Raises Take Effect March 3; Contract Changes Feb. 3

(Editor’s note: Below is a revised version of NSB #3-2007, which was distributed Feb. 2. The printed edition omitted the full application of the recently negotiated limitations on the use of casuals.)

New pay rates established in the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement will be implemented on March 3, 2007, and will appear in paychecks dated March 23, APWU President William Burrus has announced. Increases in wages and uniform allowances will be paid retroactively. Checks for the back-pay period (from Nov. 25, 2006) will be disbursed at a later date, which the union will publicize as soon as the date is known.

Other changes will take effect Feb. 3, unless otherwise specified in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Burrus said. Beginning Feb. 3:

• The USPS will be authorized to hire casuals for 360-day terms; 
• The limit on the use of casuals “in lieu of” career employees will no longer apply to Clerk Craft employees in “200 man-year” offices; 
• The assignment of casuals to positions that require training and testing will be prohibited; 
• Full-time employees in all crafts on the Overtime Desired List will receive priority for overtime scheduling before casuals working overtime; 
• Local implementation will begin of the consecutive days-off requirement for career employees in all crafts in offices of 200 man-years or more (except Customer Service); 
• Restrictions on the hours that casuals can be scheduled will be applied; 
• The 6 percent limit on casuals employed within a District will be applied; 
• The 6 percent limit on casuals nationwide will be applied; 
• The 2.5 percent limit on part-time regular positions nationwide will be applied. 

Consistent with the provisions of the new contract, the conversion of Clerk Craft part-time flexibles in offices of 200 man-years or more will take place no later than Dec. 1, 2007. Compliance with the 11 percent ceiling on Clerk Craft casuals in 200 work-year installations (except for reporting periods 3 and 4), is also deferred until Dec. 1, 2007.

Union negotiators and their management counterparts are compiling a series of “Questions and Answers” regarding the agreement. Because new circumstances and questions are expected to continue to arise, this process will be ongoing. When the Questions and Answers have been finalized, they will be posted on the union’s Web site, www.apwu.org; additional subjects will be published as issues are resolved.

The official signing of 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement will take place in March 2007, but the union will prepare the contract for printing in the interim. Copies will be distributed as soon they are available, Burrus said.

APWU Receives List of ‘Man-Year’ Offices 

The Postal Service has provided the APWU with a list showing facilities that qualify as “200 man-year” offices. In accordance with the recently ratified 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement, all Clerk Craft part-time flexible employees at facilities of 200 man-years or more will be converted to full time, no later than Dec. 1, 2007. 

The APWU has a limited period of time to challenge any improper designations, so local officers are urged to review the list promptly and immediately notify the national office of any discrepancies. To do so, contact Phil Tabbita, Manager of Negotiations Support, at 202-842-4273, or write to him at 1300 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, no later than Feb. 16, 2007. He also can be reached via e-mail at ptabbita@apwu.org. Please provide your name, title, the local name, phone number, address, and e-mail address, as well as an explanation about why you believe the designation is wrong.

Once the list has been finalized, a facility’s status will remain in effect for the life of the contract, even if the numbers of employees and work-years fluctuate.

The list provided by the USPS shows: Facilities of 200 work-years or more, which are covered by the recently negotiated provisions for an “all full-time” workforce in the Clerk Craft, effective Dec. 1, 2007; offices of 125 work-years or more, which are covered by the Maximization Memo, and facilities of 100 work-years or more, which are covered by the Transfer Memo and which are afforded specific Safety and Health protections in Article 14.8.A.

According to the information provided by the USPS, 440 facilities qualify as 200 man-year offices, including 14 that became 200 man-year offices during the course of the 2000-2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement. A total of 659 facilities qualify as 125 man-year offices and a total of 824 qualify as 100 man-year offices.