PostalReporter News Blog

APWU Web News Article 081-2010, Aug. 6, 2010

The Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking to consolidate complaints regarding the Postal Service’s ongoing and systemic violations of safe electrical work practices, and has initiated settlement discussions with the Postal Service in an attempt to correct the hazards. The DOL has invited the APWU to participate in the discussions.

Responding to APWU safety complaints, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued fines of more than $3.7 million for “willful and serious” electrical safety violations at 17 USPS facilities since January. Inspectors found that the Postal Service failed to provide employees working on electrically energized machinery with adequate training and protective equipment. The violations expose workers to the risk of severe electric shock, burns, or death, OSHA concluded.

In a motion filed Aug. 3 [PDF], the Secretary of Labor said that the Postal Service has approximately 260 Mail Processing & Distribution Centers and Network Distribution Centers across the country with similar hazards. In a cover letter accompanying the motion, the DOL Solicitor’s Office wrote, “Inspections continue with more citations expected.”

“Given the common issues and parties, and the number of citations to be issued in total, which may exceed 30-40, a consolidation of all these cases would conserve judicial and litigation resources,” the letter said.

On July 6 the DOL filed a complaint requesting “enterprise-wide” relief for the safety violations. The complaint asks the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to order the Postal Service to correct the violations; uphold the fines and penalties; conduct training on safe electrical work practices; provide personal protective equipment to affected employees, and withdraw flawed management orders and instructions regarding safe electrical work practices.

“The Department of Labor motion to consolidate the cases would merge these similar complaints so that the result of any litigation or settlement discussions would be applied to every postal facility where APWU members are exposed to electrical hazards,” said Greg Bell, APWU Director of Industrial Relations. “It would provide a uniform remedy and prevent the Postal Service and OSHA from negotiating separate, individual settlements at different locations.” Bell noted that the DOL’s motion mentioned 260 facilities and said, “The APWU is adamant that any settlement must be applied to all postal facilities that have deficient electrical safety work practices.”

The motion also requests a 90-day “stay,” which would hold proceedings in abeyance to allow the parties to pursue negotiations at the national level without being hampered by discovery issues or mandatory settlement proceedings. The stay would not prevent OSHA from conducting inspections or filing additional complaints.

The APWU has intervened as a party to the proceedings, which will ensure that the union is notified of developments in the case and given the opportunity to present the union’s position.

The APWU attended a preliminary meeting with representatives of the DOL, OSHA, and the USPS on July 27 to begin discussions of a possible remedy for the safety violations. “Throughout this process, the APWU will continue to insist that these outrageous hazards are corrected and that union members are protected,” Bell said.

APWU Web News Article 076-2010, Aug. 3, 2010

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the Postal Service nine “willful and serious” safety violations for exposing employees to electrical hazards at a Boston, MA postal facility. The USPS has been ordered to pay $357,000 in fines.

OSHA issued the Postal Service citations [PDF] after inspectors found untrained employees working on live machinery without proper protective equipment, exposing them to the risk of electric shock and burns.

The latest citations bring the Postal Service’s total OSHA fines to over $3.7 million.

see full list

for exposing workers to electrical hazards at Capitol Heights, Md., facility

CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service for workplace safety violations related to electrical hazards found at the Capitol Heights Processing and Distribution Center. Proposed penalties total $272,000.

“These citations and sizable fines reflect the Postal Service’s failure to equip its workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to safely work with live electrical parts,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The Postal Service knew that proper and effective training was needed for the safety of its workers but did not provide it.”

OSHA initiated an inspection in January 2010 in response to a complaint alleging the hazards. Inspectors cited the Postal Service with four willful violations carrying a penalty of $265,000 and one serious violation with a penalty of $7,000.

The willful violations include inadequate training for workers exposed to electrical hazards, failing to provide electrical protective equipment to protect workers from arc-flash hazards and electrical current, and failing to use appropriate safety signs, safety symbols or accident prevention tags to warn employees about electrical hazards. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

The serious violation includes the facility’s failure to provide voltage-rated tools. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.

The Postal Service has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Baltimore/Washington Area Office, which can be reached at 410-865-2055. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed an enterprise-wide complaint against the U.S. Postal Service for electrical work safety violations. The complaint asks the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to order the USPS to correct electrical violations at all its facilities nationwide. This complaint marks the first time OSHA has sought enterprise-wide relief as a remedy.

note: This is just a press release from OSHA. APWU reported safety violations at the Maryland facility last week.

APWU Web

The Department of Labor filed a complaint [PDF] against the Postal Service on July 6 for ongoing and systemic violations of safe electrical work practices, marking the first time the department has sought an “enterprise-wide” remedy.

“When the same safety violation is discovered in multiple locations of an organization, we need an enterprise-wide remedy to protect workers from the hazard,” Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith said.

The request for enterprise-wide reliefis based upon the discovery of numerous, similar electrical work safety violations in the course of investigations conducted by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration of USPS mail processing and distribution facilities across the country,” an OSHA press release said.

“There was a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from the conditions that existed,” the complaint asserted, and USPS knew of the violations, or with the exercise of reasonable diligence, could have known of them.

APWU Director of Industrial Relations Greg Bell said, “We are pleased that the Department of Labor has recognized the serious and widespread nature of the Postal Service’s failure to adhere to electrical safety standards. We will continue to monitor the progress in addressing this issue.”

“The union made many attempts over many years to persuade postal management to correct these deficiencies,” Bell noted. “The USPS stubbornly refused to address the problems. As a result, we advised locals to file formal complaints with OSHA.”

The Department of Labor complaint asks the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to order the USPS to correct the violations; uphold fines and penalties; conduct training on safe electrical work practices; provide personal protective equipment to affected employees, and withdraw flawed management orders and instructions regarding safe electrical work practices.

“For many years USPS has known of its enterprise-wide failure to comply with OSHA’s electrical safety-related work practices standards,” the complaint says. “Between 2004 and late 2009, USPS failed to institute necessary protective measures for its employees, even though it was aware of ongoing electrical safety problems.” OSHA issued new electrical safety standards in 2004.

The USPS prepared a Management Maintenance Order (MMO) and Management Instruction (MI) regarding safe electrical work practices in 2004, but did not release or implement the MI until Dec. 24, 2009, and did not release or implement the MMO until Feb. 1, 2010.

In the interim the APWU pointed out deficiencies in the policies and procedures outlined in the documents, and urged the Postal Service to correct them. Instead, on March 6, 2006, the USPS issued a memorandum informing managers that it was working to revise its policies. The memo failed to provide information on interim protective measures and instructed managers not to “expend funds on any NFPA [National Fire Protection Association] 70E training or consulting activities.”

The MMO and MI “fail in significant respects to ensure compliance with the requirements of the electrical safety-related work practices standards,” the complaint notes.

Beginning in October 2009, OSHA undertook several dozen inspections — some of which are ongoing — at USPS facilities across the country, and has issued fines and citations at 15 locations.

The Postal Service has 20 business days to answer the complaint.

According to the Star Tribune

The U.S. Postal Service “knowingly put its workers in harm’s way” at its Eagan processing center by exposing employees to the potential for electrical shock, prompting federal officials to levy $210,000 in fines, U.S. officials announced Tuesday.

The allegations from the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) contend that the Postal Service (USPS):

• Failed to provide required safety training for its workers.

• Did not ensure employees used proper safety-related practices while operating electrical equipment.

• Did not provide workers with the proper safety equipment

According to APWU up until today the recent citations bring the Postal Service’s total fines to nearly $2.5 million. Now with the $210,000 in fines announced today the total stands at $2.7 Million

AUGUSTA, Maine — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service for alleged willful and repeat violations of safety standards following an inspection at the Southern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Scarborough, Maine. The Postal Service faces a total of $430,000 in fines, chiefly for exposing workers to electrical hazards.

“These citations and sizable fines reflect the Postal Service’s failure to equip its workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to safely work with live electrical parts,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The Postal Service knew that proper and effective training was needed for the safety of its workers but did not provide it.”

OSHA’s inspection, which began Dec. 29, 2009, in response to a complaint from workers at the Scarborough facility, found employees working with or near live electrical equipment without adequate training or qualifications, personal protective equipment, safety-related work practices and warning signs.

These conditions exposed the workers to electric shock, arc flashes and arc blasts and resulted in OSHA issuing six willful citations, with $420,000 in proposed fines, to the Postal Service. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

In addition, OSHA found that access to electrical panels was blocked in several instances by materials being stored adjacent to them. This situation resulted in one repeat citation, with a $10,000 fine, since the Postal Service had been cited in November 2007 for the same type of hazard at a Toledo, Ohio, postal facility.

The Postal Service has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Augusta Area Office; telephone 207-626-9160. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

The Department of Labor issued the following clarification on the expanded FMLA regulations:

Neither the statute nor the regulations restrict the number of parents a child may have under the FMLA.  For example, where a child’s biological parents divorce, and each parent remarries, the child will be the “son or daughter” of both the biological parents and the stepparents and all four adults would have equal rights to take FMLA leave to care for the child.  An employee who will share equally in the raising of an adopted child with a same sex partner, but who does not have a legal relationship with the child, would be entitled to leave to bond with the child following placement, or to care for the child if the child had a serious health condition, because the employee stands “in loco parentis” to the child.
 
Wage and Hour Division Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2010-3
June 22, 2010
Issued by Deputy Administrator Nancy J. Leppink

 SUBJECT: Clarification of the definition of “son or daughter” under Section 101(12) of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as it applies to an employee standing “in loco parentis” to a child.

 The Administrator has determined that additional clarification is needed on the definition of “son or daughter” as it applies to an employee taking FMLA-protected leave for the birth or placement of a child, to care for a newborn or newly placed child, or to care for a child with a serious health condition.  Based on the Wage and Hour Division’s experience in administering the FMLA, it is evident that many employees and employers are unsure of how the FMLA applies when there is no legal or biological parent-child relationship.  The Administrator is issuing this interpretation to provide needed guidance on this important area of law. Continue reading ‘FMLA Leave Expanded to More Parents And Children’ »

Fines Now Total Nearly One Million Dollars

APWU News

Issuing its third set of citations in less than a week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) charged the USPS with five counts of “willful” safety violations [PDF] in Bedford Park, IL on May 5. The latest citations bring the Postal Service’s total fines for these violations to nearly $1 million.

The Postal Service willfully exposed employees to hazards associated with live electrical parts, OSHA said. Postal workers were found working on live machinery with more than 480 volts of electricity without being provided nonconductive head protection, voltage-rated gloves, flame resistant clothing, or face shields to prevent injury from electric arcs. In addition, employees were not properly trained to work on machines.

OSHA issued the Postal Service $210,000 in fines for knowingly exposing employees to the risk of electric shock. The most recent citations follow OSHA fines of more than $500,000 dollars in Providence, RI and more than $200,000 in Denver, CO for similar electrical safety violations.

The APWU expects more safety violations to be issued by OSHA in the coming weeks. Check www.apwu.org for updated information.

CHICAGO. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service with three alleged willful violations at its Bedford Park, Ill., processing center. The Postal Service faces a total of $210,000 in fines, for electrical and protective equipment hazards, following an OSHA inspection conducted in response to employee complaints.

OSHA’s inspection, which began in November 2009, found that the Postal Service failed to provide required electrical safety training for its workers; to ensure workers used safety-related work practices while working on electrical equipment; and to provide workers with appropriate personal protective equipment while working on energized equipment. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

“These sizable fines reflect the severity and ongoing nature of these hazards,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The Postal Service ignored long-established safety standards and knowingly put its workers in harm’s way.”

Within the past five years, OSHA has conducted more than 900 inspections at USPS facilities across the country and has issued more than 600 citations. The Bedford Park location has more than 800 employees and has received several OSHA citations during the past four years.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Calumet City Area Office; telephone 708-891-3800. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.

source:Department of Labor

APWU News

USPS Subcontractor Defrauds Drivers of Wages, Benefits
Postal Management Refuses to Sever Ties with Company

Last month, newspapers reported a settlement [PDF] between the Department of Labor and a USPS subcontractor that exemplifies the problem with postal subcontracting: After three years of defrauding its workers of pay and benefits, the contractor, MT Transportation & Logistics Services, Inc. was ordered to pay employees $1.8 million in back wages, and was barred from entering into new federal contracts for three years.

The Department of Labor (DOL) found the contractor, a Long Island trucking company, guilty of withholding wages and benefits from more than 500 employees from December 2005 through December 2008. The company is under contract with the Postal Service to haul mail.

“This is an example of the improper and illegal practices that are often involved in postal subcontracting,” APWU Motor Vehicle Services Division Director Bob Pritchard said.

“APWU has protested USPS’ subcontracting practices for many years,” he said. “We have often pointed out that contractors’ bids are invalid. This settlement demonstrates one way subcontractors can afford to submit such low bids: They underpay their employees.”

USPS Refuses to Sever Ties

When the APWU learned of the violations, Northeast Regional Coordinator John Dirzius asked Area management if it planned to continue its current contracts with the company. In a Feb. 12 letter, the USPS said it did. “The fact that a contractor has been debarred does not mean that we have to terminate any existing contract,” a manager for the Area wrote [PDF].

“This is a shameful example of unethical and unlawful USPS contractors ripping off their employees,” Dirzius said. “Management’s response demonstrates the Postal Service’s complicity.”

Pritchard agreed. “The Postal Service does not seem to be interested in making sure their contractors conform to the law; they are only interested in eliminating jobs by contracting out work,” he said.

In his letter to postal management, Dirzius requested copies of all current contracts between the USPS and MT Transportation & Logistics Services, Inc in the Northeast Region. He is encouraging locals to monitor the expiration date of the contracts to ensure that the company is not awarded any new contracts for a three-year period. “The bottom line is that as a result of illegal and improper behavior by subcontractors, APWU members are being deprived of jobs,” he said.

Federal contract regulations require subcontractors to pay employees no less than the “prevailing wages” for the area in which they work. After a complaint was filed, the DOL found that the company and its officers had denied employees appropriate wages and fringe benefits, as mandated by the federal McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act.

“USPS subcontracting takes work away from postal employees and is inefficient,” Pritchard said. “The USPS claims to save money by awarding contracts to contractors, yet with skilled employees on site and postal equipment available, keeping the work in-house is much more efficient and practical.”