The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO and the U.S. Postal Service have reached a tentative agreement for the Information Technology/Accounting Services (IT/AS) collective bargaining agreement, announced Support Services Director, and lead negotiator, Steve Brooks. The agreement will be a 36- month agreement which will end May 2025. It has been a while since this group has achieved a full-term contract so we will not have to turn around quickly and negotiate again. 

“The parties negotiated diligently over the past couple of months and worked well together to make changes to several areas of the CBA which will open opportunities for our members. The changes agreed to will provide our members the opportunity to advance their careers in higher level positions.” stated Director Brooks.

The parties came to an agreement on the work rules on Thursday May 19, 2022, but economic issues were still being discussed. Discussions on the economic issues intensified but were verbally finalized late in the evening.

“The economic discussions bogged down, and it did not look like we were going to get this done by May 20th. The negotiations got a little heated, but we knew that the proposals we put across were necessary to preserve and grow our bargaining unit.” Director Brooks said. He went on to say, “We knew that the offers we made were fair, reasonable, and actually would benefit the Postal Service as much as our membership.”

This agreement would not have been reached without the efforts of Industrial Relations Director, Charlie Cash. As a result of his patience, and tenacity we achieved much of what we had desired. The senior staff of the Industrial Relations Department also provided invaluable advice, support, and input throughout the negotiations process—especially in the final hours of discussions.

The new terms will be put together into contract format and sent to the membership for review and a ratification vote. Closer to the time the ratification packets are sent out, Virtual Town Hall meetings will be scheduled where members can participate, hear the details of the agreement, and ask questions.

Here is a summary of the terms.   

• There will be changes to the Functional Areas. Although the various work sections will remain as they are currently under both the IT and Accounting units the employees that perform those duties will not have to physically be in the Center that those duties are assigned. In other words, you can bid on a promotional opportunity in another facility and not have to physically move as a condition of accepting the position. The same will be true for lateral reassignments.
  • Implementation of this new process will require changes to Article 30 Local implementation, 37 Seniority, 38 Postings, 39 Transfers, and 40 Reassignments.  
• TACS duties will now be assigned to the bargaining unit on the IT side instead of management performing those duties.
• Career Development/reimbursement will remain in place with the dollar limitations increasing to $5000 on the IT side and $3000 on the Accounting side.
• We will retain our 10/4 work schedule opportunities.
• With Telework being possibly the most important item to IT/AS employees, there will be a pilot hybrid telework provision:
  • Employees will be able to telework 3 days per week for employees on an 8/5 schedule, and 2 days per week for employees on a 10/4 work schedule.
  • A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was reached to allow employees to continue teleworking under the COVID-19 Telework agreements during the ratification process.
• There will be 3 General increases over this contract period.
  • 1.3% January 2023   
  • 1.3% January 2024
  • 1% January 2025. There is a caveat that if the main APWU receives a GI higher than 1% our unit will receive the 1% plus the additional over 1%.
• Retain the “full” COLA with a March 2022 index base. The APWU is the only union still to receive “full” COLA. This is especially important during these times of high inflation.
• Our Health Benefits percentage will remain as is.
• The Postal Service will be required to post/fill 50 additional Programmer positions.
• There will be 5 additional Level 18 IT Service Desk positions.

As the ratification process moves forward, dates and times of the Virtual Town Hall Meetings will be posted on the website for members to register and attend. At these meetings members will be able hear further details of the terms of the tentative agreement and ask questions.

The APWU and the Postal Service verbally reached a tenative agremeent for the IT/AS bargaining unit on May 20, 2022. Further details of the tentative agreement will be released on Monday, May 23, 2022. With the agreement having been reached, the COVID-19 telework arrangements currently in place will continue while the tentative agreement goes through the APWU ratification process. 

On May 6, 2022, Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks and the Postal Service agreed to extend the MOU, Re: Bulk Mail and Mailing Requirement Clerk Position Qualification. The extension will continue through November 4, 2022. The parties had originally agreed to the MOU on April 3, 2020 in order to provide a virtual learning and OJT program for Bulk Mail Techs and Mailing Requirement Clerks (MRCs) “at the location where the Bulk Mail Tech or MRC position is located”.

            The MOU further states, “The parties at the National Level will review the in-person training program offered at the National Center for Employee Development (NCED), including the material content and schedule”. Both parties will not only be able to review the training program but will also compare the training with the actual duties performed in these jobs to ensure Bulk Mail Techs and MRCs are receiving the appropriate training commensurate with their position descriptions.

            The MOU also states, “This agreement is without prejudice to the positions of the parties on any issue and shall not be cited in any dispute resolution proceedings, except for the purpose of enforcing its terms”.

            Clerk Craft Director Brooks stated, “I want to thank Assistant Directors Lynn Pallas-Barber and Sam Lisenbe for their hard work on these important issues”.

The extension of the MOU is linked with this article for easier access.

On May 6, 2022, APWU Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks agreed to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding Telework for Clerk Craft Employees at Customer Care Centers, Customer Retention Teams, and the Mailing Shipping Solution Center (MSSC, i.e., Mailing Requirements Clerks) until June 17, 2022. However, the Postal Service would not agree to extend Consumer Affairs employees (Claims & Inquiry Clerks and Complaints & Inquiry Clerks) for inclusion in this MOU. Their duties while working from home could not be tracked accurately by the USPS. Therefore, employees in these two categories will return to their duty stations, effective May 7, 2022.

During this approximate month and a half extension, the APWU and Postal Service will discuss and attempt to finalize a Telework Program Pilot Agreement for employees at Customer Care Centers, Customer Retention Teams, and Mailing Requirements Clerks. The MOU states, “Once the Telework Program Pilot Agreement is finalized, or no later than June 17, 2022, this MOU will expire, unless the parties at the national level agree to extend. If agreement on a teleworking pilot cannot be reached, the parties will work together on a transition plan to return the employees to their official duty stations as soon as reasonably possible”.

            “It is the Clerk Division’s intention, long term, to protect our work from contracting out while also protecting the rights and benefits of all employees,” Director Brooks explained, “while taking into consideration many employees’ desire to voluntarily work from home”. The extension of the MOU is linked with this article for easier access.