USPS Meets with Management Association Leaders to discuss the APWU Agreement and PMR/PSE Issues

NAPUS

On June 7th, NAPUS leaders, along with heads of the League and NAPS met with Postal Headquarters officials to discuss how some of the changes in the new USPS-APWU contract will impact post offices. The discussion included a question and answer session on the recent letter of opportunity that was issued to PMRs in level 15, 16, and 18 offices. While many issues were addressed, some of the concerns raised about the role of PSEs in post offices will be provided at a later date.

The Postal Service and APWU expect to work through implementation issues that may arise and the USPS agreed to ongoing discussions with the management associations to address concerns they may have as the National Agreement is implemented. Listed below is the Postal Service’s response to issues that were discussed at the meeting and additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

Following the meeting, Postmaster General (PMG) Patrick Donahoe met with leaders of the management associations and unions to brief them on the serious financial situation the USPS is facing. For more on what the PMG told the management associations and union leaders, please click on the President’s Update link.

Management Associations Discussion Topics

USPS-APWU National Agreement

This summarizes the June 7, 2011 discussion with the three management associations concerning the new USPS-APWU National Agreement. Mr. Tulino advised that the Postal Service and the APWU expect to work through implementation issues that may arise and he agreed to subsequent meetings to discuss the management associations’ concerns as we implement this National Agreement.

Issues Discussed

1. 800 new bargaining unit positions

Pursuant to the contract, 800 positions will be established in the Clerk Craft to perform bargaining unit duties that have been performed by nonbargaining employees. The Postal Service was unsuccessful in national level arbitration concerning this work. Audits led by the national level will be conducted and results will be analyzed in determining the positions that will be established.

2. “Lead Clerk” position

The Lead Clerk position applies to Function 1 and Function 4 operations, and is not a new concept. It is similar to the current Lead Sales and Service Association (LSSA) position. This will be a Senior Qualified position, and a specific formula will be used to determine offices where this position will be authorized. The positions will not add staffing and will be within the existing staffing matrix. These positions are not meant to replace supervisory positions. These will be higher level bargaining unit employees who will be doing some administrative work. This position should be established and implemented by June 2012.

3. PMRs and performance of bargaining unit work

Effective August 23, 2011, the PMR position will be discontinued in all levels 15, 16 and 18 Post Offices. Current PMRs are eligible to apply for the new Postal Support Employee (PSE) positions and must meet all requirements, including taking the applicable written test. Management employees in level 18 offices will be limited to performing a total of 15 hours of bargaining unit work per week, and will be limited to a total of 25 such hours per week in levels 15 and 16 offices. The determination of an office’s level for this purpose is based on its level as of November 21, 2010, and this determination will apply for the life of the current USPS-APWU National Agreement.

4. 204-Bs

Effective June 1, 2012, 204-B’s may be used in Functions 1 and 4 only for periods of 14 or more days.

5. Part-Time Flexible positions

Pursuant to the National Agreement, PTF employees will be converted to regular status. Effective August 23, 2012, there will be no PTF, Casual and/or TE positions in offices at or above level 21. The work currently being performed by these employees may be covered by full-time regular, non-traditional assignments (flexible or not), and/or PSEs. This will enable USPS to staff to customer needs, such as extended retail window hours.

6. CPU closings

USPS has identified 20 Contract Postal Units nationwide that offer virtually the same services as a Post Office, i.e. Retail, PO Boxes, etc. USPS has agreed to close these 20 CPUs

USPS

Charlie Moser
NAPUS
June 9, 2011

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