Outcome Critical to Postal Service, Employees, Future
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service and two of its major unions have agreed to extend separate labor contract negotiations until Jan. 20, 2012. Contracts with the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO (NALC) and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, AFL-CIO (NPMHU) expired at midnight Sun., Nov. 20, 2011. The extension will allow the parties to continue to work on the important economic, health care, workplace and other contractual issues being discussed.
The NALC represents more than 195,000 employees who work as letter carriers delivering mail primarily in urban areas. The NPMHU represents more than 46,000 employees who work in mail processing plants and Post Offices. Respectively, wages and benefits for NALC- and NPMHU-represented employees exceeded $15.7 billion and $3.5 billion last year. Should negotiations fail, a process begins which could result in a third party determining contract term s and work rules for more than 240,000 employees.
Unlike the private sector, when negotiations come to an impasse, postal employees are not permitted to strike as Congress has designated the Postal Service as an essential service to the nation. An arbitrator determines the final outcome and is not legally required to consider the Postal Service’s financial obligations when rendering a decision.
For additional background information on labor negotiations visit this link.
From the National Association of Letter Carriers
Contract talks extended into the new year: The National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service have agreed to extend the current round of contract negotiations until Jan. 20, 2012. The extension will allow the parties to continue to work on the important economic, health care, workplace and other contractual issues being discussed. “We are encouraged that progress is still being made and we want to take all the time necessary to reach an agreement that serves the interests of America’s city letter carriers,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “We are committed to achieving a win-win contract at this crucial time in the history of the Postal Service.”
Just be happy you got a job!
other important parts that were not soo great in contract “were left out” in pamplets APWU Union reps sent out.
Think that APWU might have set precedence also, because they settled for less and now guess what, everything else is going to possibly follow suit. Gov will model everything after the lesser settled contract of APWU taking less when could have taken more. Everything is about numbers other side looks at, number savings, what they can carve and shave, trim off the top to the bottom. It sucks. Too bad APWU settled for less when they had a chance not to and biasly glamorized to their APWU union members how great parts of contract were when other important parts were not soo great or mentioned as reprocussions. Unions are a good part also about themselves, getting more money to pay themselves, have more fun trips, pay their relatives scholarship monies, etc. PSE’s equal more $$$’s to them so newly hired PSE’s can join in at around $26 bi = “weekly to protect, save their jobs”, when in fact the PSE’s are only casuals in USPS for 360 days of the year to be renewed only when USPS wants to hire them back with no job security. Bunch of yes voters are not so happy now after the fact and only have themselves to blame for it. Some are losing their jobs when they thought they were saving them. How things backfired. If people tried to figure things out more, we wouldn’t be where we are and have ended up so much of the crap that is going on & also with the other one person that majority of Americans voted for, Obama (one big a** mess america)
Puffing our chests out and stating “Let’s go to arbitration and we’ll do much better” is probably a thing of the past. True, that’s where I also would want to go but this isn’t 5 years ago. Our current economic and postal climate are much different now so Dorothy, you can click your heels all you want but the last bus to Kansas left the station long ago.
“Doesn’t matter at this point, don. Clerk contract set a precedent and no matter if carriers and mh vote yes or no or if it goes to arb. you’re going to get the shaft. Remember to thank Cliff Goofy when the new agreement gets ‘handed’ to you from behind”
Not likely:
I’ve been around for about 4 contracts now, and evertime the APWU gets a contract the NALC gets theirs a year later and gets one that is MUCH better than APWU. Not saying that will for sure happen again, but there is a presedence (sp?) set in my opinion. I say they should just skip all the nonsense and go directly to arbitration. We all know that’s what will happen in the end. Why delay the inevitable? Most likely this arbitration will come down in November 2012. All the other arbitration contracts come out about a year after the initiall contract expires. Just get it done now.
As for the comment about the arbitrator not being legally required to consider the financial condition of the PO? What a joke!! They have to consider it whether or not it’s legally required or not. It’s just the way it works. I’m so sick of the spin doctors trying to make the PO sound like it’s is such worse shape than it actually is. Keep the bias talking points out of your press release, USPS!!!!!!
Goodbye -no layoff clause for carriers. Hope you guys are in good with the bosses. I say 2012 will be remembered as going postal year.
next extension will be Feb. 20th….then March 20th…an so on…
Mr. Rolando , where is the transparency?????
Don’t u think the carriers deserve to know what is going on?? After March or Apr…we will go to arbritration, like I have said since Nov. 20th…Donohoe has no reason to negotiate or give the carriers anything…..
TRANSPARENCY WOULD HELP…..NO SECRETS….
All postal workers ,carriers,motor vehicle operators,mailhandlers, clerks,and custodial workers-I put them in descending pay order- are losing the pay battle in the large cities.Retirees and social security recipients get the same cost of living as we do and they don’t work!!!! So if we get 1% additional raise a year over the cola we are talking 540.00 dollars a year more then a person who doesn’t even work.To earn that extra 540.00 dollar a year raise we put in 2080 hrs of work and on here I read carriers and mailhandlers theorizing they have a better contract then a clerk because they make 500, 1000, or 2000 more a year .All this talk about who’s contract is better is absurd we are all in the same boat.
Do we really want to strike? That would make it real easy to hand jobs over on a platter!!!!
Win Win is what my union is saying but with out a strike clause Management will always have us by our balls!!!! National seems to forget what it’s like to deal with the stress we deal with on a daily basis from lower management while they live the good life in Washington! The Unions in general is so weak it’s pathetic!!!
The APWU IS a lousy contract, but the APWU members ratified it. And most don’t even bother voting. If you want positive changes then get involved in the process But that won’t happen. It’s easier to just whine after the fact.
seems like the perfect opportunity to go to arbitration.
rarely see arbitrators make very big changes to previous
contracts. also, mh and carriers have the benefit of seeing
that donahoe’s word means nothing so why would you negotiate
with someone like that??
Doesn’t matter at this point, don. Clerk contract set a precedent and no matter if carriers and mh vote yes or no or if it goes to arb. you’re going to get the shaft. Remember to thank Cliff Goofy when the new agreement gets ‘handed’ to you from behind.
Clerks didn’t have to ratify the contract. You could have voted it down if you didn’t like it. Who’s running scared?
‘WIN WIN’ there are those words again. The clerk union president Guffey used them to describe the clerks contract, which included the cowardly move of giving up this last 1000 dollar cola, 20% Pse’s at half pay and basically no benefits,agreeing to let management put up jobs of less then 40 hrs per week,a paltry 1.5% raise over 3 years, deferment of 2012 cola till 2013 and who knows what other “Win Win ” contractual terms will surface.
These union reps at the negotiating table are running scared . Good luck guys the clerks have already been fed to the wolves and the tea party wolves are still hungry.
wait until the first of the year. The sh—–t will hit the fan !!!
Why did throw that garbage in there about an arbitrator isn’t “legally” required to consider the PO’s financial condition? That’s just BS propaganda. They consider everything in making a decision. This just comes from some conclusion about congress not specifically requiring the arbitrators to consider something they already do consider. Just seems lime unbalanced reporting.