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Dear APWU Member:

Thank you for visiting the Leadership Team web site. I am Greg Bell, and I have served as your Industrial Relations Director since 1995. In this year’s election, I am asking for your vote to become Executive Vice President of the APWU. I believe I am the most experienced and qualified candidate to serve APWU members as Executive Vice President. I am also asking you to support the entire LEADERSHIP TEAM.

As postal workers we are facing serious challenges: Consolidations, the closing of stations and branches, the elimination of Saturday de- livery, increased subcontracting, and massive excessing. This year’s contract negotiation will be our toughest. We expect management to challenge our protection against layoffs and our cost-of-living allowance, and we anticipate that the Postal Service will seek even greater flexibility in work assignments. If we are unable to reach agreement by the expiration date of the contract, we can expect that interest arbitration will even tougher – especially given the state of the economy and the Postal Service’s financial situation.

WE NEED EXPERIENCED, PROVEN LEADERS.

As Industrial Relations Director, I have been one of union’s three main negotiators in each contract negotiation since 1998. Since 2001, I have negotiated on behalf of APWU members with President Bill Burrus and Executive Vice President Cliff Guffey. Prior to 2001, I worked along with President Moe Biller and then-Executive Vice President Bill Burrus. Before becoming a national officer, I served as one of 13 members of the Rank-and-File Bargaining Advisory Committee for the 1987, 1990, and 1994 national contract negotiations.

As Industrial Relations Director, my primary responsibilities have included:

• National contract negotiations;
• Labor-management issues;
• Safety and health;
• Interpretation and administration of the National Agreement, and
• Processing national-level arbitrations.
  
  

But I believe being a national officer is about more than the contract. I believe it is about promoting unity and action within our ranks. I believe it is about fighting for justice for our members and for the American people.

Throughout my tenure as Industrial Relations Director, I have provided assistance and advice to local and national representatives on a host of issues. Sometimes we discuss grievances, unfair labor practice charges, lawsuits, Family Medical Leave, legal issues, etc. Other times, we simply brainstorm about a problem the rep- resentatives are facing. As a union activist, it has been my experience that rank-and-file members and front-line stewards and officers are the driving force of progressive unionism in the APWU.

I have never forgotten where I came from. I know how important it is for stewards and of- ficers to have resources and support from the national union, and I have initiated policies to provide that support. I invite you to visit the Industrial Relations section on the APWU web site, at www.apwu.org, where I have made available a vast array of tools and information for members and representatives.

As chairman of the national Grievance- Arbitration Committee, I have worked to make the grievance procedure more responsive to the members by prioritizing for arbitration cases that have the greatest impact on local unions and the membership. As your Executive Vice president, I will contin- ue to focus on the problems that most directly concern our members.

Working with the President, Executive Vice President, craft officers, and other team members, I have played a major role in the APWU’s success in improving working conditions and benefits for our members in contract negotiations and arbitration, including:

• Pay increases and upgrades;
• No Layoff Memorandum;
• Elimination of non-REC TEs;
• Option to earn annual leave in lieu of holiday pay;
• Payroll advances for back-pay awards;
• Travel pay for training;
• Restrictions on management’s ability to challenge locally-negotiated agreements;
• Significant improvements to the grievance-arbitration process;
• BereavementLeave;
• Memorandum concerning Administrative Leave for Bone Marrow, Stem Cell, Blood Platelet, and Organ Donations;
• Annual Leave Exchange Option Memorandum, and
• Continuation of Memoranda of Understanding, such as the Sick Leave for Dependent Care Memorandum; Leave Sharing Memorandum; and Dependent Care Memorandum.

I have resolved national-level disputes over such issues as:

• Implementation of RMD/eRMS, Privacy Act issues, multiple call-in requirements, medical documentation allegedly to “protect the interests of the Postal Service,” and fixed numbers of absences for triggering discipline;
• Management attempts to eliminate the payment of Sunday premium for hours not actually worked, including payment of Sunday premium to employees in a continuation of pay (COP) status, or on court or military leave;
• Disclosure of employee accident and injury information to private insurance companies; • Protection of wage increases for protected-rate employees;
• Prohibition against issues affecting wages, hours and working conditions from being discussed in EEO/Affirmative Action committees where the union is not a party, and
• Issues concerning the grievance-arbitration procedure.

I have played a major role, along with other members of the LEADERSHIP TEAM, in the APWU’s success in national-level arbitration – in winning important national-level grievances over such issues as:

• Prohibition against requiring employees to provide the diagnosis and prognosis of an illness or injury when they call in sick.
• Improper use of casuals;
• Restrictions on the use of temporary-agency employees;
• Limitations of the use of non-APWU craft casuals in APWU crafts;
• Night differential for administrative leave, and
• Sunday-premium pay for employees working on a temporary schedule change for their personal
convenience.

Despite these accomplishments, tough times lie ahead. In these tough times, there is no substitute for experi- ence and proven leadership. The LEADERSHIP TEAM is a group of experienced officers with a proven record of effective leadership. It is that proven leadership and experience that offers the prospect of continued progress in the years ahead. It is that proven leadership, experience and record of achievements that offers our mem- bers and union our best chances in this year’s contract negotiation and in interest arbitration if no agreement is reached. I ask for your vote and support to become your next Executive Vice President. I also ask for your vote and support for the entire LEADERSHIP TEAM in the upcoming election because I believe the candidates on the LEADERSHIP TEAM can and will represent the best interests of the membership as we face our future challenges.

Greg’s Local Background and Experience

Greg Bell is well respected and known nationwide for his uncompromising leadership and aggressive representation. APWU representatives from around the country respect his opinion and expertise. His studious approach to problems, his uncompromising union values, and his experience are an irreplaceable asset to the APWU and for the position of Executive Vice President.

When the membership elected Greg Bell to national office in 1995, he brought to Washington the same eagerness and positive outlook that marked his union activism in his home local of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A union activist since 1973, Greg believes that without struggle, there is no prog- ress. He has always worked tirelessly to enforce the contract and protect the rights of our members.

His effectiveness as a national leader is of no surprise. Prior to being elected to the position as Industrial Relations Director in 1995, Greg Bell was President of the Philadelphia PA Area Local for nine years, and Chairman of the national Presidents Conference for four years. As Chairman of the Presidents Conference and as local president, he shared his experience, working with local and state presidents, and assisting them in our common struggles.

He led the Philadelphia local to significant victories in the grievance-arbitration procedure, in contract negotia- tions, at the National Labor Relations Board, in the courts, at congressional hearings, and on the work floor. Under his leadership, the Philadelphia PA Area Local won a precedent-setting NLRB ruling against manage- ment for their failure to schedule grievances and arbitrations in a timely manner. He won the restoration of abolished jobs, overturned an outrageous attendance policy, derailed an illegal hiring policy, and won several other precedent-setting arbitration rulings that resulted in the payment of millions of dollars to his local members.

In a historic agreement and one of the first of its kind nationwide, he negotiated a $3.6 million overtime settlement and $100,000 reimbursement to the union for costs incurred processing overtime grievances. After a long, hard struggle, he succeeded in ousting a dictatorial and divisive postmaster. The Philadelphia Local’s successes under Greg Bell’s leadership were based on progressive unionism, struggle and teamwork, and a willingness to confront problems head on.

Greg Bell believes in mobilizing the rank-and-file to be active participants in the union’s struggles. As Local President, he demonstrated his commitment to that ideal and his ability to do it. On several occasions under his leadership, the local mobilized more than 1,500 members for rallies at the general mail facility to protest flagrant contract violations and to demand a decent contract. The active participation of the members was a decisive factor in the Philadelphia Local’s success. As president of the Philadelphia Local, Greg Bell formed the Philadelphia Postal Labor Council, with the presidents of the NALC and Mail Handlers Union, to address common concerns.

The Philadelphia Local has always had a reputation for aggressive representation and for having one of the best local memorandums of understanding (LMOU) in the country. As local president, Greg Bell negotiated language that guarantees all employees, including PTFs, a 12-hour rest period between tours. He negotiated language that prohibits management from requiring PTFs to work more than 10 hours a day, excluding December. He negotiated provisions that prohibit management from requiring PTFs and PTRs to work more than six consecutive days without a day off, excluding December. He negotiated provisions that prohibit casual employees from performing any preferred-duty assignment or any duty assignment requiring a specialized skill.

In fact, his expertise and experience as local president and chief negotiator during local negotiations in Philadelphia, was an asset to the APWU during the 2001 interest arbitration case, in winning significant changes to Article 30. For more than 25 years, postal unions had tried to eliminate an unfair management advantage during local negotiations. The Leadership Team succeeded in “Interest Arbitration” in winning restrictions on management’s right to challenge locally-negotiated contract language. Under the new language in Article 30, local management may only challenge local contract language on the grounds that it is inconsistent or in conflict with the National Agreement by making a reasonable claim that the language is inconsistent or in conflict with new or amended provisions of the current national Agreement. Greg Bell was the witness for the union in arbitration, providing testimony and exhibits, based on his experience as former local president of the Philadelphia PA Area Local in support of the union’s position concerning Article 30.

Greg Bell continues to identify with local presidents and their problems. His background and experience reflect the type of leadership and representation that he has brought to the position of Industrial Relations Director and to the national Executive Board – and is one of the many reasons why Greg Bell is the best candidate for the position of Executive Vice President of the American Postal Workers Union. At a time when we are facing some of our toughest challenges, there is no substitute for experience and proven leadership.