Posted on 03/14/2011 4:48:52 PM PDT by mdittmar
The American Postal Workers Union and the U.S. Postal Service have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, union President Cliff Guffey announced today.
Despite the fact that the Postal Service is on the edge of insolvency, the union and management have reached an agreement that is a win-win, proposition, he said.
Throughout the bargaining process, the union has sought to negotiate a contract that would be fair to our members and that would enable the USPS to succeed in the future, he said. The tentative agreement accomplishes those goals.
The new contract will safeguard jobs, protect retirement and healthcare benefits, and provide a 3.5 percent wage increaseover the life of the contract. The first raise will be in November 2012, Guffey said.
No Layoffs, Limits on Excessing
The new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will expire on May 20, 2015, retains protection against layoffs for all career employees who were on the rolls as of Nov. 20, 2010, when the current contract was scheduled to expire.
Avoiding layoffs was a top priority, Guffey said, noting that more than 100,000 postal jobs have been eliminated in the last three years.
The contract also includes provisions that will return to postal employees a significant amount of work that had been outsourced or assigned to managerial personnel. This will strengthen job security for our members while it saves the Postal Service money, the union president said.
The agreement limits excessing outside of an installation or craft to no more than 40 miles from the installation in most cases and to no more than 50 miles in any case. If management cannot place employees within 50 miles, the parties will jointly determine what steps may be taken.
These restrictions will ease the hardship of excessing, which in recent years has forced thousands of APWU members to sell their homes, uproot their families, and move hundreds of miles away from their communities, Guffey said.
There will be no changes to the healthcare benefits of APWU members in 2012. Each year from 2013 through 2016 there will be a slight shift in employees share of contributions toward healthcare coverage. This will amount to an increase of several dollars per pay period each year. (Similar changes were made in the last contract.)
New Scales, New Category
A new, entry-level salary will be added to the pay scale for future employees in Levels 3 through 8.
Casuals and Transitional Employees will be eliminated as a workforce category. To provide the USPS with flexibility, the parties agreed to create a new position for Non-Career Assistants, who will comprise up to 20 percent of workforce in most functional areas in the Clerk Craft and up to 10 percent in both the Maintenance and Motor Vehicle Crafts.
These employees will be paid lower wages than career employees, but higher wages than Transitional Employees and Casuals. They will be part of the APWU bargaining unit and will receive raises, health benefits, and leave. Non-Career Assistants will have access to the grievance procedure, and they will have the opportunity to join the ranks of the permanent, career workforce by seniority.
The Postal Services desperate financial situation made these negotiations especially hard, Guffey said. But we have reached a tentative agreement that will enable the USPS and its employees to get past these difficult days.
"The USPS economic crisis is caused by an unreasonable requirement that the agency pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees a burden no other private company or government agency bears, he continued. Correcting that inequity is essential to restoring long-term stability to the Postal Service.
I call on union members to join together to meet with their legislators and urge them to correct this inequity so that we are not forced to bargain under these circumstances again, Guffey said.
I want to thank the members of the unions negotiating team for their outstanding work, Guffey said, and, most importantly, I want to thank the members of the APWU for their ongoing support.
Member Ratification
In accordance with the unions constitution, a majority of the members of the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee must approve the agreement before it can be sent to union members for a ratification vote. The committee will supervise balloting.
Highlights of the New Collective Bargaining Agreement
Below are key components of the tentative agreement between the U.S. Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union for the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The four-and-half year contract, which will expire at midnight on May 20, 2015, must be ratified by members of the APWU.
Wages
There will be across-the-board pay increases of 3.5 percent over the life of the contract.
Cost-of-Living Adjustments
Cost-of-living increases will continue and will be back-loaded. COLAs for 2011 were waived, and COLAs for 2012 are deferred until 2013.
New Entry-Level Steps
Additional steps will be added to the pay scale for new employees in Levels 3through 8, with lower starting salaries. Future employees will progress through the new steps onto the current pay scale, but will not be eligible to progress to the current top step.
Health Benefits
There will be no changes to the healthcare benefits of APWU members in 2012. Each year from 2013 through 2016 there will be a slight shift in employees share of contributions toward healthcare coverage. This will amount to an increase of several dollars per pay period each year. (Similar changes were made in the last contract.)
Limits on Excessing
Jobs and Job Security
Jobs in the Clerk Craft
Lead Clerk, PS-7, positions will be created in mail processing and in retail to perform administrative duties.
At least one Lead Clerk position will be established in any office where there is no supervisor.
At least one Lead Clerk position will be established in any Customer Service office with five or more Clerk Craft employees.
Ratios for the establishment of Lead Clerk positions in mail processing will be as follows
:
# Clerks
# Lead Clerks
5-49
1
50-99
2
100-199
3 200-499 4
500 or more 5, plus one for each 100 clerks
Jobs in the Maintenance Craft
Jobs in the Motor Vehicle Craft
219 Level 8 Technicians
459 Level 9 Lead Technicians
62 Level 10 Lead Technicians
minimum of 600 Highway Contract Routes (HCRs) will be converted to Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) routes, with a minimum of 25% of the duty assignments given to career employees
New, Non-Traditional Positions
The tentative agreement changes the definition of full-time in a way that gives the Postal Service and our members greater flexibility.
The full-time designation will apply to any position of 30 or more hours per week and to any position of 48 hours or less per week
No current employees can be forced into a full-time position of less than 40 hours per week or more than 44 hours per week.
These provisions will allow for the creation of many non-traditional full-time schedules, including four 10-hour days, three 12-hour days, and four 11-hour days.
There will be no mandatory overtime for employees in non-traditional assisgnments or in functional areas that utilize non-traditional full-time assignments.
Small Offices
Level 20 offices and above - No bargaining work by supervisors allowed
Level 18 offices - 18 hours per week
Level 15 and 16 offices - 25 hours per week
Bidding
Employees will enjoy unlimited bidding on jobs that do not require training or a deferment period. Such bids will not count toward an employees allowed number of bids.
Light & Limited Duty
The unions proposals regarding light- and limited-duty positions will proceed to arbitration. Our proposals are intended to protect seniority rights and to provide fair opportunities for accommodation for employees that need it
I suspect you are one of the minority decent, hard-working folks. I’ve had a couple of mail carriers who were like you. And I doubt I’d hate you. I admire you for your work ethic.
I’d invite you to come with me some day to deal with the counter people at the post office. They do not like dealing the public. They make that clear. They are rude and snarly. I saw a postal worker almost hit a woman once who was trying to buy stamps. A man intervened to prevent the attack.
I suspect you have no idea how bad it gets. I could tell you stories you wouldn’t believe.
BTW I had three things stolen in the mail in one six month period. Only had one ‘missing’ so far this year.
You think I’m a minority? You must live in Chicago or something. I’d say the LARGE MAJORITY of us are honest hard-working, and you’re mischaracterizing the mass of us based on the few.
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