APWU Files Dispute Concerning USPS Failure to Bargain Over Safety and Ergonomic Issues

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 The APWU has initiated a national dispute over the Postal Service’s failure and refusal to meet and bargain in good faith the the Union about safety and ergonomic issues associated with the Delivery Bar Code Sorter (DCBS). As previously reported, the APWU filed an unfair labor practice charge in December 2008 over the Postal Service’s refusal to bargain over safety and ergonomic issues. A portion of that charge concerning information requests was settled, but the NLRB deferred the complaint on the issue of bargaining to the grievance procedure. This national dispute will be given priority scheduling under the terms of the NLRB deferral and placed at the head of the arbitration docket pursuant to Article 14.2

Click here for a copy of the Union’s National Dispute Letter

One thought on “APWU Files Dispute Concerning USPS Failure to Bargain Over Safety and Ergonomic Issues”

  1. I was a thirty-one yr. employee of the USPS at the same facility. However, I was not a member of the APWU; I was first hired (at the former Pittsburgh Bulk Mail Center) as a mailhandler and seven yrs. later promoted to an EAS-14 Mail Flow Controller. Without going into lengthy detail, two yrs. after claiming an occupational disease injury and less than three weeks after filing an OSHA complaint, I was forced into a disability retirement in order to establish an income. I was not yet ready to take a voluntary retirement. I claimed that poor ergonomics led to my injury, and this is the purpose of my comment. We are all familiar with the USPS booklet titled ERRP: An Introduction to the Ergonomics Risk Reduction Process. My work station did not meet any of the guidelines that the Postal Service professed to support, as detailed in this booklet. Despite not following their own guidelines, my claim was initially denied. I have appealed several times and my claim is now at the ECAB level; I’m awaiting their decision. How does the Postal Service get away with this? My experience has been that the Postal Service only pays lip service to their support of proper ergonomics and recognition of musculoskeletal injuries; I am completely frustrated, disillusioned, and cynical. Thank you for allowing my to express myself.

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