The implementation of the 2021-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement is moving forward. With ratification of the agreement on February 28, the provisions of the agreement went into effect. The membership of the union has already seen the effect of some of those provisions. For example, work or pay guarantees the for Part-time Flexible (PTF) employees to include the four (4) hour daily work or pay guarantee and the 24-hour per pay period work or pay guarantee are in effect. The guaranteed one day off per week for PTFs is also in effect along with many other provisions of the agreement. 

As previously announced, the pay provisions of the agreement are being programmed and will begin to be paid in pay period 13 which starts on June 4, 2022 and show on the paychecks received on June 24, 2022. This would include the 1.3% due to career employees from November 2021, the 2.3% due to Postal Support Employees (PSEs) from November 2021, the $1310 per annum COLA due to career employees on February 26, 2022, extra pay for PTFs due to the Juneteenth holiday, and the additional 50 cents per hour for PSEs. Beginning pay period 14, starting on June 18, 2022, the slotting of the additional steps and elimination of steps for Grade 8 employees will begin as well. Of course, once that is all in place the Postal Service will be able to provide the date of the retro-active pay that will be owed the employees. It is important to note that the retroactive pay will take time to calculate and will be paid later in the year.  

One significant provision of the agreement goes into effect on April 23, 2022. PSEs who have reached 24 months of relative standing within their installation (Level 4 RMPOs excluded) will be converted to career employees. They will be converted to a PTF in Level 20 and below offices or to Full-time Flexible (FTF) in Level 21 and above offices. This is a significant step forward for the non-career workforce. Guaranteed Conversion!  

The Postal Service has provided approximately 1,200 names of PSEs who will be converted on April 23, 2022. During negotiations, it was estimated that the conversions under this provision would be closer to 2000, however, through the other conversion mechanisms of the Clerk Craft Residual MOU, conversion agreed to through national MOUs, and through the hard work of dedicated representatives in the grievance process, many of the PSEs estimated to be converted were converted prior to April 23, 2022. This proves that the contract is working well to get conversions prior to the 24-month provision that is a stop-gap to ensure PSEs are converted.  

The APWU believes more than the 1,200 conversions should be taking place and we have provided a list of names to the Postal Service that have been identified in the data we have that should be converted. We are seeking clarification on those names and making sure that no one who should be converted is missed. Data review and conversations with the Postal Service are continuing to take place to make sure everyone due to be converted is converted.  

The 2021-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement took a big step forward for the wages, hours, and working conditions for hundreds of thousands APWU members. It is a contract that can be built upon in the future and a contract that protect rights and benefits fought for over decades of collective bargaining. 

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.

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.

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. 

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.