MVS Appeals Tool and Parts Clerk Case to Arbitration

The MVS Division has appealed to national-level arbitration [PDF] a Step 4 Dispute protesting the Postal Service’s unilateral elimination of the Tool and Parts Clerk position. The union’s 15-Day Statement of Issues and Facts [PDF] notes that management has abolished residual MVS Craft PS-6 Tool and Parts Clerk positions and established Level 6 MVS General Clerk positions in their place.

In its quest for a Universal Vehicle Maintenance Clerk, the Postal Service has been reverting Tool and Parts Clerk assignments when they become vacant, and creating General Clerk positions or merging the duties of the Tool and Parts Clerk with existing General Clerk duties, the union charges.

This practice constitutes an attempt by the USPS to implement a proposal it was unable to achieve through contract negotiations. During bargaining over the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Postal Service proposed combining the duties or creating a VMF Clerk. The union rejected the proposal.

USPS officials in Washington are also blocking local management from posting any Tool and Parts Clerk Positions for bid.

MVS members are reminded that the only reference to the issuance of tools, parts, and supplies in item II of the Standard Position Description states that the General Clerk “Assists.”