{"id":11111,"date":"2015-05-28T07:16:53","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T12:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=11111"},"modified":"2015-05-28T07:16:53","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T12:16:53","slug":"apwu-contract-talks-hit-impasse-usps-demands-cuts-in-pay-benefits-job-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2015\/05\/28\/apwu-contract-talks-hit-impasse-usps-demands-cuts-in-pay-benefits-job-security\/","title":{"rendered":"APWU Contract Talks Hit Impasse &#8211; USPS Demands Cuts in Pay, Benefits, Job Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<hgroup>\n<h1 class=\"node-title\">USPS Demands Cuts in Pay, Benefits, Job Security<\/h1>\n<\/hgroup>\n<div class=\"content\">\n<div class=\"field field-name-field-news-pdf field-type-file field-label-hidden field-wrapper\"><span class=\"file\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.apwu.org\/sites\/apwu\/files\/nsb-pdfs\/NSB%2009-2015%20for%20Website.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">News Bulletin 09-2015<\/a><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>(69.41 KB)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"body field\">\n<p><span class=\"news-date-inline\"><span class=\"date-display-single\">05\/28\/2015<\/span><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>&#8211;<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Contract negotiations between the American Postal Workers Union and the U.S. Postal Service ended without an agreement on May 27.<\/p>\n<p>The USPS scuttled any prospect of reaching a deal by insisting on severe cuts in pay and benefits, despite the fact that progress had been made on many non-economic issues, President Mark Dimondstein reported. \u201cManagement\u2019s economic demands and proposed changes to the workforce structure were completely unacceptable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Postal Service proposals include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"last\">Eliminate cost-of-living adjustments as we know them;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"last\">Increase employees\u2019 contributions to healthcare coverage;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"last\">Create a new, permanent lower payscale for future career employees with reduced benefits;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"last\">Increase the percentage of non-career employees,<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"last\">\n<p class=\"last\">Weaken protection against layoffs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>APWU proposals include fair and reasonable wage increases, limits on subcontracting, more career jobs, improvements for Postal Support Employees, limits on excessing, and better service for our customers, Dimondstein said.<\/p>\n<p>The APWU will participate in mediation, in accordance with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, and proceed to arbitration if attempts to mediate a settlement are unsuccessful. Mediation will be conducted by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and is expected to last 60 days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll the protections of the 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement will continue in full force and effect until a new contract is reached,\u201d Dimondstein said.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What Can Union Members Do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cOur fight for a good contract now enters a new stage, but the role of rank-and-file union members remains critical,\u201d President Dimondstein said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour continued involvement can make a difference as we move to mediation and possibly to arbitration,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPostal management takes note of how many of our members are wearing union buttons, stickers and T-shirts, and how many union members participate in rallies and other activities. They take it as a sign of the union\u2019s strength,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to thank all those who stepped up to fight for a good contract. I urge every member to get involved and help keep our momentum going as we enter this new period in our struggle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The union is calling on APWU members to make sure management sees our union strength by wearing union gear every Thursday, beginning on June 4. \u201cThis is a simple way that we can continue to demonstrate solidarity and build our campaign for a good contract,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018I Stand with Postal Workers\u2019 postcards are an excellent way to let Postmaster General Megan Brennan know that the people of the country want what we want:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><em>Good Postal Service! Good Jobs! Good Contract!<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em>It\u2019s important that we continue to collect signatures to keep the pressure on management,\u201d Dimondstein said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last\">\u201cOur struggle continues,\u201d he said. \u201cStay strong, stay united, and keep<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><em>Standing Up and Fighting Back!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field-name-field-article-file field-type-file field-label-above field-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"field-label\">Attachments<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"file\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.apwu.org\/sites\/apwu\/files\/news-attachments\/NSB%2009-2015%20for%20Website.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">PDF<\/a><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>(69.41 KB)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field-name-field-article-file field-type-file field-label-above field-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/1-APWU-New.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10087\" src=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/1-APWU-New.jpg\" alt=\"1-APWU-New\" width=\"478\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/1-APWU-New.jpg 478w, https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/1-APWU-New-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 478px) 100vw, 478px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>USPS Demands Cuts in Pay, Benefits, Job Security News Bulletin 09-2015\u00a0(69.41 KB) 05\/28\/2015\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0Contract negotiations between the American Postal Workers Union and the U.S. Postal Service ended without an agreement on May 27. The USPS scuttled any prospect of reaching a deal by insisting on severe cuts in pay and benefits, despite the fact that progress [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-apwu-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11112,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11111\/revisions\/11112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}