relationship between the Local and the recipients, the distribution is either not reportable (as being under $600) or is a non-taxable event. If I can be of further assistance to you, your officers, and members, please do not hesitate to contact my office. With kind regards, I remain Yours in Union Solidarity, Robert L. Tunstall Secretary-Treasurer RLT/im opeiu #2, afl-cio