The APWU is advising employees not to bid on jobs with less than 40 hours, but some employees are afraid of being excessed if they don’t.  Function 4 customer service operations in the stations is next.

Don Cheney
Auburn WA

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Tammy Yorysh <morningbeam99@yahoo.com>
San Diego Area Local 197
Clerk Director
– Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 16:26:54 (PDT)

Our Senior MDO lowered the boom to the plant employees in San Diego last night. 93 jobs being yanked away and turned into less than 40 hour NTFT jobs, most with only 1 non scheduled day. Employees are in shock and wondering why our union sold them a bill of goods to get them to vote yes on an unfinished and unenforceable contract. I don’t even know how to answer that. I myself voted no and told everyone who asked my advice that a yes vote is not the smart thing to do. But we are stuck now, so what do we do?

All I could say to these 20-30 year employees is that a step 4 is in the works as far as the 6 day work week goes. What I didn’t say was, when we win it, those who bid on the jobs will eventually have them yanked away again so they can have contractually correct work schedules put on them and reposted. Some consolation, right?

Has any other plant experienced this widespread carnage yet? Our NTFT jobs are between 30 and 36 hours a week, and most with only Sundays off.

Source: http://www.21cpw.com/clerk.html

NON-TRADITIONAL FULL-TIME (NTFT) DUTY ASSIGNMENTS Memorandum of Understanding  (Thanks to Don Cheney)

The parties agree to the following rules concerning Non-Traditional Full-Time (NTFT) duty assignments:

•    No Clerk or MVS employee who at the signing of this Agreement, has a full-time regular work schedule of 40 hours a week will be involuntarily reassigned to occupy a NTFT duty assignment of less than 40 hours a week. However, such employees may be reassigned to occupy a NTFT duty assignments of 40-44 hours a week, so long as those assignments have at least two (2) scheduled off days, with no scheduled work days of less than six (6) hours or more than ten (10) hours. All other employees, including current PTRs, PTFs, and any career employees hired after the signing of this Agreement, may be assigned to any residual NTFT duty assignment in accordance with Articles 37 or 39, respectively.

•    Effective 6 months from the signing date of the 2010 National Agreement, full-time career clerk craft and motor vehicle craft employees who are not on the Overtime Desired List and are in an installation with employees working in NTFT duty assignments in the same Functional area, will not be required to work overtime except in an emergency.

•    There will no longer be Part-Time Flexible (PTF) employees working in Function 1 or in post offices Level 21 and above.

•    Part-Time Flexible (PTF) employees may work in Function 4 offices level 20 and below. Offices, level 20 and below, remain subject to the Article 7.3.B obligations to maximize the number of full-time employees and minimize the number of part-time flexible employees who have no fixed work schedules.

•    There will no longer be Part-Time Regular (PTR) employees in the clerk craft.

•    There will no longer be Part-Time Regular (PTR) and Part-Time Flexible (PTF) employees in the motor vehicle craft. Management may create Flexible Non- Traditional Duty assignments to replace PTR and PTF duty assignments.

•    Employees occupying FTR duty assignments (traditional and NTFT) in postal installations which have 200 or more man years of employment in the regular work force, career employees in mail processing operations, transportation and vehicle maintenance facility operations will have consecutive days off, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties at the local level. For employees occupying NTFT duty assignments, if the NTFT schedule has 3 or more scheduled days off, at least 2 must be consecutive.

•    In Function 1, no more than 50% of all duty assignments in the facility may be NTFT duty assignments of 30-48 hours, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties at the local level.

•    In Function 4, Management may create as many clerk NTFT duty assignments of 30-48 hours in a facility as is operationally necessary.

•    In Function 4, in offices with no employees working in NTFT duty assignments, at least 25% of employees will have consecutive days off. However, if there are employees working in NTFT duty assignments, and a NTFT schedule has 3 or more scheduled days off, at least 2 must be consecutive.

•    Non-traditional full-time assignments will have no more than 1 hour lunch. Exception: in Post Offices (level 20 and below) where necessary to accommodate the conversion of PTFs to full-time status, split shifts will be permissible.

•    NTFT assignments of more than nine (9) hours in a service day shall include a 3rd break excluding lunch.

•    These NTFT employees will normally work the number of hours (daily and/or weekly) identified in their bid assignment, except in an emergency. These employees are entitled to out of schedule premium for hours worked outside their normal schedule.

•    Full-Time Flexible Clerk Craft non-traditional assignments [10% of full-time assignments, but at least one (1) in any installation] may be created and utilized in retail (Function 4) operations and to cover vacancies and absences subject to negotiated rules. The start-times and off-days of flexible non-traditional full-time assignments may be changed from week-to-week without out-of-schedule obligations, subject to a Wednesday of the prior week notification. Weekly and daily guarantees will remain unchanged.

•    When an occupied traditional clerk FTR duty assignment is reposted as a nontraditional full-time assignment, all duty assignments in that section or station/branch currently occupied by employees junior to the incumbent in that assignment will also be reposted for in-section bidding.

•    Vacant traditional FTR duty assignments can be posted as non-traditional full-time assignments, after notice to Local Union President and opportunity for input, where operationally necessary. For MVS duty assignments this notice will also be provided to the local MVS Craft Director.

•    Excessed employee with retreat rights (under 12.5.C.4 or 12.5.C.5) may decline the opportunity to retreat to non-traditional full-time assignment without relinquishing the right to retreat to posted traditional full-time regular duty assignments.

•    Article 37.3.A.4.(c) will be amended to add (5) and (6) to read as follows:

(5) Any occupied traditional full-time regular duty assignment which is converted to a non-traditional full-time assignment shall be reposted. Any occupied non-traditional full-time regular duty assignment which is converted to a traditional full-time assignment shall be reposted.

(6) When the total hours in the workweek of a nontraditional full-time assignment are changed the assignment shall be reposted.

•    Add to 37.3.A.1:

Every effort will be made to create desirable duty assignments from all available work hours for career employees to bid.

•    At the National Level, the APWU and Postal Service will oversee implementation of non-traditional staffing and assignments through regular bi-monthly meetings. Meetings may occur more frequently if needed.

•    Before implementing any new non-traditional assignments the local union will have the opportunity to review, comment, make suggestions and propose alternatives.

•    Should concerns or disputes about non-traditional assignments arise, the local union will refer them to the appropriate APWU National Business Agent who may meet with local, District, or Area management as appropriate. Any unresolved issues will be forwarded to the National Level.

•    Any concerns or disputes regarding non-traditional staffing and assignments will not be pursued through the normal grievance procedure. Such issues will be processed through ADRP with an opportunity for discussion with operations management at the local level, District, Area, and National Level. If any disputes arise and remain unresolved after such reviews, the National APWU may appeal the dispute to the appropriate arbitration docket.

 

OVERTIME RULES FOR NON-TRADITIONAL FULL-TIME (NTFT) DUTY ASSIGNMENTS

 •    Effective 6 months from the date of the 2010 National agreement, full-time career clerk craft and motor vehicle craft employees who are not on the Overtime Desired List and are in an installation with employees working in NTFT duty assignments in the same Functional area, will not be required to work overtime except in an emergency. In the Motor Vehicle craft, employees may also be required to work overtime in the event of unforeseeable circumstances (e.g., PVS drivers stuck in traffic, weather conditions).

•    Overtime built into a non-traditional full-time assignment (exceeding 40 hours in a week) will be FLSA overtime and not subject to Article 8.5, OTDL, or LMOU scheduling rules.

•    The exception to requiring employees in NTFT duty assignments to work overtime will be that Holiday scheduling is accomplished under Article 11 and the LMOU pecking order.

•    Employees in NTFT duty assignments will be eligible to sign the Overtime Desired List(s).

•    These NTFT employees will receive postal overtime for work performed beyond eight (8) hours on any day where their normal schedule is eight (8) hours or less.

•    If these employee’s normal schedule is longer than eight (8) hours on any day, they will receive postal overtime only when they exceed their normal schedule for that day. (For example, an employee’s normal schedule is ten (10) hours on a given day, but the employee works eleven (11) hours on that day. Only the last hour would be subject to postal overtime.)

•    For employees in NTFT duty assignments with normal schedules of forty (40) hours or less they will receive postal overtime when in a pay status for more than forty (40) hours in a service week. For employees with normal schedules in excess of forty (40) hours per week they will receive postal overtime when in a pay status for more than the normal weekly scheduled hours.

•    These employees will be guaranteed 8 hours on any non-scheduled day.

•    These employees will receive penalty overtime for all hours:

 

• For daily schedules of ten (10) or less hours, penalty overtime is paid for hours over ten (10) in a pay status;

 

• For daily schedules exceeding ten (10) hours, penalty overtime is not paid until hours in a pay status exceed the scheduled hours;

 

• For the first non-scheduled day an employee works in a service week, penalty overtime is paid for time in a pay status exceeding eight (8) hours;

 

• Should an employee work a second, third, or fourth non-scheduled day in a service week, penalty overtime is paid for those hours in a pay status;

 

• After an employee has worked overtime on four (4) days in a service week, penalty overtime will be paid for any subsequent hours exceeding the daily or weekly scheduled hours.

•    These NTFT employees will be subject to the 10, 12, 56 and 60 hour limitations. [Exception: employees whose normal daily schedule exceeded ten (10) hours would be exempt from the 10 hour limitation for that day.]