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July 10, 2009
House Committee Approves HR 22
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unanimously approved H.R. 22 on July 10, clearing the way for consideration of the measure by the full House.
July 9, 2009
Area Mail Processing Plans: Locals Fight Back
APWU locals around the country have been busy fighting the consolidation of Processing & Distribution Centers — even as the Postal Service announced it was considering consolidating more than 3,200 of the nation’s larger...
July 1, 2009
Consolidating Stations
At a meeting at USPS Headquarters on June 23, the Postal Service briefed APWU officers of the Clerk, Maintenance, and Motor Vehicle Crafts [ PDF | Powerpoint presentation] about plans to consolidate operations in large s...
June 30, 2009
Sports Unions Work to Level the Playing Field
Although their average salary is considerably higher and their “work year” is much shorter, members of the nation’s four major sports unions share much in common with their counterparts in other industries, especially th...
June 29, 2009
Repairs Times Not a Basis for Discipline
(06/29/09) Although Arbitrator Shyam Das officially denied an APWU grievance protesting the Postal Service’s Preventative Maintenance Inspection Program recently, his ruling was a victory for the APWU nonetheless.
June 26, 2009
Drive for Sick-Leave Credit Gains New Life
The drive to win sick-leave credit for postal and federal workers covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) was revived June 25, when the House of Representatives included the benefit in the 2010 Defense...
June 25, 2009
Unions Rally for Healthcare, Now!
APWU members from as far away as Philadelphia and Florida joined thousands of other union members and healthcare advocates at a rally June 25 to demand that Congress pass legislation that provides quality care for all.
June 24, 2009
Key House Panel Passes HR 22
A House subcommittee has approved an amended version of H.R. 22, legislation that would provide temporary relief from a provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the Postal Service to prefu...
June 22, 2009
APWU on Five-Day Delivery: Don’t Do It!
The APWU has given a straightforward response to a USPS request for input regarding five-day mail delivery: “Don’t do it!”
June 19, 2009
APWU Endorses Trumka for AFL-CIO President
The APWU National Executive Board has endorsed Richard Trumka for president of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation.
June 15, 2009
Secretary-Treasurer Training Available Online
The APWU Secretary-Treasurer’s Department has established a new schedule for online training on a variety of important subjects for local and state officers who have fiduciary responsibilities.
June 12, 2009
APWU, USPS Agree: To Revamped Maintenance Selection System
After intensive discussions, the APWU and the USPS have agreed to modify the Maintenance Selection System (MSS), the process by which many Maintenance Craft duty assignments are filled. “The Revamped Maintenance Selectio...
June 11, 2009
Union Challenges USPS Interpretation of Layoff Memo
The APWU has filed a Step 4 grievance protesting management’s interpretation of the contractual protection against layoffs for APWU-represented employees who were on the rolls as of Nov. 20, 2006, but had not achieved si...
June 10, 2009
APWU Assails Office of the Inspector General On Custodial Subcontracting Recommendations
APWU President William Burrus has strenuously objected to a recommendation in a recent audit by the USPS Office of the Inspector General that “blatantly urges postal management to seek an end to restrictions in the Colle...
June 9, 2009
APWU Responds to USPS Notice on Retail Operations
In response to a USPS notice that “the Postal Service is considering consolidating operations in our larger stations and branches,” APWU President William Burrus has reminded management that a Memorandum of Understanding...
June 4, 2009
Burrus Calls on Labor Department to Reverse Bush FMLA Rules
APWU President William Burrus has called on U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to rescind the new regulations governing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that were imposed by the Bush Administration jus...
May 29, 2009
Army to Award Bronze Star To APWU Members’ Son
Kevin Imholte, son of Minneapolis Area Local APWU activists Brenda and Vern Wellman, will be awarded the Bronze Star Medal for an act of bravery in Iraq two years ago.
May 15, 2009
APWU, Mail Hauler Agree to One-Month Contract Extension
The APWU and the private-sector mail-haul firm Pat Salmon & Sons have agreed to a one-month extension of a contract covering more than 500 drivers. The collective bargaining agreement in effect since Aug. 30, 2006, had b...
April 30, 2009
Esther Peterson: Advocate for Labor, Women, Consumers
Throughout her life, Esther Eggersten Peterson was “a powerful and effective catalyst for change,” notes a tribute to her in the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Among other achievements, she helped launch the women’s move...
April 30, 2009
Arbitrator Grants Postal Nurses Raises, Job Security
An arbitration panel finalized a five-year contract for postal nurses on April 28 — the first since the National Postal Professional Nurses merged with the APWU. The ruling came more than 20 months after the nurses’ inde...
April 7, 2009
APWU Member Back From 2nd Tour in Iraq
APWU member Drew Yerger is looking forward to his second time around as a window clerk. It will be a pleasant change of pace and workplace: His last job was in the Iraqi desert. It was his second time around there, too.
April 6, 2009
Postal Nurses’ Interest Arbitration Hearings Conclude
Interest-arbitration hearings over a contract between the National Postal Professional Nurses-APWU and the Postal Service concluded April 2. Arbitrator Stephen Goldberg is expected to issue a ruling within the next sever...
April 6, 2009
Postal Nurses Hold First Election Since 2007 Merger With APWU
Postal Nurses Hold First Election Since 2007 Merger With APWU
March 31, 2009
Locals Urged to File OSHA Complaints on DBCSs
The APWU is urging locals to file OSHA complaints over identified ergonomic hazards on Delivery Bar Code Sorter machines. In a letter to local presidents, Industrial Relations Director Greg Bell asked locals with DBCS ma...
March 12, 2009
USPS Abandons Plan to Outsource; Management to Revamp BMC Network
The Postal Service has abandoned plans to outsource the work performed at 21 Bulk Mail Centers, and instead will revamp the BMC network, the USPS Senior Vice President for Operations told the APWU on March 10.
March 2, 2009
Post Office in Illinois Capital Named for Long-Time APWU Member
In honor of a long-time Postal Service worker and APWU member, a facility in Springfield, IL, has been named the “Colonel John H. Wilson, Jr. Post Office Building.”
February 13, 2009
PARS Software Grievance Resolved
On Feb. 6, the union reached a favorable resolution of a dispute over the Postal Service's decision to assign the installation of hardware and software for the Postal Automation Redirection System (PARS) to employees of...
January 1, 2009
Defending the BMCs
First off, I want to wish everyone the happiest and healthiest New Year… On a more somber note, however, we see that the Postal Service has begun to act on its strategic plan to contract out our parcel-post business to p...
December 31, 2008
Isaac Myers: Pioneer of the African-American Trade Union Movement
It’s not unusual for a labor leader to have humble beginnings. Isaac Myers started out literally at the bottom, applying sticky sealant to the hulls of oceangoing ships. But he had a natural leadership style, and while h...
December 31, 2008
PostalEASE Enrollment Period For FEHB, FSA Extended
Postal workers will be able to make FEHB elections using PostalEASE employee self-service through Jan. 13, 2009, the Postal Service has announced. These extended-deadline elections through PostalEASE are not available by...