Flash Bulletins are paid for by members of the APWU. Information contained in these bulletins is intended for APWU members. Member questions and/or comments regarding any flash bulletin content are always encouraged. Reading of publications prepared for and financed by dues paying members by those who do not is yet one more example of non-members accepting benefits that have been paid for by others! 

Contract Negotiations Update

Our current contract expired as of midnight 11-20-06.  While the negotiations have not went as well as we would have liked, our negotiation team headed by National President, William Burrus, felt there was enough progress to warrant more discussion after the holiday.  The parties agreed to extend the terms of our current agreement so they could resume contract negotiations “after the holiday.”

This flash is being written on November 28^th and 29^th.  To date we have not received any update as to whether we will have a negotiated agreement or we will proceed to Arbitration.  Locally, we do not have any details of the items being discussed outside of general areas of concern that are traditionally negotiated.  Wages and benefits have historically been areas that the parties have been unable to resolve and we believe those are the issues that remain for negotiators.

We entirely understand that our contract, the terms, and all issues pertaining to this are a major factor on everyone’s mind and will do everything possible to make sure everyone is informed of any news on this front.  Watch for our National APWU News Bulletins posted on our Union bulletin boards and sent to all Stations and Associate Offices as these are one source we rely upon for updates.  Additionally, for those with computer access you can get daily updates when they are available at APWU.ORG.  Finally, at the local level, watch for our flash bulletins where we will further disseminate and define national level issues from your local Officers and Steward’s perspective.

Local Negotiations – Do you want to see changes in day to day work rules?

The time to prepare for local negotiations is now!  Your local officers and stewards will be preparing for possible local negotiations once our contract is settled.  Our National Contract is our prevailing guide and primary contractual source.  However, Article 30 of our contract specifies many items that can be further negotiated and defined at the local level.

These items generally deal with many of the day to day work place rules that are important to all of us.  See your steward to review the entire list and discuss various ideas or questions you may have.  They will then pass these on to their immediate officers who will then determine if we might try and negotiate changes to our existing agreement.  The following items listed (not the entire list) are an example of some of the more prominent for determining the procedures most impacting to the majority of our members.

Local leave program. - Duration of choice vacation period(s). - Maximum number of employees to receive leave each week during the choice vacation period. - Procedure for submission of application for annual leave during other than the choice vacation period. - Method to select employees to work on holidays. - Whether overtime desired lists in article 8 shall be by section and/or tour. - Other items subject to local negotiations as provided in craft provisions of the agreement. - Local implementation of the agreement relating to seniority, reassignment and posting.

Don’t like your overtime desired list procedures?  Annual leave methods?  Holiday procedures?  We invite all members to contact your steward to see what you can do to make desirable changes!

Local USPS Retirement Counseling – It’s Back!

Employees contemplating retirement are making decisions that may impact them and their families for the remainder of their lives!  Many of our members have told us they do not have the same confidence when dealing with retirement counseling over the phone as they did with previous one on one and group retirement sessions conducted locally by USPS retirement counselors.

The Union has attempted to fill this void by scheduling periodic group retirement sessions.  However, the USPS is still the official retirement source and as such we have always encouraged our members to get final answers provided to them by the USPS on matters of retirement.  We will still be conducting sessions and happy to lend retirement advice, however....

We are happy to inform everyone who is nearing retirement that the APWU has signed an agreement with the USPS that requires them to restore individual and group retirement counseling which management had previously discontinued.  According to this settlement, previously established local counseling methods will be reinstated!  District managers are responsible for ensuring that at least one group retirement counseling seminar is held each fiscal year for employees within 3 years of optional retirement eligibility.  On request, interested employees must also be given individual pre-retirement counseling!  Members can call us at our NE office (612-623-0677) and we will help you set up your individual pre-retirement counseling!

$734,000.00 Casual in Lieu of Payout Update!

As previously reported, the local announced that we have recently received a pre-arbitration settlement for staffing violations that occurred in the Minneapolis P&DC between the time period of November 2003 and September 2006.  The violation occurred when management hired and then utilized clerk craft casuals in lieu of career workforce clerk craft employees.

The list of employees to be paid (Clerks in the Minneapolis P&DC – TCMH and 554 Stations) has been supplied to management and we expect payments to be made within the next two pay periods!  See your steward for specific details on this!  All your Clerk Craft Officers deserve special recognition for their persistence and pursuit of achieving a resolution.   Exposing managerial staffing infractions takes organization, persistence, and tedious tracking!  We want to specially thank our data base technician and Tour 3 Steward, John Moline for preparing the finalized list we were required to send to management in order for payment to take place!

We have also previously (November 10, 2006 Flash Bulletin) invited non-members to do what is right.  Join and financially sustain the organization that negotiates your wages, benefits, and working conditions (such as the retirement counseling above) or send the proceeds they receive from settlements such as this to the Minneapolis Area Local – APWU so we can donate it to local charity!  Non members will receive approximately $94,000.00 of this settlement!  We will report in later editions of the flash as to how many non-members join as a result and/or how much of this $94,000.00 is received by the local and the charities to which it is donated!  Stay tuned...

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