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Thoughts on the Contract
Burrus Update #1-02, Jan. 9, 2002
The specifics of the Dec. 18 interest arbitration decision have now been reviewed by our membership and they have applied the results to their personal expectations. As president of the union I have refrained from expressing my personal opinion of the award and have deferred to the membership to make such judgements.
There are obvious positives and negatives. The positives include significant wage increases, upgrades of numerous positions, retroactive pay for the 2000 and 2001 raises, and the retention of our COLA payments -- which management vigorously attacks during each round of contract negotiations. The negatives include the panel's rejection of our demand for parity with the letter carriers.
Contractual improvements range from those that benefit employees immediately and directly, to those that strengthen the union's ability to fight on their behalf. Both benefit our members.
The award addresses several issues that the union has attempted to modify over the entire 30-year period of collective bargaining. They include the option to earn leave in lieu of holiday pay when employees work holidays; the modifications of management's right to change handbooks and impose new working conditions; the right to receive pay advances for grievance settlements when management delays payment; the right to elevate important cases to the top of the arbitration docket; the restrictions on management's right to challenge previously negotiated local agreements; the requirement that the union be permitted to participate in discussions regarding subcontracting prior to any final decision, and the right to negotiate modified work weeks. While some of these changes do not provide immediate benefits to employees, they will provide significant long-term impact nonetheless.
Back Pay
The next pressing issue is the date that employees can expect to receive back pay. I have assigned Executive Vice President Cliff Guffey to discuss this issue with postal management and to accelerate the date that employees will receive payment. He will announce the date as soon as it can be confirmed.
Greg Bell, Director of Industrial Relations, is meeting with management to finalize the wording of the new national agreement. As soon as that is done, it will be printed and mailed to each APWU member. The official bound National Agreement will be made available to each local union for distribution to local officers. Cliff and Greg will announce the timetable for completion of these tasks.
The videotape of the national teleconference explaining the award has been mailed to each local.
Arbitrator Goldberg is presently finalizing the report of the panel explaining the rationale for the decision. It is expected to be available within the next week. It will be placed on the APWU web site as soon as we receive it.
Local negotiations will begin on April 1, 2002.
Vice President Guffey will also follow up on the agreement to pay employees in Steps B and C who suffered significant losses in the movement to Schedule 2. Those employees who received lump sum payments in 2001 are entitled to a subsequent payment in the spring of 2002. The date of payment will be announced.
Union Opposes Proposed Postal Rate Increases
I have refused requests from the Postal Service to join the settlement it is proposing regarding postal rate increases. The union has intervened in the rate case pending before the Postal Rate Commission and I have instructed our attorneys and economists to vigorously oppose the increased discounts that are being offered to major mailers for pre-sorted mail.
Postal management has requested an increase in postage of three cents for first-class letter mail and increases in other classifications. However, in an effort to avoid the protracted rate-making process, the Postal Service has entered into a settlement with many of the major mailers in which the mailers have agreed not to oppose the rate increases. As a part of the settlement the Postal Service has agreed to "enhance" the discounts for pre-sorted mail to the tune of $80 million. These discounts are far in excess of the costs the Postal Service avoids when it accepts pre-sorted mail.
The APWU intends to present our case before the Postal Rate Commission objecting to the discounts as unjustified.
Anthrax Update
There have been no new cases of anthrax infection and it appears that the exposure to contamination from the four identified letters has now been contained. Efforts continue to obtain detection equipment that will provide a warning if biological agents are in the air in postal facilities. Irradiation equipment is still being considered, but it appears unlikely that there will be any system-wide deployment of such equipment.
The vast majority of employees who were eligible to receive the anthrax vaccine declined. Most elected to continue taking antibiotics or to discontinue further treatment. The choice was a most difficult individual decision and I trust the individual judgement of the employees in consultation with their physicians.
I repeat my recommendation that employees should not work in contaminated facilities, but respect the right of our members to make their individual judgement regarding the level of exposure.
Happy New Year
William Burrus
President
