Early Retirement Rumors: Again, APWU Says: Don’t Go!

Burrus Update

Rumors about Voluntary Early Retirement offers are once again circulating throughout the Postal Service, and employees are evaluating the possibilities.

Let me state plainly:

* There have been no discussions with postal management about offering new monetary incentives as an enticement for retiring.

* If incentives are contemplated at some future date, the law says they must be negotiated with the union.

* Any rumor that monetary incentives are under consideration is false.

In recent years the Postal Service has offered Voluntary Early Retirements (VERs) — without monetary incentives — without the union’s involvement. Management may do so again in the future.

The APWU has challenged these VER offers in the appropriate forums. As we noted in grievances protesting non-incentive VERs, the National Agreement requires the payment of severance pay to employees who voluntarily terminate their employment through early retirement.

We await final disposition of the dispute. In the meantime, it is very likely that postal management will pursue further reductions in the employee complement through Voluntary Early Retirement offers.

The union repeats the advice we offered regarding prior VERs without incentives: Don’t Go!

William Burrus
President

8 thoughts on “Early Retirement Rumors: Again, APWU Says: Don’t Go!

  1. Totally frustrated with our APWU Local Union President who keeps on calling the Postmaster’s boss to cut PTF’s hours!! Thanks for the support that I get from my union after paying him $500/600 a year. Might as well quit the union and if needed can hire an attorney

  2. If It wasn’t for the union you would already be LAID OFF!! Forget an early out and incentives

  3. All I know is they are good about taking my money each month. My local states they are there to protect me. In 25 years never had any trouble, not even an Investigative Interview. I go to work and do my job and go home.

    The ones needing the union are the folks that are lazy and trouble makers. My dues go to protect them. I say fire them, we are tired of pulling there LAZY weight.

    NO UNIONS NO LOSS

    The unions will never let that happen because it would mean no Full time Officers

  4. McDonald’s or Walmart would cost if they were unionized?

    Now guess how much a new car costs extra due to Unions?

  5. That is why Wal-Mart is so sucessful, no Unions. Unions were great back in the day, but they only protect the lazy workers. In today’s world, only hard workers should be rewarded and provided a job.

  6. I was a injured Carrier forced by the Reassessment Program to work as a Window Clerk. The NALC and APWU unions did nothing to help me. Eliminate both unions….they are worthless! It resulted in me retiring early on the VERA, to escape the harassment from Clerks and Carriers for working out of craft.
    Both these unions are ineffective and weak. I even won an EEO for disability discrimination and EEO reprisal, yet the unions let me get screwed over yet again.

  7. You gave the FSM jobs to the mailhandlers, you let the carriers work in the clerk craft, you have the weakest Health Insurance and now you want to give advise? How about retiring yourself?

    What the USPS needs to survive is one Union!

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