APWU Nurses Approve Contract

In a unanimous vote of 33-0, members of the National Postal Professional Nurses-APWU approved a Tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement with the USPS on April 23. Forty-three ballots were mailed.

“The tentative contract resolves all the articles that were in dispute,” said Support Services Craft Director Steve Brooks, when the agreement was announced. “It will provide new benefits and will clarify working conditions for postal nurses represented by the National Postal Professional Nurses Local, APWU,” he said. In addition, as a result of an Occupational Health Nurse Business Plan, management will post 38 new positions, Brooks said.

NPPN members Idell Mitchell, Suzanne DeWeese, Annu Rajan, and Luevonnie Clark worked with Brooks to complete the negotiations.

The new agreement is scheduled to expire Aug. 18, 2017.

For an Overview of the Tentative Agreement [PDF], click here.

For the Tentative Agreement [PDF], click here.

For an Update on the Business Plan [PDF], click here.

Occupational Health Nurse Business Plan

The Occupation Health Nurse Business Plan, which was developed in 2009 as a result of an ruling by Arbitrator Goldberg, was completed in August 2012. The business plan was a five-step process, which consisted of closing postal health units and transitioning nurses into new positions that emphasized occupational health rather than clinical work.  The business plan identified where the new positions would be housed and identified several incumbent positions that would be eligible for excessing considerations upon expiration of the contract.

In the new agreement, the union and management identified the number of positions to be filled in each district, which totaled 38 new positions. Management also agreed to convert the incumbent positions to full time and leave them domiciled in their current facilities.