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May 19, 2025Support Services Director Arrion Brown provides an update on the current and recently completed negotiations for workers covered in the Support Services Division. magazineSupport Services DivisionArrion Brown Greetings Support Services Division members, I hope that you are enjoying the early days of summer. The Support Services Division has been hard at work this year continuing contract negotiations on multiple collective bargaining agreements. For general information, the Support Services Division represents and negotiates for 13 current and prospective collective bargaining agreements. Below is an update on our current and recently completed negotiations. We are proud to say that one of our newest units of 10 Roads Express drivers based in Richmond, VA ratified their first collective bargaining agreement on Feb. 24, 2025. The workers organized and fought a valiant fight against their company to achieve collective bargaining. The drivers were very proud to ratify their first contract that secures bank holidays, gives them job bidding and bumping rights by seniority, gives them the rights to the grievance arbitration process to settle disputes with their employer, and offers protection against subcontracting. One of our newer units of 10 Roads Express drivers, based in Capitol Heights, MD, has also recently achieved a tentative agreement with the company. The Capitol Heights agreement is very similar to the Richmond agreements, but the Capitol Heights drivers did hold out a little longer to achieve a few additional contractual demands. We were not able to achieve those demands, but we were proud to stand with and represent them as we fought for them. The drivers of the Great Lakes Area Mail Haulers recently came to a tentative agreement with B&B Trucking, Inc. based in Kalamazoo, MI. These negotiations were very difficult. The company resisted improvements that the employees deserved. A significant improvement we won was an increase in hourly wages for drivers who perform freight work. B&B Trucking historically has been a mail-haul company that did very little freight work. Although the collective bargaining agreement with B&B has a wage chart for freight work, increases in that wage chart had not been negotiated since 2017. The union had concentrated on other issues, since there was either no freight or very little freight work done. However, since 2024, there has been a notable increase in freight work. The tentative agreement is in the process of being sent out for ratification by the members. We are still in negotiations for the APWU and USPS agreement. While negotiations have slowed on this agreement, negotiating for Article 40 Operating Services and Article 41 Material Support Crafts has ended. As usual, management has refused to agree to changes for these two craft articles of the agreement. The employees under these two articles will benefit from the broader economic improvements of the agreement. It is very disappointing that, in yet another round of negotiations, management has refused to agree to minor changes in these two articles that would give them the same protections that are offered to other craft articles in the agreement. We will strategize for the next round of negotiations to continue our efforts to bring the Support Services crafts up to the same standards as the Clerk, Motor Vehicle, and Maintenance crafts. We continue to negotiate the first successor agreement for the Humans Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) bargaining unit. At the time this issue of The American Postal Worker went to press, we are very close to a tentative agreement. There were only a few changes the bargaining committee proposed for this round of negotiations. We have met with management numerous times to come to bargaining agreements and have been satisfied with our progress. Finally, we had our opening day of negotiations for the Information Technology and Accounting Services (IT/ AS) sector on March 4, 2025. We passed several proposals to management on changes we want. Management was very receptive and asked more questions than they have asked in opening sessions for other agreements. That was a good sign. ■ Negotiations Update (May 2025)0Continue reading→

May 19, 2025In the ever-expanding world of postal words and jargon, ‘RTO’ and ‘LTO’ are recent additions you may see as a postal worker. These stand for Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) and Local Transportation Optimization (LTO).” MVS Director Michael Foster explains these acronyms in-depth and how they impact the job. magazineMVS DivisionMichael O. Foster One of the primary purposes of the trade union movement is to nd work for its members. While unions constantly advocate to improve social injustices, equality, and fairness for their members and society as a whole, it is always about getting work, finding work, and keeping members gainfully employed. As the USPS drastically reduces its workforce, requiring fewer employees to do the same - or more - work in attempts to improve its bottom line, these management tactics and strategies will often have crafts and unions feeling the need to defend and protect their work. Dispatch Coordinator Step 4 The Clerk Division and the USPS recently held national level arbitration hearings on the creation and assignment of the Dispatch Coordinator position to the MVS Craft. Although the MVS Division has also filed national disputes on the creation of this position and the siphoning of other MVS Craft duties, we still believe this is an MVS position. Please review the job descriptions and qualification standards of this position in your facility to determine if crossing-craft or occupation-group violations are occurring and contact your National Business Agent (NBA) to file the appropriate local grievance. USPS Acronyms In the ever-expanding world of postal words and jargon, “RTO” and “LTO” are recent additions you may see. These stand for Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) and Local Transportation Optimization (LTO). RTO replaced LTO. These are part of the Delivering for America (DFA) plan and USPS efforts to reduce transportation costs and find other savings. The MVS Craft must continue to monitor and protect the assignment of the transportation of mail in bulk quantities to any category of postal employees other than Motor Vehicle Service employees. LTO is a part of the DFA plan to save the USPS money by eliminating or reducing transportation costs. This began as a pilot program in a few sites in 2024 when the Postal Service eliminated all afternoon trips outside of a 25 or 50 mile radius from an LTO site, meaning that there would no longer be a closeout trip to pick up that day’s mail from those offices, and that mail would be collected the following morning, thus adding an additional day for delivery. In most cases, the pilot program sites where this change occurred were being served by a Highway Contract Route (HCR) supplier. RTO is the evolution of the Postal Service’s attempts to further reduce transportation costs for the transportation of mail. “Regional” is the key difference, as this evolution now limits the transportation of mail to one trip per day for offices outside of a 25 or 50 mile radius from an RTO site. This has potential for a much larger impact on, not just the delivery of mail, but also PVS duty assignments, due to the elimination of those afternoon closeout PVS trips, as not all PVS operations are within the 25 or 50 mile radius of an RTO. This change to RTO will most likely trigger management to attempt to make changes to all PVS duty assignments and attempt to repost them in accordance with Article 39.2.A.6 bidding procedures. However, if unimpacted duty assignments are reposted due to a zero base, other audits, or any other administrative reasons, it would be in violation of the APWU/USPS Step 4 settlement for USPS Case# Q10C-4Q-C 14256865/ APWU# HQTV 20140505, signed and dated on Sept. 30, 2015. This language is also contained in the Joint Contract Interpretation Manual (JCIM) questions and answers in Article 39, question #78. According to Article 39.2.A.6, only the union can request a yearly, or bi-yearly bid. Voluntary Early Retirement Of the more than 5,000 MVS Craft employees eligible for the Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) incentive, approximately 550 MVS employees have accepted the offer. The officers of the APWU Motor Vehicle Craft wish you a long and happy retirement. ■ It Is Always About the Work0Continue reading→

May 19, 2025Maintenance Craft Director Idowu Balogun highlights the upcoming APWU All-Craft Conference and Bulk Mail Center Conference in October, discusses revisions to the TL-5 MS-47 Handbook, and a planned maintenance operation pilot program. magazineMaintenance DivisionIdowu Balogun The 2025 All-Craft Conference will be held in Las Vegas, NV on Oct. 6-8, 2025, followed by the Bulk Mail Center (BMC) Conference on Oct. 9, 2025. We will offer two training courses at the conference: Line H/Eagle Clean, and Article 32 Maintenance Subcontracting, presented by National Business Agents (NBAs). Preparation is already underway for the Maintenance Division Conference book and training materials for all attendees. Eagle Clean is the postal program that has custodians in the field using Mobile Delivery Device (MDD) scanners in place of a hard copy PS Form 4776 – Preventative Custodial Maintenance Route to record daily tasks. The training will cover: The genesis of the program from pilot to implementation; What the scanner and screens look like and require; and The various reports that can be requested and how to analyze those reports. Maintenance subcontracting will cover Articles 19 (Administrative Support Manual) and 32 (Subcontracting) and how they tie into defending bargaining unit work from being outsourced to contractors. The training will also cover several national level arbitration decisions that control the subcontracting process from beginning to end. Another TL-5 MS-47 Handbook Revision On March 4, 2025, the Postal Service notified the APWU of additional revisions to the TL-5 MS-47 Handbook (Facility Cleaning). Once again, the Postal Service unilaterally imposed changes to the previously negotiated and agreed upon handbook language. According to the notification, the latest revisions “are intended to improve the overall clarity of the handbook and make information and procedures easier to locate. Additionally, changes were made to include necessary safety information.” We are currently in the process of reviewing the latest revisions and have already requested a formal meeting with the Postal Service to discuss the changes. We will continue to fight to maintain the rights that we successfully negotiated into the handbook. Another Field Maintenance Operation Pilot Program Rolling Out The Postal Service recently notified the APWU of their plans to test a work order ticketing system application in the Facilities Management Organization (FMO) to enhance the visibility of Area Maintenance Technician (AMT) work orders in the system. Currently, the FMO uses a unique system to enter and track work orders assigned under the FMO and facilities. However, there is very limited communication between the AMT and the maintenance supervisor on how a work order is required. This process results in limited visibility for Postal Service management to track the progress of maintenance requests. In an effort to improve the visibility of maintenance requests from submission to completion, the subject test will automate the submission of the PS Form 4805 - Maintenance Work Order Request, from a hard copy paper form requiring manual entry, to an electronic request (“Help Ticket”) that is entered directly into a web-based platform by the requester and displayed immediately to the AMT’s, thereby removing the need to be given a piece of paper by the supervisor. The pilot test is scheduled to begin in the WestPac Area starting with California 4 and Arizona and New Mexico districts. The testing will last for 180 days, and it is anticipated that testing will be expanded to additional districts during the 180-day test period. The districts and associated time periods will be provided in advance. The Maintenance Division continues to have ongoing meetings about FMO-related issues and is keeping a close eye on this new pilot program. We have expressed our concerns about potential violations of Articles 1.6 and 7. Please contact your NBA(s) to provide feedback if you are part of this pilot program. ■ 2025 Maintenance Division All-Craft Conference0Continue reading→

May 19, 2025Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks discusses three recently arbitrated issues and the Step 4 Settlement award on the work jurisdiction of Time and Attendance Collections. magazineClerk Division Lamont Brooks The Clerk Division has recently arbitrated three important issues at the national level: The Dispatch Coordinator position, created by the Postal Service and originally assigned to the Clerk Craft, was later reassigned to the Motor Vehicle Craft. The Clerk Division firmly believes that the duties of this position are traditional clerk duties. The Postal Service’s continued violation of Article 1.5 and Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) related to the performance of non-managerial, non-supervisory work that should be assigned to the Clerk Craft. An interpretive issue in the 2018 RI-399 Update MOU concerning when it is proper to reassign work from one craft to another. Step 4 Settlement – Time and Attendance Collection Section 2 of the Step 4 settlement on Time and Attendance Collection (TACS), dated Sept. 5, 2018, states, in part: d) Effective with the signing of this agreement, TACS duties may be included by local management in the Lead Clerk duty assignment postings for those duty assignments properly designated to perform the Lead Clerk Clock Office Role in TACS. e) In facilities with Lead Clerks in duty assignments previously posted and awarded, who are currently performing TACS duties or that TACS duties were annotated on the bid posting, they will be grandfathered into this Agreement. If not previously provided, they will receive the required training, course #31267-01. f) In facilities with Lead Clerks in duty assignments previously posted and awarded, and there are no Lead Clerks currently performing the TACS duties, the senior Lead Clerk in the facility will receive the required training, course #31267-01, and be assigned to perform the TACS duties. The parties at the local level may mutually agree to an alternative Lead Clerk in the facility to be trained/assigned in lieu of the senior Lead Clerk. g) In facilities where there are multiple Lead Clerks, those Lead Clerks who have not been assigned timekeeping duties, are not required to receive the above referenced training. However, it is recommended they receive LMS Course #10025624, Lead Clerk Overview Training TACS is clerk work. That is non-negotiable. Don’t let management perform our work. If the Lead Clerk is absent or on leave, Article 25 applies when assigning Lead Clerk duties. Article 25, Section 4 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the APWU and USPS states: Section 4. Higher-Level Details Detailing of employees to higher-level bargaining unit work in each craft shall be from those eligible, qualified and available employees in each craft in the immediate work area in which the temporarily vacant higher-level position exists. However, for details of an anticipated duration of one (1) week (five (5) working days within seven (7) calendar days) or longer to those higher-level craft positions enumerated in the craft Articles of this Agreement as being permanently filled on the basis of promotion of the senior qualified employee, the senior, qualified, eligible, available employee in the immediate work area in which the temporarily vacant higher-level position exists shall be selected. Clerk Division Updates0Continue reading→