Ballots for the 2010 Election of APWU National Officers were mailed Monday, September 13, 2010 to all eligible union members, and must be returned and received in the designated post office box in Washington, DC, by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14, 2010. We urge each and every member to vote.
Below are some of the accomplishments of the union since 2001, under the leadership of Bill Burrus, who will retire at the end of his term of office in November. This year's challenges include contract negotiations, and if no agreement is reached, we will have to go to arbitration to seek a new contract. There is no substitute for experience and we must have knowledgeable officers at the negotiating table, or to fight in arbitration over wages, benefits, and working conditions for our members. If there ever was a time for proven leaders, this is it. To have continued success, this fighting and winning tradition will continue under the leadership of Cliff Guffey, Greg Bell, and the other members of the Leadership Team.
Job Security
▪ Maintained the no-layoff provision of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and expanded it to cover all employees on the rolls as of Nov. 20, 2006;
▪ Won restrictions on the use of casuals, including limits on the number of casuals assigned to an installation and restrictions on the assignment of casuals to skilled work;
▪ Won additional rights fir members-at-large, providing the protection of a local contract to thousands of union members in small offices who have not previously been covered by local agreements.
Increased Pay
▪ Won upgrades in 2006 for every APWU-represented employee;
▪ Retained crucial twice-a-year Cost-of-Living Adjustments;
▪ Negotiated multiple across-the-board raises;
▪ Increased salaries, more than $10,000, on average, since 2001.
Fighting for Our Future
▪ Leading the fight to save Saturday service, stop plant consolidations, and restrict station closings;
▪ Developed strategy and grass-roots organizing tools to encourage rank-and-file participation and community involvement in the fight against plant consolidations;
▪ Advocated for postal workers and citizens in the debate over postal reform, and beat back proposals for postal privatization;
▪ Raised more than $1 million every year since 2003 for COPA, the APWU’s political action fund, tripling the union’s previous highest contribution level;
▪ Turned the APWU into an influential force on USPS-related legislative issues.
Leave, Drop Days and More
▪ Won the option for employees who work their holiday to earn annual leave instead of holiday pay;
▪ Won bereavement leave and increased the administrative leave available for bone and organ donation;
▪ Negotiated consecutive days off for career employees in mail processing, transportation, and vehicle maintenance operations;
▪ Negotiated the requirement that full-time employees must be given priority scheduling for overtime ahead of casuals;
▪ Won pay for all job-related travel;
▪ Restricted management’s ability to challenge locally-negotiated contract items.
Clerk Division
▪ Established Function Four (staffing) training to prevent the erosion of Clerk Craft jobs;
▪ Led the effort to modernize window clerk uniforms;
▪ Eliminated the “best qualified” requirement on many positions;
▪ Protected clerks’ rights in job testing, and developed training programs and material for use by locals and state organizations;
▪ Won an all-Full-Time-Regular workforce in the Clerk Craft in offices of 200 man-years or more.
Maintenance Division
▪ Won the Associate Office Infrastructure (AOI) arbitration case, which resulted in the return of subcontracted work and the development of new work for technicians and mechanics;
▪ Revamped the maintenance Selection System (MSS), which removed local Management subjectivity in the promotion selection process; retained KSAs as Qualifications, and eliminated update problems;
▪ Won a national arbitration victory in the MS-47 case, securing custodial work, winning $48 million for members of the craft, and winning recognition of locals’ right to staffing information.
Motor Vehicle Service Division
▪ Negotiated air conditioning in vehicles for the entire country;
▪ Won multi-level upgrades;
▪ Arbitrated the largest monetary award in the craft in a case protesting subcontracting (approximately $2 million in Phoenix);
▪ Negotiated mandatory last chance agreements for a first positive drug test;
▪Negotiated multiple improvements on rules for DOT physicals; (For example, management must pay for additional testing. In addition, use of Form 2485, which included non-DOT info, has been discontinued);
▪ Negotiated AM/FM radios in PVS trucks;
▪ Ended automatic discipline for vehicle accidents.
