APWU Negotiations Update: Bargaining Continues as Contract Deadline Nears
Negotiations between the APWU and the Postal Service are continuing throughout the day Saturday, with the contract set to expire at midnight on Nov. 20. The union’s top negotiators and high-ranking postal officials are discussing preserving jobs, issues related to workforce structure, as well as pay and benefits.
APWU President Cliff Guffey reported on negotiations to the union’s Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee and national officers during a break in bargaining. “We continue to focus on protecting jobs in order to limit the pain of ‘excessing’ on our members,” he said.
Guffey said the union is seeking an agreement that will benefit both parties.
“Our proposals will also help the Postal Service, because APWU members can perform the work more efficiently and less expensively than subcontractors,” Guffey said.
APWU Contract Negotiations Update – Guffey: USPS Will Have to Do Better
Postal Service negotiators continue to express interest in APWU contract proposals, “but so far have failed to put anything in writing,” APWU President Cliff Guffey reported to the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee on Nov. 18.
At a morning bargaining session, management representatives re-hashed their previous oral statements, he said. “If they expect to get an agreement, they will have to do better.”
“We want to see everything in writing,” the union president said.
“Work and stability remain our paramount concerns.”
APWU President Remains Optimistic Of Reaching Contract Agreement With USPS
Rank and File Bargaining Committee Scheduled to Arrive in Washington, DC
APWU Web News Article 127-2010, Nov. 12, 2010
The union’s Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee is scheduled to arrive in Washington, DC on Nov. 14 to be on hand in the event of late-breaking developments at the negotiating table.
With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire Nov. 20, APWU President Cliff Guffey remains optimistic about the possibility that an agreement can be reached.
“Final bargaining will be challenging,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey, “but the union is determined to negotiate a contract that benefits both the members of the APWU and the Postal Service.”
In accordance with the APWU Constitution and Bylaws, any tentative agreement between the union and management must be approved by a majority of the Rank and File Committee before it can be submitted to members for a ratification vote. Each member of the union’s National Executive Board names one person to the committee; a 14th member is appointed from the union’s Deaf/Hard of Hearing Task Force.
Committee members will be available around the clock to discuss proposals and any agreements reached between the union and the Postal Service.
For updates on negotiations and the latest developments from the bargaining table, please visit www.apwu.org frequently. Members are also encouraged to follow the union on Twitter and Facebook to receive up-to-the-minute alerts by e-mail or text message. Click here to learn how.
USPS Subcontracted Online Employee Training Program Causing Problems
Filed under: APWU, contract, postal, postal clerks, postal news
New Online Program for Postal Employees makes it next to impossible to take training tests on the clock.
From APWU:
[The APWU] Clerk Division officers recently reported on problems union members are facing since management established OASys, the Online Employee Scheduling and Assessment System. Many aspects of this program, which requires employees to schedule typing tests and other exams online, violate our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Members have reported that although they are required to schedule tests online, management often refuses to allow them to use USPS computers for this purpose. In addition, the scheduling process is often lengthy, and many test sites are not suitable for testing. In some locations employees are being scheduled for testing beyond the commuting area, and in some areas only senior bidders receive notification to schedule tests. (Article 37 of the contract requires the five senior bidders to take the typing test before the results of bidding are announced.)
In addition, since the system was implemented, there has been a significant decline in the number of Training Technician Clerks.
APWU reported in its May/June edition of The American Postal Worker:
The Online Employee Scheduling and Assessment System (OASys) is causing numerous problems, especially with scheduling and testing. OASys, which is used for scheduling and for assessing employee skills, such as typing, has not been adapted to comply with our Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Problems with OASys
Employees are being required to schedule their own typing tests, yet management refuses to allow them to use USPS computers for this purpose. Employees who do not have access to a home computer are effectively barred from scheduling the test.
The registration and scheduling process itself is lengthy: It can take between 30 minutes and one hour to register, depending on employees’ computer skills.
In some areas, only the senior bidder receives notification to schedule a test, pursuant to the results of the posting notice. Article 37 requires the five senior bidders to take
the typing test before the results of the bidding are announced. Failure to do so can change who is awarded other duty assignments resulting from the posting.
In some locations, employees are also being scheduled for testing at venues far from their workplace. Some testing locations are outside employees’ commuting areas, meaning
they must travel 80 or more miles to take the test. noFurthermore, many locations are not conducive to testing, due to such problems as faulty keyboards, cramped space,
noise, and dirty surroundings.
The contract requires the USPS to allow employees to take the typing test on a “no-loss, no-gain” basis, meaning they will not lose pay or earn extra money during testing.For example, if an employee’s test is set at a time within his or her regular workday, the employee would take the test while on the clock. OASys has made this next to impossible to achieve.
Management has also failed to stick with a uniform policy regarding mileage and travel compensation. Instead, each district has been implementing its own rules on the matter.
The EL-312 Handbook requires all examiners to possess certain qualifications and training before they conduct examinations. It also says examiners must be certified by the National Test Administration Center (NTAC). We reminded the Postal Service of this regulation, and asked whether contracted examiners have been notified in writing of this requirement. If so, we requested a copy of the documentation.
The APWU contends that everyone — including subcontracted trainers — must be in compliance with the regulations of the EL-312 handbook. If examiners are not certified, local grievances should request that all bargaining unit Training Technicians be returned to their assignments; they also should request compensation for Training Techs for all time worked by untrained and non-NTAC-certified trainers.
The APWU has initiated a national-level dispute on this issue. Locals should continue to file grievances in situations where clerks are required to take typing or other tests that
violate our National Agreement.
Postal Service Begins Rural Letter Carrier Contract Negotiations
Filed under: contract, NRLCA, postal, postal news, press releases, usps
Successful Negotiations Crucial to Postal Service’s Future
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service, faced with the most dramatic mail volume drop in its history, today began contract negotiations with the National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA). The current contract expires at midnight, Nov. 20.
Employees represented by the NRLCA primarily deliver mail in rural and suburban areas. The NRLCA represents 67,000 career employees and 48,000 non-career employees who substitute for career employees on their days off.
“The drop in the economy coupled with the shift to digital communications has created the greatest loss in mail volume since the Great Depression,” said Anthony Vegliante, chief human resources officer and executive vice president.
Mail volume peaked at 213 billion pieces in 2006 and plummeted to 177 billion last year. By 2020, mail volume is projected to drop to 150 billion pieces. In 2009 wages and benefits represented 78 percent of total operating costs — $56 billion.
Because Congress designated the Postal Service as an essential service to the nation, if negotiations come to an impasse, postal employees are not permitted to strike. Unlike the private sector, an arbitrator determines the final outcome and is not legally required to consider the Postal Service’s financial obligations when rendering a decision.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. It pays 78 percent of its employee Federal Employees Health Benefit Program insurance premiums while other federal agencies contribute 72 percent.
“The Postal Service needs flexibility to adjust to the nation’s changing mailing trends,” Vegliante continued. “Our dedicated employees are committed to their mission to deliver for America. We have a good working relationship with our unions and know they want to keep us strong in this changing environment. Our goal is to negotiate a contract that’s fair to our customers and employees and meets our financial and operational needs.”
Three other unions represent most other postal employees. The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (APWU) began contract negotiations Sept. 1. The APWU represents employees who work as clerks, mechanics, vehicle drivers, custodians and some administrative positions. Employees represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO (NALC) deliver mail in metropolitan areas; and employees represented by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, AFL-CIO (NPMHU) work in mail processing plants and Post Offices.
| Union | Employees | Contract Expiration |
| APWU | 211,000 | midnight, Nov. 20, 2010 |
| NALC | 207,000 | midnight, Nov. 20, 2011 |
| NPMHU | 49,000 | midnight, Nov. 20, 2011 |
The NALC and NPMHU begin negotiations next year approximately 90 days prior to the contract expiration date. For additional background information on labor negotiations and the Postal Service’s workforce, please click on these links: Labor Negotiations and Workforce.
Union Denounces USPS Attempts to ‘Work the Refs’
Union Denounces USPS Attempts to ‘Work the Refs’
Says Contract Negotiations Are Ill-Served by Public Misstatements
APWU Web News Article 092-2010, Sept. 8, 2010
American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus has denounced efforts by the Postal Service to influence the outcome of contract negotiations by issuing demands in public forums.
“It is extremely disappointing that the Postal Service is attempting to circumvent the bargaining process through the issuance of demands in the media,” Burrus said.
“Unfortunately, the Postal Service has begun posturing and manipulating numbers,” the union president said. “Management is ‘working the refs’ in an effort to influence the outcome of contract negotiations.”
“It is troubling that the USPS has chosen to recite the false and misleading claim that the pay and benefits of postal employees amount to 78 percent of total revenue – as though that figure is relevant to APWU negotiations. Contract negotiations are ill-served by such public misstatements,” he said.
“The wages and benefits of the employees represented by the APWU have been reduced from 28 percent of revenue in 2003 to 23 percent in 2010, a number that is dramatically lower than that cited by the Postal Service,” Burrus said.
“The Postal Service’s deceptive figures must not be used as a barometer for collective bargaining,” he said.
Video: APWU-USPS 2010 Contract Negotiations Opening Session
Filed under: APWU, contract, postal, postal news, usps, videos
The next round of talks is set for Sept. 8. For updates, visit the union’s Web site, at www.apwu.org.
Contract Negotiations Begin Between USPS And APWU
Negotiations for a new national agreement between the American Postal Workers Union and the U.S. Postal Service began Sept. 1 in Washington, DC. The current contract expires Nov. 20, 2010.
Every contract negotiation brings special challenges, and this will be no different,” APWU President William Burrus said at the opening session. “Mail volume is depressed and revenue is down, but we have faced similar circumstances before.
“The history of the Postal Service is replete with forecasts of doom and gloom, but such dire predictions have not prevented us from exploring every opportunity to achieve agreement,” he said.
The union president said that warnings of the imminent demise of the Postal Service, and demands for “wholesale changes to the foundation we have built over our 40-year history” ignore the fact that each contractual provision has a history of give-and-take.” That is the essence of contract negotiation, he said.
The Postal Service is experiencing difficult times, Burrus noted, but APWU members also face challenges. “Each time I have an exchange with a young mother who balances the competing obligations of her work at the Postal Service and home, I am reminded of the unique needs of postal employees, who are responsible for maintaining the best and cheapest postal system in the world,” Burrus said.
“The Postal Service and APWU are responsible, through their designated negotiators, for determining the conditions of employment,” he noted.
The road will be difficult and the outcome uncertain, but there are components of an agreement awaiting our discovery. I pledge the best efforts of the American Postal Workers Union to find a way,” he said.
Postmaster General John E. Potter said the parties have a joint interest in the viability of the Postal Service for the future, and promised to “work across the table to find an agreement that benefits both the USPS as an institution and postal employees.”
However, he cautioned that the Postal Service would put proposals on the table that would be “unpleasant.”
The next round of talks is set for Sept. 8. For updates, visit the union’s Web site, at www.apwu.org.
APWU: Arbitrator Denies Union’s Challenge To USPS Two-Tour Initiative
Arbitrator Issues Decision in Dispute Over Two-Tour Initiative
Arbitrator Das denied the union’s grievance challenging the Postal Service’s two-tour initiative. Das accepted the Postal Service’s argument that “Article 3 of the National Agreement grants the Postal Service the authority to unilaterally adopt and implement the … initiatives at issue, without further bargaining with the Union.” He cited language in Article 3 that states the Postal Service “‘shall have the exclusive right’ to ‘assign … employees,’ to ‘maintain the efficiency of the operations entrusted to it’ and to ‘determine the methods, means, and personnel by which such operations are to be conducted.’” Das also cited a 1977 national award in which Arbitrator Garrett stated that the Postal Service isn’t obligated “to engage in ‘collective bargaining’ as to whether or how it should exercise its authority under Article III of the National Agreement.” In addition, he referred to a 1973 national award in which Arbitrator Gamser stated that the right to change tour complements “appear[s] [to be] specifically reserved to Management under Article III of the Agreement as well as dictated in enabling legislation, Section 1001 of the Postal Reorganization Act.” (USPS #Q06C-4Q-C 09051867; 7/27/2010)
Click here for a summary and copy of the decision
Postal Maintenance Employees To Split Almost $92,000 For USPS Subcontractor Work
This is a summary of Regular Panel Arbitrator Andrew M. Strongin’s decision in case H06T-1H-C 08374323 regarding the Postal Service’s decision to subcontract the disassembly, transport, and installation of a Low Cost Tray Sorter from Cincinnati, Ohio to the West Palm Beach P&D. The Union contended that the work was subcontracted without the prerequisite “due consideration” of the five factors of Article 32.1.A of the National Agreement, and asked that all affected employees be made whole[1]. The Arbitrator sustained the Union’s grievance by ruling the Postal Service failed to give due consideration to the five factors of Article 32.1.A of the National Agreement, and that a make-whole award was appropriate. He found the Service’s repeated and continuous failure to provide relevant remedial information to the Union up to and including the date of hearing, and the lack of evidence that such information could be provided at arbitration that the remedy shall be measured by the only currently available evidence, which is the Maintenance Manager’s estimate of the subcontractor’s labor cost, as contained in his belated Article 32 analysis.
In requesting a make-whole remedy, the Union emphasizes that it timely sought from the Service, but even to date has not been provided, information relevant to the cost of the subcontract and the number of hours worked by the subcontractor’s employees. Based on the Service’s failure to provide the requested information, the Union argued that the appropriate measure for a make-whole remedy is the only evidence that exists in the record, which is the Service’s own estimate of the labor cost as set forth in Goodrich’s belated Article 32 analysis, or the lump sum of $91,580.00, to be divided between all affected employees.
Ruling for the Union the arbitrator correctly reasoned:
Ordinarily, a make-whole remedy in a subcontracting case would turn not upon the estimated labor cost of a subcontract, but instead on some measure of actual damages. Arbitrators differ over the question whether such actual damages should be measured, for example, by the subcontractor’s labor cost or by the number of hours devoted by the subcontractor to bargaining unit work, whether at straight time or overtime rates. In cases where evidence of actual damage is not available or is difficult to discern, it is not uncommon for questions of remedy to be returned to the parties for settlement. See, e.g., Case No. H7C-NA-C 36 (Mittenthal 1993) (“It may not be easy to construct a money remedy or to identify the injured employees. But the parties have been confronted in the past by remedy problems every bit as complicated as this one and they have been able through hard work and imagination to fine a mutually acceptable solution.”). . . Appropriate respect for the proper functioning of the grievance procedure generally, and the process for requesting and providing relevant information specifically, counsels in favor of an award of the estimated labor costs ($91,580.00) to be divided among all affected employees. The Service’s desire to limit the amount of the make-whole award is understandable, but the Service cites no contractual authority or arbitral precedent for limiting the award to the difference between the hours worked by bargaining unit employees during the time of the subcontracting, and the total hours they could have been required or allowed to work under the Agreement at that time. The Arbitrator rejects as inadequate that proposed measure of damages. Full employment of available employees generally is not a defense to subcontracting violations under the parties’ Agreement and related arbitral precedent with which the Arbitrator is familiar, and it bears noting that such a limitation on a make-whole remedy would permit the Service to violate Article 32.1 with virtual impunity in any facility where employees are fully occupied.
Gary Kloepfer
Assistant Director
American Postal Workers Union