Tool and Parts Clerk Positions Are ‘Viable’

The APWU has reached an agreement with the USPS that will help protect Tool and Part Clerk positions, which management has been eliminating.

In a Feb. 5, 2013 pre-arbitration settlement, management agreed to rescind a Sept. 29, 2011 notice to the union identifying the jobs as “do not fill” positions that would be replaced with General Clerk positions. The Feb. 5 settlement also reaffirms that the Tool and Parts Clerk position is a “viable, senior-qualified position.”

The settlement will apply to grievances filed in the field that challenged the elimination of the Tool and Parts Clerk positions and the establishment of General Clerk positions. Although each grievance will depend on the specific local circumstances, we believe the settlement will result in the restoration of the Tool and Parts Clerk positions.

The APWU filed a Step 4 Dispute upon learning that the USPS was attempting to eliminate the positions. We pointed out that during 2006 Contract Negotiations the USPS proposed to create a VMF Clerk position that combined clerical VMF jobs — a proposal the APWU rejected. The Sept. 29, 2011, notice to the union constituted an attempt to implement an “unachieved demand” from the 2006 negotiations, the union asserted in the grievance.

Tool and Parts Clerks should issue parts in the stockroom; General Clerk should only assist.