Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Please allow me to introduce myself to those of you who may not know me. My name is Charlie Smith and I have been a Letter Carrier since July 1982. I started at the Westbury Post Office and transferred shortly after my probation to the Massapequa Park Post Office. I became the Shop Steward for my office in 1987 and I have held this position throughout my Postal career. During my time in the Post Office I have held many different positions for both the Branch and the National Union. One of my first positions I held for both the Branch and the National Union was as an Employee Involvement (EI) Facilitator. The process involved meeting with both Carriers and Management on a weekly basis. The goal of these meetings involved working together to improve both working conditions for the carriers and helping to improve service. I held that position for 3.6 years. In 2005 I became Trustee #4 for the Branch and have performed many functions for the Union. I’ve worked on the IRAP and JRAP process, Carrier Academy Instructor, On the Job Trainer (OJT), as an Arbitration Advocate, an MDA assistant, a Safety Officer, Director of City Delivery, Shop Steward Trainer, and for over the past 7 years I have worked as a Dispute Resolution Process Team member. For the first 3 years I was the backup member and for over the past 4 years I was the Lead Union Team Member for the Long Island, Westchester and Triboro Districts. While working at the DRT I was also the Union Lead Team Member for the Impasse Resolution Team (IRT). In that position my partner and I were sent cases that were impassed by other teams who were unable to resolve the issue(s). We would then, prior to them being sent up for arbitration, would review the case file and attempt to resolve the case(s). I have also been involved with Branch 6000 Credit Union (CU). I have held many different positions for the CU over the past 20 years and am currently on the Supervisory committee.
I’d like to first thank a few people for their support and guidance throughout the years. First is to President Walter Barton who brought me on the executive board to be a part of his original slate back in 2005 and enabling me this opportunity as a Full Time Officer / OWCP. Next is to Tom Keyes, my first full time officer, who helped me in learning the position of being a shop steward. The next person is Nick D’Avanzo. I met Nick back when I was an EI facilitator. Later on he became my FTO and over the years we have become really good friends. As my FTO he always encouraged me and became a mentor. Lastly, to the carriers of the Massapequa Park Post Office, thank you for your friendship and support through all the battles we endured over the years. I would be amiss if I didn’t thank my wife Donna and my daughter Caitlin for all their continued love, encouragement and support through all these years.
I look forward to the new challenges as your Area Representative / OWCP Officer and will write articles pertaining to workers compensation issues and your rights. My future articles will be on compensation and what you need to do if you unfortunately sustain an injury on the job. This includes reporting an Injury, requesting forms CA-1, CA-16 and CA-17 and steps to take if your claim is denied by OWCP. I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year and hope 2018 is a better year than 2017 for everyone.
