Nurses Interest-Arbitration Scheduled

Arguments over disputed contract issues for postal nurses will be heard by an interest arbitrator beginning March 23. The National Postal Professional Nurses-APWU contract expired Aug. 20, 2007, and the union and the Postal Service agreed to submit it to interest arbitration late last summer after nearly a year of negotiations.

The hearings are scheduled for March 23 through April 3; the arbitrator selected by the parties is Stephen B. Goldberg. A law professor at Northwestern University, Goldberg is an experienced arbitrator known to many APWU members for his award in the interest-arbitration ruling on the 2000 National Agreement.

APWU officers representing postal nurses and Postal Service officials met several times in the fall of 2007, and continued to exchange information and proposals during 2008, including during off-the-record sessions. After the most recent meeting, on Sept. 15, the parties agreed to have an interest arbitrator resolve the outstanding issues.

“NPPN-APWU members have waited patiently for a new contract, with improvements in wages, hours, and working conditions,” said Support Services Division Director Bill Manley.

NPPN President Idell Mitchell and Vice-President Maria Hicks expressed hope for the pending arbitration. “We bargained in good faith,” Mitchell said, “but unfortunately were unable to come to an agreement. We are working hard for the nurses in preparation for the hearings in March.” The two officers said they are pleased by the solidarity shown in the bargaining unit, and that the union continues to recruit new members.

The nurses union, which has had collective bargaining agreements with the USPS since 1978, voted to affiliate with the APWU shortly before its contract expired in 2007. The union represents 140 nurses at approximately 50 locations.