Facts and Arguments Exchanged in Dispatch Coordinator National Dispute

On Monday, March 4, 2024, national representatives from the Clerk Division and the Postal Service exchanged 15-day statements in the dispute surrounding the newly created Dispatch Coordinator position. The dispute evolved over a six-month period between December 2022 through May 2023.

Initially, the Postal Service notified the APWU that it was proposing to move some General Expeditor duties to a newly created position titled Dispatch Coordinator and was, at that time, established as a clerk craft job. Clerk Division Director Lamont Brooks expressed concerns about the new position being required to report to Logistics supervision due to past issues that had arisen when expeditors had been under Logistics. He also discussed other problems with the Dispatch Coordinator job during meetings with Postal Service representatives.

Before a final meeting could be scheduled with the Clerk Division representatives, the Postal Service reversed course and unilaterally changed the craft jurisdiction to the motor vehicle craft. Even though the duties of the position remained essentially the same, the reassignment of the Dispatch Coordinator to motor vehicle was deemed to be a Best-Qualified position at Level 8. The minimum qualification for the position is still the 476 Mail Processing Clerk. The Clerk Division had already initiated a national-level dispute based on the preliminary concerns and added to that dispute the craft reassignment issue. The dispute is now ripe for national arbitration.