William Burrus  APWU President

Ask the President

Question:

With the current financial problems, management is looking to move mail from one installation to another, eliminate Tour 2 operations, and change the days off of many mail processing bids. This would cause a reposting of hundreds of bids jobs — a real hardship on our members. Many years ago there was a similar problem on the customer service side. I remember the national union suspended Article 37, giving locals latitude to allow management to move employees beyond two hours and to change off days without reposting the bid. This helped greatly as employees were just moved, keeping their bid positions. Is there any thought at the national level to doing this again?

Joe, Flushing NY Local

President Burrus:

Thank you for communicating with me through Ask the President on the issue of eliminating Tour 2 in mail processing. I have contacted the Postal Service and requested a meeting to discuss the contractual obligations associated with the elimination of Tour 2. During those conversations we will discuss the options available to local unions for placing excessed employees.

In the interim I will be thinking about the pluses and minuses of permitting displaced employees to follow their assignments. Included in my analysis will be that Tour 2 employees are generally the most senior employees and would be successful in being awarded the bid assignment of their choosing. In general, I do not take lightly the waiver of negotiated contractual provisions that have been ratified by the membership.

Upon completion of the meeting I will inform the membership of the issues discussed.

Oct. 27, 2008