The APWU challenged management’s “POStPlan” at an arbitration hearing that began on May 1. The union charged that the plan, which resulted in a drastic reduction in the hours of operation at thousands of post offices, also deprives the APWU members of thousands of jobs, in violation of the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Testifying at the hearing was Abigail Schmeelk, a member of the Greater Connecticut Area Local, who is the only clerk at the Thompson Post Office. Schmeelk described the work of clerks in small offices that is typical of those affected by the plan.

“The POStPlan violates the clear language of new provisions of the contract,” said Director of Industrial Relations Mike Morris. New language in the 2010 contract stipulates that the work in question must be performed by craft employees, he testified. Assistant Clerk Craft Director Lyle Krueth also testified.

“This is a crucial case that has the potential to create and protect thousands of jobs,” Morris said.

Management will present its case at a future date.

Legislation to restore financial health to the U.S. Postal Service has gained more support in Congress, thanks in large part to the efforts of APWU members who have contacted lawmakers.

Support S. 316 and H.R. 630 Contact Congress Today! By Email: Click here to e-mail your legislators. By Phone: Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 to reach your representative and senators. By Mail: Write to your member of Congress: [Name], U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515. Send letters to your senators: [Name], U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510. Current Cosponsors of The Postal Service Protection Act Postal Reform That Makes Sense [PDF] Postal Service Protection Act     (S.316/H.R 630) Fact Sheet [PDF] [more about fixing USPS finances]

As of April 24, 20 senators and 120 representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of the Postal Service Protection Act (S. 316 in the Senate, H.R. 630 in the House).

The legislation would “go a long way toward solving the Postal Service’s financial crisis,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey.  “It would make many of the planned cutbacks in service unnecessary; give postal employees a greater sense of security, and give the American people a Postal Service they can count on for the future,” he added.

Guffey called on union members to continue reaching out to lawmakers who have not yet signaled their support for the legislation.

“Our members must make sure that lawmakers — and the public — realize that widespread plant closings will delay mail by two to three days all week long, in cities and towns across the country,” he said.

“Plant closures have already forced the USPS to eliminate 25 percent of overnight mail delivery,” Guffey noted in an April mailing to APWU members. “Another round of closures will cripple service, further weaken this great American institution, make it less relevant, and make it less competitive.

As key lawmakers in both chambers are said to be close to reaching a bipartisan agreement on postal reform, APWU Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid said, “Additional support for the Postal Service Protection Act can help convince lawmakers that Congress must act soon to pass a responsible bill that will improve service, protect postal workers, and strengthen the Postal Service in the digital age.”

The Postal Service Protection Act would:

• Fix the Postal Service’s immediate financial crisis by ending the mandate that requires the USPS to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees — a burden no other government agency or private company bears;
• Allow the Postal Service to recover overpayments the USPS made to federal pension plans;
• Re-establish overnight delivery standards for first-class mail, which would ensure the timely delivery of mail, help keep mail processing facilities open, and protect jobs;
• Protect six-day delivery;
• Allow the USPS to develop new products and services that would generate new sources of revenue, and
• Protect post offices by giving the Postal Regulatory Commission binding authority to prevent post offices from being closed based on the effect on the community and the effect on the employees.

(This first appeared in the May/June 2013 edition of The American Postal Worker.)

One of the main priorities of the union is jobs — whether it means stopping management from outsourcing our work, fighting for better hours and days off, negotiating a path to career status for Postal Support Employees or bringing back work that the USPS has contracted out.

The 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement strengthened our protection against subcontracting and we recently won an important victory in a Motor Vehicle Craft arbitration that will help us preserve jobs in all crafts.

We recently launched a new computer program in the Clerk Craft that will help locals track employee work hours to aid the fight for jobs with better schedules, address excessing issues and retreat rights, and identify part-time flexible hours that justify full-time jobs.

Most Proud

But one of the achievements that I am most proud of is the elimination of casuals in all APWU crafts and their replacement with Postal Support Employees (PSEs), who are part of our union.

Many PSEs spent years working as casuals and know first-hand the trials and tribulations of being a casual. But new PSEs may not realize that if they were hired prior to 2011 they would have been hired with much lower pay, no contractual rights, and no union representation. Casuals had no protection against being terminated on a manager’s whim and no procedure for obtaining career status. They were a non-union workforce and were subjected to all the indignities non-union workers suffer.

I am proud to say that is no longer the case.

‘We Want Career Jobs’

PSEs earn considerably more than the casual employees they replaced, and they are guaranteed raises over the life of the current contract. PSEs also earn annual leave and qualify for health insurance after one year.

In addition, PSEs have access to the grievance procedure. And al- though they can be terminated for lack of work, once they pass their probationary period, discharge for any other reason must be for “just cause.” When PSEs are terminated due to a lack of work, dismissals must be implemented by juniority, and rehiring must be based on their craft standing in the installation.

But what PSEs really want is to become full-time career employees — with all the rights and benefits permanent employees enjoy. And this is one of the most important rights we negotiated for PSEs — the opportunity to join the ranks of the career workforce, by seniority, provided they have passed the appropriate entrance exams and are on the appropriate register.

Enforcing PSE Limits to Create Career Jobs

The contract limits the number of PSEs the USPS may hire, and there is evidence that management is exceeding the limits. Ironically, by enforcing restrictions on the use of PSEs, we not only protect career jobs, we improve career opportunities for PSEs. Once we document the fact that management is violating limits on the number of PSEs allowed in various locations and operations, we can demand that the Postal Service create a comparable number of career positions. In accordance with the PSE Career Opportunity provisions of the contract, these career positions must be filled by the conversion of available and qualified PSEs on a seniority basis.

So, enforcing PSE limits doesn’t hurt PSEs, it benefits career employees and PSEs.

In the Clerk Craft, the total number of PSEs used in mail processing within a district may not exceed 20 percent of the total number of career mail processing Clerk Craft employees in the district, except during the Christmas period.

In retail and customer services, the number of PSEs may not exceed 10 percent of the career retail clerks in Level 22-and-above installations whose duties include working the window, and no more than 20 percent of the career retail clerks in Level 21-and-below installations whose duties include working the window.

In the Maintenance and Motor Vehicle Crafts, the total number of PSEs used within a district may not exceed 10 percent of the total number of Maintenance and Motor Vehicle employees, respectively.

Locals Must Be Vigilant

To be successful at increasing career opportunities by enforcing limits on the number of PSEs, locals and state organizations must be vigilant. Locals must monitor USPS compliance with the PSE limits carefully and file grievances when the USPS violates the restrictions.

Article 7.7 of the contract requires the USPS to provide a report every four weeks with information needed to monitor compliance with the PSE limits. (The reports are posted at www.apwu.org, on the Industrial Relations page, under “USPS Reports.”)

Where the record shows that management is violating the cap on an ongoing basis, local grievances should request that management convert an appropriate number of PSEs to career status in accordance with the PSE Career Opportunity provisions of the contract.

PSEs are part of the bargaining unit, and we will continue to fight to improve their wages, hours and working conditions. At the same time, we must protect career jobs and maximize the number of PSEs who are converted to career status, whenever conditions warrant.

“Congress is killing the Postal Service,” APWU President Cliff Guffey declared on April 10.

“While Saturday mail delivery has dominated recent discussions, little attention is being paid to other drastic measures the USPS is taking that will significantly delay mail and permanently damage the nation’s mail system,” he said. Since 2012, the USPS has closed 114 mail processing plants, one third of the nation’s mail processing capacity. Reneging on its commitment to lawmakers and communities, the agency announced last month that it was accelerating plans to close even more mail processing facilities. The USPS said it will consolidate 71 plants this year that were originally scheduled for possible closure in 2014.

“These closures will eliminate jobs, harm communities, and delay mail delivery every day — Monday, through Saturday,” Guffey said. They will drastically curtail local mail sortation and will virtually eliminate overnight delivery. Service standards have already been lowered.

“And for what?” Guffey asked. A study prepared for the Postal Service indicated that the revenue lost from consolidations could be as high as $5.2 billion (1) , and the Postal Regulatory Commission has concluded that the net savings could be as low as $46 million annually (2) .

“In addition, the Postal Service has reduced hours at approximately 6,500 post offices and plans to cut hours at 6,500 more,” he noted.

“The Postal Service cannot cut its way out of this manufactured crisis,” he said. “Congress must act now to pass meaningful postal reform – reform that restores financial stability to the Postal Service without destroying service or harming postal workers,” he said. “Congress must act now to prevent the Postal Service from implementing the devastating cuts in service caused by the closure of mail processing plants and post offices.

“We are calling on Congress to support legislation that addresses the cause of the Postal Service’s manufactured financial crisis, protects service standards, and preserves the nation’s vital mail processing network,” he said.

(1) Postal Regulatory Commission Case No. N2012-1, APWU Exh. XE (Tr. 4/906)

(2) Postal Regulatory Commission Advisory Opinion, Case No. N2012-1, at 1-3, 142.

Greg Bell
Executive Vice President

(This article will appear in the May/June 2013 edition of The American Postal Worker.)

The National Academy of Public Administration, an organization chartered by Congress to provide advice to government leaders, recently evaluated a proposal to privatize all postal operations except delivery and concluded the idea “merits serious consideration. The original privatization proposal, which I wrote about in the March-April issue of The American Postal Worker, was written by a group of self-described “postal industry thought leaders.”

Although the review by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) doesn’t quite endorse the proposal to privatize everything but delivery, it gives a sense of legitimacy to the concept, which up to now has been dismissed as extreme.

While the NAPA report is supposed to provide an independent review of the privatization proposal, it was financed in part by a contribution from Pitney-Bowes, one of the largest pre-sort companies in the country. Pitney-Bowes owns more than 40 mail processing centers and stands to be a major beneficiary if mail processing operations are contracted out to the private sector.

It’s worth noting that NAPA conducted a similar study in 1982 and came to a very different conclusion: Breaking up the Postal Service “is not in the national interest,” NAPA wrote at the time.

The recent NAPA review acknowledges that there are a number of important factors that the proposal failed to address, such as the retiree health benefit pre-funding obligation, and stresses that “a number of issues need to be further explored before any implementation of the concept can, or should, be attempted.”

On the other hand, the NAPA paper points out that the Postal Service is already privatizing many operations through the use of “work-sharing” discounts.

The study notes that the value of mail processing and transportation completed by private companies is estimated at $17 billion annually. While some portray this astounding figure as operating costs avoided by the Postal Service, in many cases the discounts are so big that the Postal Service loses money on the deal. In 2008 the Postal Regulatory Commission concluded that many discounts exceeded the costs avoided. And while the Postal Service has lost revenue, private mail sorters have made healthy profits.

The NAPA review notes that if privatization of all operations other than delivery was fully implemented, several “bargaining units would be negatively impacted.” NAPA acknowledges that several people interviewed for the review concluded that “cost savings will be realized mainly from replacing union labor with non-union labor.”

Driving a Wedge Between Unions

The proposal to privatize everything but delivery also puts a wedge between the postal unions — it invokes a divide-and-conquer strategy that seeks to reduce opposition to the plan by seeming to protect the work of one group of employees, Letter Carriers, while targeting employees engaged in mail processing, transportation and other activities.

We’ve seen similar divide-and-conquer strategies used in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere in an attempt to cause division between public- and private-sector unions. The Postal Service frequently uses this strategy to divide postal unions.

In an ironic twist, however, the NAPA study recommends “evaluating the merits of the contention that the delivery function should remain a role for the Postal Service.” In other words, why not contract out the whole kit-and-caboodle, including delivery?

The union principle that An Injury to One is an Injury to All is as true today as it ever was.

The union won a major arbitration victory on March 29, when Arbitrator Shyam Das issued a long-awaited decision that will affect Clerk Craft jobs in small post offices. The ruling settles a long-simmering dispute about the amount of bargaining unit work postmasters and supervisors may perform in Level 18-and-below offices.

“This decision will mean more hours for the clerks who work in small offices and more Clerk Craft jobs,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey.

Arbitrator Das upheld the union’s position, ruling that an agreement between the union and management sets absolute limits on the number of hours postmasters may perform bargaining unit work (BUW) in small offices. A “Global Settlement” that was included in the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement, says postmasters may perform up to 15 hours of bargaining unit work in Level 18 post offices and up to 25 hours in Level 15 and Level 16 offices.

During bargaining, when the agreement was struck, the APWU proposed language stipulating that, “All time the supervisor or Postmaster spends staffing the window during the day will be counted towards the permissible BUW limits.”  The USPS agreed.

The union clearly stated during negotiations that if the window is open for business, it is being staffed. If the person staffing the window is a postmaster, all time the window is open must count against the limits, regardless of other tasks the postmaster performs during that time.

After agreeing to the language in negotiations, the USPS took the position at headquarters, in the field and at the arbitration hearing that what management intended was not “all time” staffing the window but rather “earned time” or “actual time” working the window, as reported by the postmasters and supervisors  themselves.  “All time spent staffing the window” didn’t mean what it said, management asserted.

The arbitrator rejected management’s arguments, ruling that “All time the supervisor or Postmaster spends staffing the window . . . applies to all time the supervisor or postmaster is covering the window, which, in the absence of a clerk, includes all time the window is open.”

“This is a major win for the APWU and especially for clerks who work in small offices where postmasters have been improperly taking work from our members for years,” said Industrial Relations Director Mike Morris. “The task ahead is to enforce the agreement. We will leave no stone unturned to make sure that happens.”

President Guffey praised the ruling. “We want to thank the officers and members who supported the union through this protracted fight,” he said.  “Many union officers and staffers assisted in researching, preparing and presenting this case. They did an outstanding job.”

Another disputed section of the Global Settlement dealt with offices that were downgraded under the Delivery Unit Optimization (DUO) program after Nov. 21, 2010.  The arbitrator ruled that the APWU agreed to an exception for offices without a clerk that are downgraded to Level 13 or-below offices.  “This very narrow exception should not work to the detriment of any bargaining unit employees, because it only applies to offices that have no clerks,” Morris said.

“This award sets the table for our challenge to POStPlan, which was another full frontal attack on our union and especially on clerks in small offices,” he said.  A hearing on that dispute is scheduled before Arbitrator Stephen B. Goldberg on April 16 and 17.

“The POStPlan is next,” Morris said. “Stay tuned.”

“The APWU is outraged by USPS plans to accelerate the closure of 71 mail processing plants that were originally slated for possible consolidation in 2014,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey.

“These closures will eliminate jobs, harm communities, and delay mail delivery every day — Monday, through Saturday,” he said. The consolidations will drastically curtail local mail sortation and will virtually eliminate overnight delivery.

“The Postal Service is on the brink of cutting service in a way that will permanently damage our treasured institution. This would be a tragic mistake, and it is unnecessary,” Guffey said. The USPS notified [PDF] the APWU on March 26 that it would implement 53 consolidations this year that were originally scheduled for 2014. In January, the Postal Service said it would accelerate implementation of 18 other closures.

“These closures could have been avoided entirely,” Guffey said. “They are a casualty of congressional inaction.

“Congress must act now to enact meaningful postal reform — reform that restores the Postal Service to financial stability without destroying service or harming postal workers,” he said. “And Congress must act now to prevent the Postal Service from implementing these devastating cuts in service.

“We are calling on members of Congress to support the Postal Service Protection Act, which was introduced in the Senate and House on Feb. 13. This legislation would address the cause of the Postal Service’s manufactured financial crisis and allow the USPS to develop new products and services, so that it can remain relevant in the digital age,” he said. The Protect Service Protection Act would protect — at least temporarily — current service standards.

APWU Web News Article 035-2013, March 21, 2013

The APWU recently reached an agreement with the Postal Service regarding Non-Traditional Full-Time (NTFT) duty assignments in finance functional areas (Function 5) and bulk mail units (Function 7).

The March 12, 2013, settlement [PDF] stipulates that the number of NTFT duty assignments in Function 5 or Function 7 will be limited to the number of Clerk Craft part-time regulars (PTRs) and part-time flexibles (PTFs) working in those functional areas immediately prior to the date when they were converted to converted to full time, Aug. 27, 2011.

In accordance with the agreement, the NTFT assignments will have at least two consecutive days off. Six-day work weeks will not be permitted unless management can demonstrate that the specific PTRs and/or PTFs were regularly scheduled for six-day work weeks prior to conversion.

Full-time flexible Clerk Craft NTFT duty assignments may be created and utilized in Function 7 in installations where PTFs were working in that functional area prior to Aug. 27, 2011, and are limited to that number.

Exceptions to the restrictions outlined above will only be permitted by mutual agreement at the local level.

A list [PDF] identifying all PTRs and PTFs working in Function 5 and Function 7 immediately prior to their Aug. 27, 2011, conversion is attached to the MOU.

In accordance with Article 37.3.A.1 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, “Every effort will be made to create desirable duty assignments from all available work hours for career employees to bid.”

Legislation to restore financial health to the U.S. Postal Service has begun to attract widespread support in Congress, thanks in large part to the efforts of APWU members.

Soon after the Postal Service Protection Act (S. 316/H.R. 630) was introduced, local officers who attended an APWU National Presidents Conference in Washington DC fanned out across Capitol Hill to make the case for preserving the USPS without hurting postal workers or damaging the service we provide citizens and businesses across the country.

APWU members have also been making calls, writing to elected officials, and visiting lawmakers’ district offices to underscore the union’s message: Preserve the Postal Service – Don’t  Dismantle It!

Five weeks into the campaign, 12 senators and 71 House members have become co-sponsors of the Postal Service Protection Act.

Postal Service Protection Act (S.316/H.R 630) Fact Sheet [PDF] Postal Reform That Makes Sense [PDF]

“It’s gratifying to see that support is growing,” said APWU Legislative & Political Department Director Myke Reid.

“But we still have a long way to go to build a solid coalition for responsible postal reform.“We are calling on all union members to ask their U.S. Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor the legislation and seek its swift passage,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey.

The union also supports the Postal Service Stabilization Act (H.R. 961), Reid noted, a bill introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) that would allow the Postal Service to reclaim billions of dollars in overpayments to federal retirement plans.

APWU Web News Article 033-2013, March 20 , 2013

“The Postal Service is abusing Postal Support Employees in small offices and systematically violating contractual restrictions governing PSEs, Clerk Craft Director Rob Strunk has declared.   “And we intend to do something about it.

“Locals and state organizations must take note of these violations and file grievances based on the specific circumstances in their area,” he said.

A PSE Compliance Report dated March 8, 2013 [PDF], demonstrates that management has assigned 1,373 Level 4 PSEs to 1,323 Level 18-and-above offices, even though the position description [PDF] stipulates that PSEs may be assigned to Level 15 and 16 Post Offices only.”

“We have received reports that district managers have threatened to terminate Level 6 PSEs if they do not ‘voluntarily’ reduce to Level 4 PSEs, so they won’t show up in PSE Compliance Reports,” Strunk said. “This is shameful.

“These unscrupulous deceptions cheat the PSEs of $2.26 for every hour they work,” Strunk said.

“They also mean that the PSEs are not being counted against the number of PSEs that are allowed to work in a given district.”

The parties agree that only Level 6 PSE Window Clerks or Mail Processing Clerks may work in post offices where career clerks are employed.  Nonetheless, the March 8 Complement Report [PDF] shows more than 100 post offices where Level 4 PSE Post Office Clerks are employed alongside career clerks, Strunk pointed out. (The PSEs in question have a Designated Activity Code of D/A 81-8.)

PSEs in Level 18-and-above offices who are being paid at the Level 4 rate should contact their steward or state representative to file a grievance if they haven’t already done so. Local and state officers who have questions about how to process these grievances should contact their Clerk Craft National Business Agent.

The 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement also prohibits the use of Postmaster Reliefs (PMRs) in Level 15, 16 and 18 post offices, but the Complement Report shows that as of March 8, 2013, the USPS admits that 3,478 PMRs are working in these offices [PDF]. “PMRs are prohibited from working in these offices,” Strunk reminds local and state officers.  “Every hour that they work deprives clerks of work opportunities,” he said.

“Locals and state organization should file grievances if PMRs are working in Level 15, 16 and 18 offices, if they haven’t already done so,” he said.