Local Memorandum of Understanding Negotiations

For those of you that don’t understand the process, the articles of your Local Memorandum of Understanding ( LMOU ) are open for negotiations for a 30 day period after the expiration of a Collective Bargaining Agreement ( CBA ) and after a new CBA has either been negotiated and ratified or has gone through the arbitration process.  At that point local management and your local representatives review the current LMOU and submit any proposals for change.  At the end of the 30 days either party has the right to appeal any proposal still in dispute to Impasse Arbitration.  The appeal process consists of both parties:

1) meeting,

2) agreeing on the proposals, and

3) signing off on an appeal form that lists the items that are in dispute.  

It also allows the party not initiating the appeal the opportunity to submit any documents or arguments they may have with the appeal form.  It is then met on at the regional level by an APWU National Business Agent ( NBA ) and a representative of the USPS to come to an agreement or they can decide to arbitrate the proposed changes to your LMOU.

Your negotiating team consisted of me as the chairperson, Dan Van Minnen, Robert Burton and Clinton Whitfield as the alternate.  Management’s negotiating team consisted of Andy Weaver as the Chairperson, Joe Gutierrez and Ken Walzyck.  We entered into negotiations on April 16th and they concluded on May 16, 2007.  The two main issues that were proposed by management were:

1) Management wanted to put more restrictions on your representatives attending conventions or assemblies on your behalf.  Including that attending conventions or assemblies would be determined by management and operational needs.  As we explained to management delegates are elected by the membership to attend these assemblies and conferences for training purposes which supports the theory of better representation. This proposal is in dispute.

2) All stations, for the purposes of leave bidding, would do so separately.  We could not support this because fewer APWU clerks will be off at any given time. Therefore this is in dispute as well.

You have to understand that we have held true to Bargaining in Good Faith we considered the proposals management submitted however, a member of the management team made it very clear that it was their way or the Impasse/Arbitration way prior to the first meeting.   Information we requested we never got; some information we got in the source of a 6”stack of 953 papers on the last day of negotiations.  An attempt was made to hand deliver some information on the last day to appeal June 15th via certified mail, addressed to me; when the server was informed by brothers Bob & Dan to leave notice in our union P.O. Box and I would sign for it accordingly, the manager then proceeded to scan it refused and never attempted delivery to our box.  The Postmaster did not participate in Local negotiations because he was misinformed by the same manager that we were not willing to Bargain in Good Faith.  The list goes on; management initiated the two Articles described above to Impasse Arbitration and this was even after I informed them about the proper procedure to initiate impasse.

I was not even given the opportunity to include my input period.  The proposals were then sent off without my signature on an appeals form.  Do not lose faith because I did send my contentions to the proper individuals.  My personal opinion is the lack of bargaining in good faith on management’s part caused the failure of LMOU negotiations.  We will await notification of the outcome and inform you when we receive an answer.

NIXIE Mail / Paper Dolls

USPS management approached me and asked if I would meet with them after the decentralization of the NIXIE mail from the AMPO to each individual station.  My position has always been that management needed to either return the mail to the AMPO and repost the Review Clerk job management reverted or upgrade a position to a Level 6 at each of the other five stations.  When I was asked to participate in these meetings it was made clear to me that management was soliciting my input in upgrading a position at each station with the least effect of on the operation and employees.  So I willingly participated.  We met 3-4 times, had received information from the managers at each station and identified the positions to be upgraded.  Then Andy Weaver informed me that due to PARS the dramatic effect on NIXIE mail is so substantial that NIXIE mail hardly exists and the small amounts that each station has to process does not justify an upgrade so the compliment committee will not approve the upgrades.  He goes on to state that if we do have a lot of NIXIE mail it is due to the carriers not doing their jobs.  I have tried to communicate to Mr. Weaver on several occasions that NIXIE mail is generated by the scheme distribution clerks while sorting the raw mail, in which it is all mail, including that which is undeliverable (unzipped, miszipped, IA, NSS etc).  I need your help. It is the union’s position that per Art. 25 of the CBA that the senior available clerk should be assigned this work not a multitude of clerks.  I know at the AMPO there is a slotted divider by the letter cases for a level 5 clerk to separate the NIXIE mail (this is Level 6 work) instead of forwarding it to (Review Clerk).  Paper dolls have now been decentralized to the other stations.  This has always been a duty of the Review Clerk Level 6.  Make sure that if you are assigned to do this work you are being paid Level 6.  If management is assigning this work to a multitude of individuals or management tells you it is PARS mail and not NIXIE and if your instructed to sort the mail by NSS, NSN, IA etc. at the case then ask for a steward.  Remember the operational code to move to when processing NIXIE/Paper dolls is 794-. Please make sure you perform that move accordingly on the time clock.  We have several grievances surrounding this issue: the Review Clerk reversion, the issue of upgrading a position at each Station, displacement of the current Review Clerk to other duties because of the decentralization of this work and the fact that the union contends that the person performing these duties is entitled to Level 6 for the whole day not part of the day.  I cannot be at each station all the time so I need your help to be successful in grieving these issues.  Remember to take good notes and move to operation and to also request a Steward.

Lobby Sweeps

Management continues to perform bargaining unit work in our lobbies, at our windows and on our APCs. We need to protect our work.  We cannot continue to give it away.  In accordance with the Postal Operations Manual: a lobby director is a courteous knowledgeable clerk whom performs all duties that a sale service associate performs, except money transaction.  It is our position at the local level and national level that this is clerk work and should be performed by a clerk, including distribution clerks. In addition, management only had the right to act as host of the APCs during their first 90 days of implementation.  That time is well past and it is time that the Postal Service provide APC training to our employees.

Exercise Your Right as a Member and Vote

As members of the largest Postal Union the American Postal Workers Union you have the right to vote for the leadership team that represents you at the local and national levels.  National Ballots are being sent September 12-15, 2007 and have to be in the designated post office box by Oct. 5, 2007.  It has been disturbing, in the past, seeind the low percentage of members that do vote across the country.  Also, it is time to elect your local officers and trustees.  Notice of accepting nominations will be posted very soon and nominations will have to be made by the September meeting on the 11th of September. A great source of information is your union bulletin board in your office.  I encourage you to exercise your right and vote.  A big thank you goes out to the Election Committee:  Chair Robert Martinez, Verchelle Harris & Kary Kim.

Picnic at the Denver Zoo / New Website in progress

The day at the Denver Zoo was a great success, we estimated around 170 people participated.   Craig Hill organized the purchase of some great new Local Shirts so those were unveiled. Bottled water was sold for COPA.  To say it was warm is a understatement.   If the membership decides to do it again we’ll talk about holding it later in the year or in a room with air-conditioning.  The Picnic committee was comprised of Les Moore, Craig Hill and Kari Kim, I would like to express my personal thank for all of your hard work.

Your  local has a web site thanks to Ted Seidler.  All of you that know Ted is a perfectionist so he declares he is perfecting it. It looks good to me as he has done a great job and we’re looking forward to being able to get information to the membership in a more of an expedited and timely fashion.  A lot has changed in our local and a lot has happened over the last year and half.  Your little Local is on the map and we’ve been at the top of the list when it comes to COPA contributions in Colorado for three years running and going for four.  Your local also just received a prestigious award for being one of the best organized locals in the country, 92% organized!  Watch for more upcoming information about the website and watch for some photos.  Please continue to get involved. Remember that management is not your friend and it takes all of us to be successful in the enforcement of the National Agreement.

In Union Solidarity

Your Union Sister,

Shelly

August 2007

It’s Not Personal, It’s Business

by Shelly Alvarado