On Nov. 10, in a deal that has been in the works at least since March, the USPS announced it was launching a pilot program to put postal retail units in Staples stores across the country. Some sites opened quietly in October and others have opened in the last two weeks, including some where ribbon-cutting […]
APWU President Dimondstein: ‘Don’t Believe the Type’ “Headlines across the country are shouting that the USPS lost billions of dollars again this year, but that’s a fallacy,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein said after the USPS released financial information for fiscal year 2013. “If it weren’t for the congressional mandate to pre-fund health benefits for future […]
(This article appears in the November-December 2013 edition of The American Postal Worker.) Unlike “contract enforcement,” which is the job of all good union representatives, “contracting enforcement” refers specifically our efforts to stop management from assigning our work to non-postal employees. Our ability to do that received a significant boost recently from a ruling by […]
At Swearing-In Ceremony:Dimondstein Issues Call For a ‘Grand Alliance’ In an impassioned speech before more than 1,000 union members, the newly-elected president of the American Postal Workers Union, Mark Dimondstein, issued a call for a “grand alliance” to save the USPS as a public postal service and to protect postal jobs. “Writing to Congress is […]
Today, November 4, 2013, APWU corrected their original article (below) with the following correction: Dues for PSEs will be increased by 86 cents per pay period, with 57 cents going to locals and states and 29 cents going to the national union. Updated pay scales were included in the November-December edition of The American Postal […]
Union Wins Call Center Pay Case Clerks to Be Upgraded Two Levels In a decision issued Oct. 28 [PDF], Arbitrator Stephen B. Goldberg ruled that the USPS must upgrade all Customer Care Agents two levels and must make them whole for all pay and benefits they lost as a result of the improper ranking of […]
The APWU will make a $15,000 donation to the National Post Office Collaborate, an organization dedicated to fighting the sale of historic post offices, APWU President Cliff Guffey has announced. The Collaborate, which grew out of the fight to save the Berkeley CA post office, plans to mount legal challenges to the sale of hundreds […]
COMMENTS OF THE APWU, AFL-CIO BEFORE THE PRC REGARDING THE NOTICE OF MARKET DOMINANT PRICE ADJUSTMENT – Docket No. R2013-10 The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (APWU) hereby objects to the methodology used by the Postal Service in calculating workshare discounts in this price adjustment. The Postal Service provides limited explanation or justification for its […]
In a decision [PDF] issued Oct. 16, Arbitrator Shyam Das ruled that APWU members are entitled to retroactive pay for time postmasters or supervisors performed craft duties in excess of limits outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. “This decision is an important victory for the APWU,” said Director of Industrial Relations Mike Morris. “We have […]
Many postal employees are wondering how the government shutdown is affecting Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) claims. The adjudication of OWCP claims and the payment of workers’ compensation benefits are considered essential work, so the claims examiners who are assigned these duties in the Department of Labor’s field offices are continuing to work. Employees […]