The 2011 APWU National Agreement created a new category of clerks called non-traditional full-time (NTFT) clerks. Many of these NTFT clerks have a regular schedule of fewer than 40 hours per week. Management has begun to excess some of these clerks into full-time letter carrier jobs. The NALC believes that a clerk who works fewer than 40 hours can only be excessed into another part-time regular position, not into a full-time letter carrier position.
Part-time regular letter carriers are considered to be a separate category. Seniority for assignment and other purposes shall be restricted to this category. They may not bid on preferred full-time duty assignments. On February 22, 2012, the NALC notified the USPS that a case scheduled for regional arbitration out of Westerly, RI, concerning this issue was interpretive.
NALCÂ is arguing:
Articles 7 and 8 of our National Agreement define fulltime and part-time positions.
Article 7, Section 1.A.1 defines full-time employees as follows:
Employees in this category shall be hired pursuant to such procedures as the Employer may establish and shall be assigned to regular schedules consisting of five
(5) eight (8) hour days in a service week.
Article 7, Section 1.A.2 defines part-time employees as follows:
Employees in this category shall be hired pursuant to such procedures as the Employer may establish and shall be assigned to regular schedules of less than forty
(40) hours in a service week, or shall be available to work flexible hours as assigned by the Employer during the course of a service week.
The April 2009 Joint Contract Administration Manual (JCAM) further defines full-time schedules on page 8-1 as follows:
Full-Time Employee Schedules. Read together, Article 8, Sections 1 and 2.C provide that the work week for all full-time carriers (i.e., full-time regulars and full-time
flexible—including unassigned regulars, reserve regulars and Carrier Technicians), consists of five days, forty hours per week, and eight hours per day within ten consecutive hours.
This creates a conflict between contracts: The APWU agreement defines these employees as full-time and the NALC agreement defines them as part-time regulars. So which agreement must the USPS comply with? The answer is both.
National Arbitrator Snow ruled on a similar issue in a 1998 national arbitration award (C-18159, 194N-4I-D 96027608). The issue in that case dealt with the question of whether management had to make cross-craft assignments under Article 29 of the NALC agreement when a letter carrier loses driving privileges, while the APWU agreement prohibited such assignments. National Arbitrator Snow ruled that the Postal Service is obligated to comply with both agreements made with unions.
The APWU agreement may define these employees as full-time, but we believe the provisions of Articles 7 and 8 of the NALC contract quoted above clearly define them as part-time regulars. They must be considered to be in the category of part-time regular when it comes to excessing these clerks into our craft. Therefore, in order to be excessed into full-time positions in the letter carrier craft, these employees must meet the definition of full-time in the NALC National Agreement.
The following provisions of the NALC National Agreement cover the excessing of part-time employees:
Article 12, Section 5.D states:
Part-time regular employees assigned in the craft units shall be considered to be in a separate category. All provisions of this Section apply to part-time regular
employees within their own category.
This language makes clear that a part-time employee may be excessed only into another part-time position in the letter carrier craft. It is a violation to excess part-time
employees outside their own category. NALC believes that a clerk who works fewer than 40 hours could be excessed only into another part time regular position, not
into a full-time letter carrier position.
Branches should proceed with grievances on this issue as they would on any excessing case. Shop stewards and other NALC representatives should cite the contractual
provisions above and document the hours worked by the clerk being excessed into our craft.
enufisenuf got a nice locker for you….. your name fits well.
Watershed…heh heh heh! I like that ! By the way, how is that watershed agreement working out for ya? Heard USPS say that those negotiations were the easiest in years. Almost like using disappearing ink. They knew APWU was done for. Get them out the way and the rest is easy. Say…where’s that hospitality room at this year in LA’s APWU convention? Y’all come for that schmooozathon! Should be interesting! plenty of pins to go around this year. Don’t miss that speech by the Iraqui PMG. Will ole Billy B attend? Guess they can give him that emeritus in absentia. Heard he’ll be marching in disguise with the Cleveland local. Can’t wait to see that midget cal prez marching on stilts at the parade o states. Party on y’all…fiddle while rome burns! Oh yeah, keep paying dem dues bruthas n sistas and come see your dues money at work at this years National Convention! Yesireee buddy!!
It was the hole idea stupid
Half of you morons spelled things wrong in your posts. Either get educated or slow down your furious typing, jeesh!
I know its irritating how them R- wingers wants their fases on them food vamps
Please get speech therapist for john boehner an donut boy…. ASAP.
Who’s driving the bulldozer? Issa?
You know there are better bulldozer driver chioces in the House race.
Elden, Novinec or Tetalman…Issa just a rich spolid fool ahole that whats his face on them food stamps.
The new APWU logo is of a man and a women being chased by a bulldozer as their food stamps are falling out of their pockets.
Down size? Ok go clear out your locker.
Down size or subsidize.
What happened to all that dome and gloom by may 15th. Boy Donahoe has really fooled us again. When will we ever learn that fat cats like Issa/Ross and their henchmen(Donahoe) means us no good, and only wants to harm us, working class poor people. Their agenda has to be Privatization. Well just let me out of this corrupt organization. What’s next now that the doom’s day has passed. I want a VERA now.
Release The Hounds
Watershed!
Them poor bastards in the 70 sure didnt have to deliver squat when an immediate trigger for a strike was a Congressional decision to raise the wages of postal workers by only 4%, at the same time as Congress raised its own wages by 41%.
Funny how things never change.
the poor bastards who have to deliver the mail, good luck!
I’ll tell you want makes sense?
Getting Issa challenger JERRY TETALMAN into office so Issa can take a permanent vacation.
Since Issa is so detached and unaware his main priority should be fighting for the middle class, it makes sense to make him aware.
Issa has a financial advantage of a million dollors over the other candidates few thousands in filing with the Federal Election Commission. But as we al know?
Money cant buy me love….Who was that who said that enufisenuf? the Stones?
It makes sense to have these rich self serving anti-union bastards like Issa clearing out their excessed Congressnal lockers.
Leach jeez, you didn’t get to go to high school or what? Your post doesn’t make sense.
Custodians have been excessed into Letter Carrier Craft for decades at the stations always taking out the express mail.
Stop off an get some eats, cruise around a bit before coming back to the office no biggie.
We got lockers enufisenuf if you need something extra see us.We can work someting out.
It’s good to see the craft employees working together . An APWU clerk nows has knives in his back.1-one marked PSE, 2-one marked Mailhandler, 3-one marked Carrier, 4-one marked Management.
Congress will keep every rat hole post office open and with their wastefu send may extend delivery to 7 days aweek. Increasing debt is political motivated not common cents. Some politicans may even get a building bear his/her name.
Everbody will be carrying mail before it’s over. At least, until they go to 5 days a week!
Need carriers from where ever as carriers need a relief from OVERTIME; Making more money now than ever made.
Contractual violations are null and void as for as USPS politicans are concerned. No increase in revenue to cover cost. Who is going to pay salaries for this bankrupct government service? SUBSIDIZE is only means to stay afloat with present mode of operation.
Nobody wants dem steeeking clerks. Can’t get no VERA cause union don’t want to lose their dues…can’t get a decent contract…feeling full impacts of current postal woes…HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa…but, keeps paying dem dues bruthas and sistas! Have no fear, APWU will get you those larger lockers!