(05/08/12) The APWU has reached a Step 4 settlement [PDF] with the Postal Service that clarifies language in the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) regarding the eligibility of Maintenance Craft employees who were detailed to non-bargaining unit positions to obtain preferred duty assignments, Maintenance Director Steve Raymer has announced.

To be eligible for different duty assignments in their current occupational groups, employees on 204B details must return to the craft for an entire continuous pay period prior to the date of posting of job award notices.

In addition, the agreement stipulates that to avoid having their duty assignments posted to the craft for filling, employees must return to the craft for a continuous pay period that must have commenced prior to the end of four months in the non-bargaining unit details.

During the 2010 negotiations, the union and management agreed to clarify Article 38.7 of the 2006 contract, Raymer said. The May 7, 2012, settlement uses language from the 2010-2015 CBA to indicate that the provisions mean the same thing.