APWU, USPS Considering Contract Extension
by William Burrus, APWU President
APWU News Bulletin #07-05, June 20, 2005
APWU President William Burrus announced June 20 that the union and management have reached “an agreement on a framework” for a one-year extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, with specific details still under discussion. The current contract is set to expire Nov. 20.“If an agreement can be finalized and if it is approved by the union membership,” Burrus said at a meeting of APWU local and state presidents, “it will include a raise, along with two cost-of-living adjustments, and upgrades of some positions in the clerk, maintenance, and motor vehicle crafts.” There would be no change to employee contributions to the health benefit or retirement programs.
Speaking at the APWU National Presidents’ Conference in New Orleans, Burrus outlined the criteria he would use in deciding whether to extend the contract. “A major consideration is whether we can achieve through a contract extension improvements that we are unlikely to achieve in negotiation or arbitration. “If we are able to reach agreement on an extension, we will avoid the risks inherent in any contract negotiation,” he said, noting that the union expected a major assault on workers’ health and retirement benefits in the upcoming negotiations, which would begin in August if an agreement is not reached before then.
In addition to a contract extension, the parties are also exploring an entirely new concept: the creation of Retail Sales Assistants who would work in grocery stores, malls, and other venues that are easily accessible to the public, the union president said. These positions would be reserved for retired postal employees, who would continue to draw their retirement annuities.
“This could create an opportunity for new jobs in areas where traditionally we have not had them,” Burrus said. “However, we would have to have absolute protection against any erosion in the number of Retail Sales Associate positions at postal facilities in order to agree to such a model.”
Update on June 23, 2005: Union and management representatives have been notified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that such an arrangement could not be approved. “We are going to continue to explore other methods to increase the number of Retail Sales positions,” Burrus said. “In any event, we would have to have absolute protection against any erosion in the number of such positions at postal facilities.”
Extending the contract would mean that the collective bargaining agreements of the four largest postal unions — the APWU, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association — would all expire on the same day, Nov. 20, 2006. “No specific contract language has been agreed to,” Burrus cautioned, “and no papers have been signed. “I expect to meet with postal officials in the coming weeks to see if we can come to an agreement that will best serve the interests of APWU members and the Postal Service.” If a tentative agreement is reached, members of the APWU Rank and File Bargaining Committee must approve it before it can be sent to union members for a ratification vote.
In December 2002, APWU members voted to extend the 2000-2003 agreement to this November. A contract extension this year would be only the second one in the union’s history.
A New Benefit for Maintenance Employees at the GMF and MPA
by Miguel Salazar, Maintenance Craft Director
For years the Maintenance employees have been the only craft who were not allowed to wear shorts, but on June 7th, Nimrod Salazar agreed to allow Maintenance employees at the Denver P&DC and MPA to wear shorts. Section VI of the EL-803 states “Personal safety requires you to use good judgment and common sense. Being responsible for your safety and for those around you, you must wear all personal protective equipment (PPE) that is required and supplied by the Postal Service for the jobs or tasks that you perform.” Safety has deemed the following tasks and/or areas as potentially hazardous where shorts may not be worn: welding, using the cutting torch, grinding, high voltage electrical work, the wood shop, using the striper for painting the parking lots, stripping and waxing, lawn mowing and weed eating, power washing the HVAC system, usage of corrosive materials and the battery room. All Maintenance employees are required to have a pair of coveralls or pants easily accessible (within your immediate work area, toolbox, lockers, etc.) when wearing shorts. This issue/benefit has been long in the works and a great morale booster for the Maintenance employees. Thanks to Dave Villalva who helped with some of the research and has fought for this in the past. This is a benefit that can be taken away, so please use good judgment when you are wearing shorts and work in a safe manner. If you have an issue or a conflict arises from you wearing shorts, do not argue with the supervisor and contact me at 303-365-1524 ext. 20 as soon as possible.
Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
To Host POSTAL DAY
from the Colorado/Wyoming Newsbreak Dated June 2, 2005
The Colorado/Wyoming Western Area is proud to invite all Postal employees and their family members to the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. Sunday, August 21st has been designated as POSTAL DAY at the event. For the past twenty years, the rodeo has entertained families from coast to coast. The rodeo features the best black cowboys and cowgirls from across the country participating in such events as bull riding, calf roping, bare back riding, barrel racing, and steer wrestling. There will also be featured events for the kids. Proceeds from the event go towards scholarship funds. For more information, call the numbers listed below.
Sunday, August 21st – 3:30 PM - Adams Cnty. Fairgrounds
(East 124th Ave. & Henderson Rd. – Henderson, CO)
Ticket Pricing: General Admission - $11.00
Children 2 and under – free
For more information and to purchase tickets, contact:
Social & Recreation Committee: 303-853-6938
Doyal Thompson – 720-217-3954
21st Annual “J. P.” Jacobson
14’er Memorial Climb Scheduled
by Dennis Enderson, President
The 21st annual “J. P.” Jacobson 14’er Memorial Climb is scheduled at Mount Sherman (14,036 feet) on Sunday, July 10, 2005. This event occurs each year in memory of postal employee and APWU member John Paul Jacobson. (“J. P.”) passed away during a climb 21 years ago, and his friends have conducted a climb in his honor every year since. Mount Sherman is a less challenging climb, representing an excellent opportunity for kids. The trailhead may be reached by traveling one mile west of Fairplay on Highway 285 to the Four Mile Creek National Forest road. For more detailed information about this climb, contact Dave Goldsberry at 303-697-1377, or by email at davidgoldsberry@msn.com. You can also contact Jake Jacobson at jakenmae@juno.com. The climb is scheduled to begin at 8:30 AM.
Potential APPS Impact Becoming Clearer
by Brian Thomason, Director Clerk Craft
While recently attending the Denver Regional Conference in Phoenix Arizona, I and other officers of the Denver Metro APWU had the opportunity to see an operational APPS machine in action. The best word to describe this very large machine is simply the Beast. Each APPS costs the Postal service about 3.5 million dollars. There are different variations and configurations of the APPS. Denver P & DC will be getting a closed loop 200 bin model. This is the largest of the models being offered at this time. This machine can accept additional modules in the future to expand beyond the 200-bin capacity if floor space is available. The APPS is expected to replace 2 SPBS machines and some Spyder and Priority jobs.
We were able to watch the APPS for the first time processing mail, and process mail it did! The APPS is the most technically advanced, quiet piece of postal automation I have seen to date! The APPS does however have its downfalls, as does any new or old piece of automated equipment. The APPS cannot read “Return to sender” pieces of mail. It cannot handle mail any larger that can currently be run on the SPBS machines such as tubes, oversize and bad mail (non readable). The APPS also does quite a bit of damage to magazine bundles by breaking them apart. Management is in the process of identifying those mailers who use cheaper plastics to bundle their mail and advising them to upgrade to the better plastics. They also have a system in place to grade each palette of magazines A, B, C or D depending on the quality of the packaging of the magazine mail. If a palette gets graded a C or D, those palettes will not be run on APPS but will instead be run on the SPBS machine to avoid breaking open the bundles. Priority Flat mail is also not run on APPS. Because this mail directly affects their “PETE” scores Phoenix has chosen to work all Priority flats manually. Again Denver does not have a final operating plan for our APPS as of this date.
Some have asked how does this machine sort non bar-coded mail? The Postal Service will employ the same process as the FSM 100’s do. If a piece of mail comes through the APPS without a barcode, this image is lifted via cameras and sent electronically to a “Rec Site” in Salt Lake City Utah with non-Postal employees sitting at a computer terminal coding the necessary information. This information is sent back to the Postal Service while this piece of mail is still on the APPS and will sort it within a matter of minutes.
Make no mistake folks, APPS is a very well designed piece of equipment that will unfortunately replace a lot of clerk jobs. The impacts on the different sections are not clear at the time of this writing. Management is still in the process of devising Denver’s “APPS Phase in Plan”. We do know there will be job losses in the SPBS, Spyder and Colorado Priority sections. But to what extent we do not know at this point until management finalizes its plan. As new information becomes available to us we will tell the members via the “Union News Express” and or direct stand-ups. Management has told the APWU that it will give us as much information as possible as this painful process moves forward. As it stands now, APPS is scheduled to start installation on August 15th with a completion date of October 14th, 2005. There will be a burn in period after installation until they reach a 20 hour operating window.
The Postal service has come a long way since the days of Manual Casing, LSMs, the flat 881s etc. At least all of us affected can say we will still have a job somewhere in the Postal Service. It may not be a job we like with the hours or days off, but we know we won’t be getting laid off as we would have been if we worked for a private company. Times are changing and the Postal Service is working mail with more and more automation and less and less Postal employees. Stay Tuned.
COLA Update
APWU News Bulletin #07-05, June 20, 2005
A slight decrease in the Consumer Price Index in May means that if the adjustment were made based on the fourth month of the six-month measuring period, the eighth Cost-Of-Living Adjustment period under the National Agreement would give employees an annual raise of $582. Subject to fluctuation in the next two months, the adjustment currently amounts to a 28 cents per hour increase, which works out to $22.40 per pay period. The eighth COLA will be based on the July 2005 index point and will be effective Sept. 3, 2005. The most recent COLA increase ($208) took effect March 19.
The ABC’s of the CBA
by Paul Pearman, DIR
The Collective Bargaining Agreement is a collection of agreed upon work rules. The better we know and understand those rules, the stronger we become as a union and an organization. If you believe a contractual violation has occurred, you have 14 days from the date of occurrence or the date when the grievant or the union may reasonably have been expected to learn of the occurrence, to file a grievance at Step 1. For example, when an employee receives a NTOL/Letter of Warming, day one of the 14 days is the day after received. Here are some questions that were left on my audix at 303-365-1524 ext. 13.
Q. When does the Local Memo of Understanding get renegotiated?
A. 45 days after the effective date of the new National Agreement, local negotiations will commence.
Q. If my child is sick, can I take sick leave to care for him/her?
A. Sick Leave may be used to give care or otherwise attend to a family member having an illness, injury or other condition that, if an employee has such condition, would justify the use of sick leave by that employee. Up to 80 hours of sick leave may be used for dependent care in any leave year. Approval of sick leave for dependent care will be subject to normal procedures for leave approval.
General
Q. Can you be required to take a polygraph test?
A. No! Only on a voluntary basis. I would recommend against it. Remember they are hunting and these are experts that can get you to any answer depending on how they fashion the question.
Q. If an EEO complaint and a grievance are filed on the same issue, does the settlement of the EEO complaint automatically render the grievance moot?
A. No! If the grievance has moved past the Step 1 level, then the union must be signatory to any settlement which would include a waiver of the grievance.
COPA Drive Off to a Great Start
by Dennis Enderson, President
Our drive to increase local contributions to the APWU Political Action Fund (COPA) is off to a great start! At the June Union meeting our COPA Committee conducted a highly successful bake sale and a 50/50 drawing. The 50/50 drawing raised $45 and the bake sale raised $165 for COPA! Many thanks to the following members for donating items for the bake sale:
Chris Arellano – Cupcakes (2 dozen)
Pat Fox – Carrot Cake/Banana Nut Bread
Theresa (daughter of Pat Fox) – Cheesecakes
Tyler Falduto – Brownie Bites/Cinnamon Rolls
Rita Burns – Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Jolene Gralund – Sugar Cookies
Muriel Ponder – Snickerdoodles
Sandy Garcia – Mexican Pastries
Miguel & Yoland Salazar – Peanut Butter Cookies
Bonnie Hollomon – Brownies/Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ann Mullinax – Pancakes/Dumplings
Kathy Prusak – Brownies
Specials thanks go to Chris Arellano (who also organized the bake sale), Bonnie Hollomon, Muriel Ponder and Monica Lipscomb for staffing the bake sale table during the meeting. We’re off to an excellent start. Let’s keep the momentum going!
/rb
opeiu #5
afl-cio
