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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...
December 29, 2008
APWU Secures More Space For Inaugural Assembly,Invites NALC
The APWU has reserved additional space for union members to gather on Inauguration Day, union President William Burrus has announced. Union members will be able to enjoy the event at the National Association of Home Buil...
December 23, 2008
APWU Complaint About Falsified Reports Prompts OIG Audit of Philadelphia P&DC
An APWU complaint that senior managers and other supervisors filed false mail-count reports at the Philadelphia Processing & Distribution Center has resulted in an exposé in the Philadelphia Daily News that has highlight...
December 19, 2008
Union Files Second ‘Dispute’ Over Two-Tour Initiative
The APWU has filed a second Step 4 dispute protesting the Postal Service’s nationwide program to eliminate or drastically reduce Tour 2 assignments and employees. The dispute, filed Dec. 16, is a companion to another Ste...
December 17, 2008
Union Files ‘Dispute’ Over Elimination of Tour 2
The APWU has initiated a Step 4 dispute with the Postal Service, protesting management’s nationwide plan to eliminate or drastically reduce Tour 2 assignments and employees. The dispute, filed Dec. 16 by union President...
December 16, 2008
Federal Health Plan Open Season Extended
Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHB) has been extended, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced Dec. 8. The extension was granted in response to widespread concern over benefit c...
December 16, 2008
USPS Still Embraces Shipping Franchise That Offends
APWU President William Burrus has posed a straightforward question to Postmaster General John E. Potter regarding the Postal Service’s decision to designate a shipping franchise with an offensive name as a participant in...
December 15, 2008
APWU Offers Commemorative Inauguration Buttons
As excitement builds for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, the APWU is offering union members commemorative buttons to mark the historic event.
December 12, 2008
APWU Members in Florida Enlist Public’s Support in Consolidation Fight
When the Postal Service announced a consolidation study in Manasota, FL, APWU’s Local 7136 swung into action without waiting for the first in “a series of community meetings” that the USPS said it would schedule. Instead...
December 11, 2008
Burrus Meets with Obama Transition Team
APWU President William Burrus met with Stephen Crawford, a member of President-Elect Obama’s Transition Team, at the union’s national headquarters on Dec. 8, where the two “engaged in a thoughtful conversation about the...
December 9, 2008
Health Plan Open Season Extended
Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) will be extended, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced Dec. 8. OPM took this action in response to concerns over a change in coverage in...
December 4, 2008
Federal Judge Dismisses APWU Lawsuit Against Bush
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has dismissed an APWU lawsuit against President George W. Bush and Postmaster General John E. Potter that sought to compel the appointment of a Postal Advisory Council...
December 3, 2008
Arbitrator Rules Tour 1 Casuals May Work After 5 a.m.
In a national-level award, Arbitrator Shyam Das has ruled that Tour 1 casuals may continue to work past 5 a.m., concluding that the intent of the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement is to prevent management from as...
November 26, 2008
Crawford Wins Clerk NBA Election
Jack Crawford has won the race for Clerk Division National Business Agent in the Dallas region, defeating Jeane Gardiner and Paul R. Manley, 1624-803-1211. The race was a re-run of a contest originally held in November 2...
November 26, 2008
Shop ‘Union-Made’ for the Holidays
As the holiday shopping season begins, APWU President William Burrus is encouraging members to "look for the union label" when selecting gifts for their family and friends. "When we care enough to seek out union-made gif...
November 25, 2008
Uniform Allowances Increases
APWU-represented employees are eligible for a 2.5 percent increase in uniform and work clothes allowances effective on their “allowance anniversary dates” beginning Nov. 21, in accordance with the 2006-2010 Collective Ba...
November 25, 2008
Union Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Over Elimination of Tour 2
The APWU has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the Postal Service, alleging that management failed to bargain over a nationwide plan to consolidate mail processing into two tours — a plan that would eliminate...
November 24, 2008
Bronx Consolidation Plan – Finally – ‘Not Approved’
Nearly three years after an Area Mail Processing study was launched, a plan to send mail from three major processing facilities in the Bronx to a sorting facility in Manhattan has been shelved. [USPS notice to APWU] “The...
November 20, 2008
‘Stakeholders’ Urge Congress To Give USPS Legislative Relief
The APWU is part of a group of 50 postal unions, management associations, and mailers that has asked Congress to help the agency during the current nationwide financial difficulties by giving legislative relief to its re...
November 20, 2008
Union Members to Gather for Obama Inauguration
APWU members who plan to visit the nation’s capital for Inauguration Day festivities on Jan. 20 will be able to enjoy the event with other activists at a downtown hotel, APWU President William Burrus has announced.
November 18, 2008
Postal, Federal Employees Can Now Wear Election Gear
With the national election concluded, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel has issued instructions that allow postal and federal employees to wear T-shirts that display candidates’ names and/or pictures while on duty or in...
November 18, 2008
USPS Denies Existence of Program to Eliminate Tour 2
In response to an inquiry from APWU President Burrus, the Postal Service has denied that it is “considering or is in the process of implementing a nationwide program establishing a two-tour operation, which is intended t...
November 17, 2008
Bush’s Lame-Duck Labor Department To Implement Onerous FMLA Rule Changes
As the Bush administration prepares to leave office, it is giving workers one more kick in the teeth: The Department of Labor announced last week that it would implement new regulations governing the Family and Medical L...
November 10, 2008
Department of Labor Extends Deadline to Nov. 25
The U.S. Department of Labor, which is supervising a re-run election of the race for Clerk Division National Business Agent for the Dallas Region, has announced it will extend the deadline for returning ballots until 10:...
November 10, 2008
Happy Birthday, EAP
On Nov. 12, the USPS Employees Assistance Program will turn 40 years old. The first postal EAP program, which was then known as the Program for Alcoholic Recovery (PAR), opened its doors in San Francisco to assist postal...