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APWU Leads the Way in Bargaining

Burrus Update #20-06, Dec. 15, 2006

As previously reported, the APWU position in the 2006 contract negotiations was that we stand on the product that we produce in the negotiations process, without regard to what may or may not be achieved with the other postal unions. Unfortunately, some other postal unions do not adhere to these principles and routinely wait for the results of APWU bargaining to determine whether they can include in their contract those improvements we have achieved. As a result, a sister union has delayed finalization of its agreement and demanded from the Postal Service:

• Bereavement Leave
  
  
• Increased administrative leave for bone-marrow donation;
  
  
• Safety and health protections for employees in private-sector facilities;
  
  
• Right of the union to represent USPS employees in private-sector facilities;
  
  
• National union scheduling of two arbitration cases per year;
  
  
• One additional payroll deduction;
  
  
• Elimination of Social Security numbers for employee identification;
  
  
• A 2.5 percent increase in work clothes and uniform allowances, and
  
  
• Pay increases that are modeled after the APWU agreement with bragging rights.

The above issues pirated from the latest APWU agreement are in addition to the following from prior agreements:

• Light-duty bidding
  
  
• Transfers
  
  
• Court leave for PTFs
  
  
• LWOP in lieu of annual leave or sick leave
  
  
• Annual leave exchange
  
  
• Annual leave carryover
  
  
• Leave sharing
  
  
• Correction of the promotion pay anomaly

This “me too” model of bargaining is not reflective of a union that can stand on its own efforts, but rather of an organization that resorts to waiting to see what others have achieved. At the very least, practitioners of “me too” bargaining owe APWU a public thank you for blazing trails and permitting them to provide improvements to their membership.

William Burrus
President

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