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January 14, 2026
Dispute Over VER and Severance Pay Appealed to Arbitration
The APWU has appealed to national-level arbitration a dispute over bargaining unit employees' entitlement to severance pay when they accept voluntary early retirement (VER) benefits.
January 14, 2026
e-Team Report, Sept. 20, 2013
Guffey Testifies at Senate Committee Hearing on Postal Reform, Senators Question Service Standards Second Postal Hearing Scheduled Postal Service to Default on Pre-Funding Payment for 2013 Conservative Lawmakers Threaten...
January 14, 2026
Stand Up for Your Rights
The lyrics from the famous tune by Bob Marley sum it all up: Get up, Stand up, Stand up for your rights! We must adopt these words as our marching orders if we are going to save the USPS from postal managers, members of...
January 14, 2026
Support APWU Members Serving in the Military
The APWU is coordinating an effort to show support for union members and their loved ones who are serving in the military. We plan to send them care packages and acknowledge their sacrifice by posting their name, address...
January 14, 2026
USPS Misrepresentations Lead to Barrage of Criticism
The Postal Service’s top management, including Postmaster General Donahoe, has been drawing fire from all sides in recent months, after a series of disturbing and embarrassing revelations. Criticism of postal management...
January 14, 2026
Draft Staffing and Grade Criteria Handbook Settlement
This settlement (case # Q00C4QC05027011) provides that the draft Staffing and Grade Criteria Handbook is not a handbook, manual or published regulation with the force and effect pursuant to Article 19.
January 14, 2026
Advance Directives Speak for You When You Can’t Speak for Yourself
Less than 25 percent of Americans have expressed their thoughts in writing about how they want to be cared for at the end of their lives. Although most people avoid the subject, it's important to have an "Advance Directi...
January 14, 2026
Doc Fix Prevents Cuts to Medicare Providers for a Year
On Thursday, the House approved a so-called “doc fix” bill that serves as a temporary solution to an ongoing structural problem in the formula used to determine Medicare funding levels. After hours of uncertainty over wh...
January 14, 2026
Health Coverage When Injured at Work
Employees who are injured on duty and placed on the rolls of the Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) remain eligible for health benefits, provided they are enrolled in one of the Federal Employee Health Benefi...
January 14, 2026
Award on Inspection of Vehicles in Non-Public Areas of Postal Property
Arbitrator Linda Byars denied the APWU's grievance challenging the Postal Service's regulations and implementing instructions for the administrative inspection of vehicles entering non-public areas of postal property.
January 14, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
In the March-April edition, I addressed a number of questions asked by APWU retirees. Here are several more.
January 14, 2026
OSHA Releases Ergonomic Strategic Partnership Report for Denver P&DC
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Strategic Partnership Program has released their Ergonomic Verification Report for the Denver P&DC's Ergonomic Risk Reduction Process.
January 14, 2026
e-Team Report, March 23, 2012
Postal Reform Bill on Senate Floor Next Week Sen. Mikulski Puts Hold on Postal Reform Bill Sen. Collins Criticizes USPS Proposed Cuts USPS Market Research on Consolidations: Revenue Losses Could Wipe Out Savings
January 14, 2026
Building a Successful Coalition
A coalition is an alliance of individuals or groups that join forces for a common purpose. Forming a coalition allows participants to combine their resources and become more powerful than if the individuals or groups act...
January 14, 2026
USPS Must Maintain All Factory Equipment, Including Air Conditioning
An e-mail from USPS headquarters dated Oct. 3, 2001, instructs managers in the field that former Emery vehicles incorporated into the postal fleet are now considered postal vehicles and must be maintained in a manner con...
January 14, 2026
Legislative Matters
In recent months, two congressional subcommittees held hearings on an issue of utmost concern to retirees — legislation that would repeal provisions of the Social Security laws that deny earned benefits to Civil Service...
January 14, 2026
Preference-Eligible Employees Should Look to the CBA
Federal law grants preference-eligible employees specific protection from Reductions in Force (RIFs), and gives them the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) if they believe their rights under Cha...
January 14, 2026
e-Team Report, Sept. 9, 2011
Sept. 27 Day of Action President Guffey Testifies Before Senate Committee Proposed Postal Service Layoffs Would Significantly Impact Minorities, Veterans Governor Lynch’s Veto Sustained in New Hampshire / Ohio to Mail A...
January 14, 2026
The Long and Winding Road to Real Reform
Are you ready for a busy summer? I hope so, because it looks like APWU members will need to spend much of the season persuading members of Congress that enacting customer-friendly, worker-friendly postal reform legislati...
January 14, 2026
Sexual Harassment (Part 2)
Employees who are victims of sexual harassment often fail to report it because they are embarrassed and think nothing will be done to stop it. They fear reprisals, being labeled a troublemaker or prude, or being ridicule...
January 14, 2026
For FECA Employees:
The percentage increase in the December CPI-W index from year to year determines the FECA COLA increase. The 2014 FECA COLA will be 1.5% effective March 2014.
January 14, 2026
e-Team Report, May 3, 2013
APWU encourages continued support for S. 316/ H.R. 630 Sign the ‘We The People’ petition for a White House response on saving the Postal Service Federal retirees targeted by high interest pension-‘advance’ lenders USPS B...
January 14, 2026
Can Level 4 Post Office Clerks Work in Your Office?
The position description for the Level 4 Post Office Clerk [PDF] limits its use to Post Offices with fewer than 190 revenue units annually. The Level 4 Post Office Clerk qualification standard [PDF] repeats that same lim...
January 14, 2026
Fighting to Protect Our Future
I would like to thank the members of the APWU for electing me the Executive Vice President of the American Postal Workers Union. It is truly an honor. Thank you to every member who cast a ballot.
January 14, 2026
Maximization Dispute Appealed to Arbitration
The APWU has appealed to national-level arbitration a dispute over whether the Postal Service is obligated under Article 7.3.B to maximize the number of full-time regular duty assignments by combining all regularly sched...
January 14, 2026
e-Team Report, Sept. 13, 2013
Senate Committee to Address Postal Reform Federal Unions Protest Proposal to Pull Postal Workers From Federal Employee Health Benefit Program AFL-CIO Says Postal Service Needs ‘Innovation And Growth, Not Downsizing and D...
January 14, 2026
Consolidation: Fighting Back
Following the consolidation of the Middlesex-Essex (MA) Processing & Distribution Center with the Boston plant in 2013, the national APWU and the Boston Area Local met with the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) to f...
January 14, 2026
Personal Messages
You can download and print the APWU Supports Our Troops postcard to accompany your care package. For security reasons, personal messages cannot be enclosed in an envelope or sealed in any way. Messages that contain negat...
January 14, 2026
Postal Reform – At the 11th Hour
With the expiration of a moratorium on the consolidation and closure of mail processing plants and post offices approaching, there has been a tremendous amount of activity about postal legislation on Capitol Hill — and a...
January 14, 2026
Proposed Revisions to F-1, Section 473.12, Rescinded
This settlement (case #Q94C4QC96092498) rescinds a proposed revision to Handbook F-1 (Accounting Procedures) Section 473.12 which would have provided that "Employees cannot grieve or request a hearing for salary or trave...