Mail Processing Lead Clerk and TACS Duties Contract Compliance USPS Instructions

The Lead Clerk positions assigned to Function 1 and Function 4 were created through the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Re: Clerk Craft Jobs, a negotiated provision of the 2010- 2015 USPS/APWU collective bargaining agreement. In establishing responsibilities for this new position, the parties agreed that Lead Clerks would be assigned to timekeeping duties in TACS (see May 4, 2012, Lead Clerk Questions and Answers, attached, and the Lead Clerk position descriptions). Despite that commitment, one of the most conspicuous grievance-generating issues that continues to be seen in the field is non-compliance with the requirement to assign Lead Clerks to perform timekeeping duties in TACS. In response, the APWU initiated several national-level disputes. Those disputes were ultimately resolved through national-level settlement agreements, copies of which are attached to this memorandum. Unfortunately, non-compliance with these settlement agreements has generated financial liabilities at both the District and Area levels, which has resulted in millions of dollars in grievance payouts. Such payouts are avoidable and unacceptable. Avoidable financial liabilities are especially disturbing at a time when the organization is undertaking a phase of transformation designed to achieve financial sustainability. To ensure compliance going forward, attached to this memorandum are two documents (one for Mail Processing, the other for Retail and Customer Service) that provide step-by-step instructions