Extends Flexibility to Adjust to America’s Changing Mailing Trends
WASHINGTON — It’s official. The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) AFL-CIO ratified March 14 tentative labor contract agreement with the U.S. Postal Service that will save the nation’s mail system $3.8 billion over the four and a half year life of the contract that becomes effective today.
“This contract serves as a testament to the commitment the American Postal Workers Union has to its membership and to preserving the future of the Postal Service,” said Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe. “We worked together to negotiate a responsible agreement that is in the best interest of our customers, our employees and the future of the Postal Service. It offers short-term cost relief, structural changes to future labor costs and enhanced workforce flexibility to adjust to America’s changing mailing trends.”
“I am pleased that we were able to negotiate a contract that will strengthen the Postal Service for the future and protect the job security of union members so that we can better serve the American people,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey. “The new contract accomplishes those goals,” he added, “and it shows that public-employee unions and their employers can make collective bargaining work — even when faced with a financial crisis.”
The contract, which is effective May 23, 2011, through May 20, 2015, is a cornerstone for the Postal Service to achieve short-term cost relief, structural changes and enhanced workforce flexibility.
Short-term cost relief
The contract includes a wage freeze for the first two years, with low wage increases over the life of the contract (ranging from 0 to 1.5 percent), totaling 3.5 percent. Cost of living adjustments (COLAs) are eliminated in the first year, deferred in the second to the third year and resumed thereafter.
Structural changes
The agreement establishes a new career pay schedule that on average is permanently 10.2 percent lower than the current pay schedule. It also allows for significantly increased use of non-career employees from the current level of 5.9 percent to 20 percent in clerk craft and 10 percent in maintenance and motor vehicle craft function. As the Postal Service moves to greater use of non-career employees, which will happen as current APWU employees retire, the Postal Service will not be incurring long-term liability costs for retirements and other benefits.
Enhanced workforce flexibility
The contract introduces completely new scheduling flexibility for career employees; rather than working 8 hours a day for 40 hours a week, the Postal Service can schedule employees for irregular shifts with hours totaling between 30 and 48 hours per week. Employees will contribute additional amounts to health care premiums; employer contributions to health care will equal 76 percent at the end of the contract.
The agreement is a key component in the Postal Service’s strategy to address its dire financial condition. Other components include aggressive cost-reductions in excess of $12 billion over the last four years. The postal workforce has been reduced by more than 112,000 employees in the same time frame, through consolidating mail-processing facilities and reducing the Postal Service retail facility footprint.
Nearly 205,000 employees represented by the APWU generally work as clerks, mechanics, vehicle drivers, custodians and in some administrative positions.
Negotiations with the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) came to an impasse upon the contract’s Nov. 20, 2010, expiration; however, discussions between the parties continue. If those discussions do not result in a negotiated resolution, the parties will continue to follow the current agreement until a third party determines the outcome of a new contract. Unlike in the private sector, when negotiations come to an impasse, federal employees are not permitted to strike. An arbitrator determines the final outcome and is not legally required to consider the Postal Service’s financial obligations when rendering a decision.
Employees represented by the NRLCA deliver mail in primarily rural and suburban areas. The NRLCA represents 67,000 career employees and 48,000 non-career employees who substitute for career employees on their days off. Employees represented by both unions received more than $20 billion in wages and benefits last year.
Two other unions represent most other postal employees. More than 203,000 employees represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO (NALC) deliver mail in metropolitan areas, and 48,000 employees represented by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, AFL-CIO (NPMHU) work in mail-processing plants and Post Offices.
The NALC and NPMHU begin negotiations this year approximately 90 days prior to the midnight Nov. 20, 2011 contract expiration date. For additional background information on labor negotiations and the Postal Service’s workforce, please click on these links: Labor Negotiations and Workforce.
When you eat your young YOU deserve to DIE!!!! Dumb asses!!!!!
Sound like 3.8 Billion just became available to go out as Pay-for-Performance bonuses. NPMHU will follow suit. The Union’s are worried Congress will get rid of Collective Bargaining in the Federal workforce, which threatens their existence, so they will go silently into the night so as to attempt to avoid such a Congressional threat.
there are other ways usps can save tons of money. Did you know a OTR or BMC weighs almost 500 pds? EMPTY!. Pulling those around the country wastes tens of thousands of dollars in gas a day. There are other containers with up to date lighter materials out there.
It’s funny & sad, but as a carrier I have to go to a pharmacy to deliver mail. And every time I go in the contract Postmaster ALWAYS asks me stupid questions I couldn’t possibly know the answer to (while customers stare at me for the proper response). Can this be packaging be used, is this correct, etc. I am a city carrier, I wasn’t trained as a clerk…I don’t know the answer! Just wait til the city carrier in non-career!!! Glad I do most of my business through the internet!
Wish Burrus would have been in office until the last contract was done. It is great to hear his feelings and I agree with him, the APWU sold members out without caring enough to fight more, and hold onto what they could. Seems like APWU negotiating reps were either only out for themselves and or working both sides of the fence. Who better to have on USPS side, than union reps working together on their side. Things can never be put back and will only get worse from here. What is USPS really saving, more money for other crafts, more money for higher management? Makes me mad how stupid people are voting for things they didn’t understand more about and only taking what certain APWU union reps say at face value. When APWU showed “they settle for less” whether it got passed or not, we were royally screwed no matter what because APWU showed their loyalty was taking less. No matter what we gave them, which was way too much in this case, Issa and his henchman say it was to lenient. No matter what they would say it was too lenient.. They don’t care and do not have to have their wages cut, lowered, reduced
THIS CONTRACT IS PITIFULLY SAD FOR PROFESSIONAL WINDOW CLERKS, WHO CAN BE REPLACED BY PART TIME PIZZA DELIVERY DRIVERS,WHO WILL HAVE NO INVESTMENT IN A NON CAREER JOB. I HAVE SEEN CONTRACT STATIONS IN FLORIDA, WITH PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT TRULY KNOWLEDGEABLE. YOU WONDERED IF THEY WERE BONDED AND WORRIED IF YOUR PKG. WOULD ARRIVE AT DESTINATION.
THE RETAIL WINDOW IS HOW WE GENERATE REVENUE TO COMPETE IN THE MARKET. WE WOULD HAVE MORE OF THE PARCEL BUSINESS, IF CUSTOMERS
DIDN”T HAVE TO WAIT IN LONG LINES, WITH ONLY 1 OR 2 CLERKS WORKING. CUSTOMERS GET DISGUSTED AND LEAVE. ARE WE BEING SABOTAGED???
Sold Out, Plain and Simple.
Our Union is now irrelevant.
The next generation, well sorry.
They will work in bizarre and unmentionable hours.
Oh yeah, for less money.
Voted yes?
Your next. You earned it.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss….
Next batter up please,
Tex, You have a stupid attitude. You are avoiding the truth, APWU and USPS screwed workers over, no ifs whats about it. Blah, blah, blah, about what you are saying in regards to comparisons. Only you are talking crap about it. Shut your mouth!
Tell us when and where to report to work and if we don t like it look for another job as there are many openings and if you have no skill sets you need to be in top echelon USPS management as leadership skill bank.
be thankful we gave you this much
Sellout of APWU working hand in hand to screw workers out of more wages, benefits, rights with USPS/government officials. Now, this is setting a presedent for other unions follow suit because APWU has settled for less. Messed up union that shows they are weaker in more ways than one.
contract? how about sell out!!!
contract?? How about sell out?
48,000 mail handlers? They will take what the USPS offers them. They will have no choice. If people would put their ego’s aside it would be best for all concerned if the MH’s would would merge with another union, but the big ego’s will prevail. Good luck to them!