The APWU is approximately one year out from the start of contract negotiations for what is commonly known as the “main agreement.” In the Industrial Relations Department, it is never too early to begin preparation for contract negotiations. Many of you have heard me say that this department begins preparing for the next contract negotiations the day after the membership ratifies a new contract. Now, I want to try to present a bit of an “under the hood” look at what leads up to the opening of negotiations.
Article 43 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) controls the opening of contract negotiations. Approximately 120 days before the expiration of the contract, we will prepare a letter that is then sent to the Postal Service from President Smith invoking our right to open negotiations. Negotiations will then officially open approximately 90 days before the expiration of the current contract. We are required by law to notify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) of our intent to negotiate a new CBA.
That is the simple mechanics of opening negotiations. The Industrial Relations staff and APWU’s Contract Negotiations and Special Projects Manager track all the contracts we cover and the dates we are required to send opening letters. The APWU has four contracts with the Postal Service and multiple private-sector contracts. Having a single person handle this work as part of their duties is invaluable to the APWU.
We are always collecting data. This department is the custodian of adopted Labor-Management Resolutions. We possess every Labor-Management Resolution that has been adopted since 1986, and we make sure that we review them as part of our preparations to understand what the membership is asking us to negotiate and to help us craft negotiation strategies.
It is not just the resolutions we have to review and understand. We must understand the financial situation of the Postal Service. We do this by collecting their financial reports from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), making information demands of the Postal Service, reviewing Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports, and other public sources. In order to make well-thought-out and defensible proposals, we have to understand this information. This also includes understanding mail volumes and its trends. We gather data on work hours, employee numbers, overtime usage, and other internal data. Data is vital to our success in negotiations.
But our research is even more than just examining the data regarding the Postal Service. We also examine the trends in the overall economy of the United States. We look at wage trends across all sectors of labor in the private sector, with a specific focus on the industries that compare to the work that the members of the APWU bargaining units perform. We collect data on inflation every month and look at the Consumer Price Index (CPI). We utilize that information to make well-thought-out financial proposals to the Postal Service. Analyzing unemployment data and hiring trends is also important. One other data point we collect is postal uniform costs. We also follow the other postal union contract negotiations and see how those contracts get settled. Whether we agree with it or not, the terms of the other postal union contracts do come into play, especially if we were to end up in interest arbitration.
With all this data in hand, the APWU can be well prepared for negotiations. We will be ready, and we will fight to get the best contract we can obtain in 2027!
Solidarity!
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