Union, Management Sign Off On Contract Questions & Answers

The APWU and USPS signed off on a set of Questions and Answers regarding the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which outline the specific application of provisions involving the conversion of part-time flexibles and the supplemental workforce. “These joint interpretations clarify the parties’ intent about how to implement the new contract,” said APWU President William Burrus.

“I am pleased by the speed at which they were addressed,” he said. “It often takes years and requires the intervention of an arbitrator to settle substantive issues involving contract interpretation, but we were able to resolve these issues in a matter of months.”

The responses were agreed to in a document signed by Burrus and the USPS Vice President for Labor Relations on March 2. Additional questions and answers may be developed as necessary.

Question 27, which addresses when casuals are placed in an overtime status, remains under discussion and may be subject to change, Burrus said. “Until a final decision is reached, the answer in the Q & A should be applied.”

The union also filed a Step 4 dispute regarding limitations on casual employee assignments. The union and management reached only partial agreement on the limitations, which are addressed in question 39. In the Step 4 dispute, the union asserts that the list “is illustrative only and does not limit the scope of the prohibition against casuals working jobs that require training and testing.”