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TACS Cases Added
To Dispute Resolution Process

(This article first appeared in the July/August 2008 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Express Mail Jobs (07/31/08) A July 22, 2008, letter [PDF] from the Postal Service outlines how the USPS intends to “transition” the duties of Administrative Clerk-Express Mail and Express Mail Technician to other bargaining unit assignments. A union analysis [PDF] of arbitration decisions about the abolishment of occupied positions and the reversion of vacant assignments outlines the criteria arbitrators consider when grievances are filed on these subjects. The analysis may assist union officers and members who believe the contract has been violated when Express Mail positions have been abolished and/or reverted.

The issue of bargaining-unit timekeeping duties in the "Time and Attendance Collection System” environment has been the subject of an increasing amount of grievance/arbitration activity.

Although TACS, introduced in 2002, has changed the timekeeping landscape and automated a number of duties, the system has not eliminated all of the functions previously assigned to timekeepers in our craft.

Because of the number of issues, the Postal Service and the APWU have agreed to add TACS to the Administrative Dispute Resolution Procedures. The following are the ADRP guidelines:

• All TACS grievances will proceed to Step 3. If a grievance is not resolved at Step 3, it will be sent to the ADRP.
  
  
• All TACS cases pending arbitration will be removed from the arbitration docket and sent to the ADRP.
  
  
• When a case has been arbitrated and remanded to the parties for resolution, and the parties are at impasse, a TACS dispute will be sent to the ADRP.
  
  
• A dispute sent to the ADRP that remains unresolved will be declared at impasse. Such disputes will be returned to the NBA and placed on the appropriate arbitration docket.
  
  
• All disputes resolved by the ADRP will be final and binding.

Clerk Craft resident officers are reviewing all pending regional cases under the ADRP. The results of the review will be forwarded to the field.

A Moving Moment

It seems that good things can and do happen at the Post Office.

We received an article from one of our local presidents who decided to change his postal position to a Sales and Service Associate. His article was so touching that we felt we had to share it.

“The day started out just like so many others: Money orders, parcels, and stamp sales. It was late morning when an elderly man came to my counter and inquired about paying his post office box fees. He wanted to pay them before the rate increase, so he could save money.

“I informed him that the fee was $20 to keep the box for six months. When he asked what the fee would be at the end of that six months, I confirmed that it would be at a new rate, , which at the time was not known.

“He said that he had only $20, and that he was going into the hospital and did not want to lose his post office box. He asked if there was anything we could do. I told him that the $20 would hold it for six months, and then the fee for six more months would have to be paid. He became agitated and said that he did not know what he was going to do.

“The lobby line was all the way to the door with customers. A woman at the counter beside us had been listening to our conversation and she looked over at me and asked what the man’s box rent was. I told her it was $20 for six months. She then asked me how much it cost for a year’s rental. I told her that — at this time — it was $40. She reached into her purse and pulled out $40, saying, ‘Here you go: This should take care of him until he gets out of the hospital.’ The man was ecstatic, hugging her and thanking her, then telling her that she didn’t have to do it.

“She would have none of his misgiving, saying that it was ‘her pleasure.’ The man just kept hugging and thanking the woman for what she had done, as the whole line of customers looked on, smiling. Finally, I said, ‘See; good things do happen in the post office.’ I processed the transaction, and he kept hugging her and asking how he could ever repay her. The woman just kept offering the same reply: ‘Just pass it forward.’

“One person saw another person in need, and met that need. She said she did not want anything in return, except for anyone who was listening to ‘pass it forward’ when they could, whenever they had a chance to help someone else. We are all indeed blessed to have such people among us.”

All we would add is that it’s great to belong to the American Postal Workers Union. We have job security in our no-layoff clause; whether we are male or female, young or old, short or tall, or what have you, all over the country we receive equal pay for equal work. There are people who have to give back, while everyone we represent has recently received upgrades. We also have, thanks to our Collective Bargaining Agreement, cost-of-living adjustments that lessen the sting of inflation suffered by workers in most other industries.

Although there is always room for improvement, the moral of the story is that APWU members have a lot to be thankful for.

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