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So-Called “Right-to-Work” Defeated in Missouri

WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 
79-2018

08/17/2018 -


APWU Members Henry Rice and John Zamudio with a Proud Voter

 

Labor strikes back!  In a critical battle faced by the labor movement union members and community allies joined together to stop Right-to-Work (for less) in Missouri. These laws make it optional for workers covered by union contracts to help pay for the expenses unions incur protecting workers’ rights.

 


APWU Members Orlando Anderson & Mia Smith

 

Passed by the Missouri General Assembly in 2017, this anti-worker law was blocked from being implemented after workers rose up and gathered roughly 300,000 signatures against the law. This action forced a direct vote by the residents of Missouri on the law. 

Right-to-Work advocates are anti-worker, big-business that seek to weaken the unions’ ability to fight for workers' rights, and thus, weaken workers’ ability to have input in their job conditions, wages, and benefits. Advocates for the MO Right-to-Work (for less) law moved the vote up from Election Day on Nov. 6 to August 7, hoping that a low voter turnout would allow the legislation to be implemented. This tactic severely underestimated working people’s dedication to protecting their right to collectively bargain.

Thousands of workers were part of the Vote NO on Prop A campaign to defeat the legislation. They hit the streets, went to community meetings to educate the public about the legislation, and spread awareness throughout the state. APWU members were part of the Vote NO on Prop A campaign and participated in numerous actions.   

 

Seventh and Final COLA under the 2015 Contract Agreement Announced

WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 
78-2018

08/10/2018 - In accordance with the 2015-2018 APWU/USPS Collective Bargaining Agreement (union contract), career employees represented by the APWU will receive a 31 cent per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective September 1, 2018. It will appear in paychecks dated September 21, 2018 (Pay Period 19-2018), and will total $645.00 per year.

The COLAs are in addition to general wage increases.

This is the seventh and final cost-of-living adjustment under the 2015-2018 contract:

  • $0.00 The first COLA would have been effective Sept. 5, 2015
  • $0.00 The second COLA would have been effective March 5, 2016.
  • $21.00 The third COLA was effective Sept. 3, 2016.
  • $333.00 The fourth COLA was effective March 18, 2017.
  • $270.00 The fifth COLA increase effective Sept. 2, 2017.
  • $520.00 The sixth COLA effective March 3, 2018.
  • $645.00 The seventh COLA effective Sept. 1, 2018.

The COLAs received during the 2015-2018 CBA will total $1,789 per year.

Postal Support Employees (PSEs) do not receive cost-of-living increases, but had five general wage increases under the 2015-2018 contract. PSEs received a pay increase of 21 cents on May 26, 2018.

Updated pay scales are available.

 

APWU Arbitration Award Restores Rules for Employees Using Leave Without Pay to Campaign

WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 
77-2018

08/08/2018 - APWU members can continue to volunteer in political campaigns under the long-standing leave-without-pay rules in the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM). A national arbitrator rejected changes the Postal Service made to the Leave Without Pay (LWOP) rules for how employees request LWOP to participate in political activities organized by their unions.

In his award on August 6, 2018, the arbitrator upheld the APWU’s challenge to the Postal Service’s unilateral changes to the leave program that put the burden of managing LWOP requests on employees, rather than supervisors. The award protects employees’ right to request LWOP to volunteer through their union to participate in important political activities, like the upcoming November elections.   

Postal employees have the legal right to campaign and participate in politics, subject to limits under the federal Hatch Act. The APWU challenged policy changes the Postal Service made that potentially restricted postal employees’ legal right to campaign on their own time away from work.

 

Resolution Opposing Privatization of the Postal Service Introduced in Congress

WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 
70-2018

07/26/2018 - On July 16, a leading group of Congressional representatives took action to help combat a proposal to privatize the Postal Service. The proposal, put forward by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget in their report Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century, would “restructure the U.S. Postal Service” and “prepare it for future conversion from a government agency into a privately-held corporation.”  ​

APWU thanks the bipartisan group of representatives for introducing House Resolution 993 in response to this attack. The resolution calls on Congress to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and not be subject to privatization. 

The resolution was introduced by Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and co-sponsored by Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Paul Cook (R-CA), Brian Mast (R-FL), Don Young (R-AK), Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Marcia Fudge (D-OH).

“We will fight back against any attempt to privatize the Postal Service,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “This is yet another attempt by corporate interests to pad their pockets and rob the public of affordable and universal mail delivery.”

Members of Congress will be starting their summer recess in August.  “We urge all APWU members to meet with your representative and express the urgency of them becoming a co-sponsor of this resolution and oppose the privatization of the Postal Service,” said Legislative and Political Director Judy Beard.

You can reach your Congressional representative by dialing 1-844-402-1001.

 

New Benefits Secured for Postal Support Employees (PSEs)

WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 
74-2018

07/26/2018 - In the 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the APWU and the US Postal Service, the parties established a “Workforce Benefits, Employment Opportunities, Training and Education Fund.”  The purpose of the fund was to provide for the Postal Service’s share of health insurance benefits to PSEs and to provide additional resources for new PSE benefits.

The APWU filed a dispute over the Postal Service not using or mis-applying the money in the Fund.  The dispute was heard in arbitration on November 15, 2017.  Prior to receiving the Arbitrator’s ruling, APWU President Mark Dimondstein and USPS Vice-President of Labor Relations Doug Tulino settled the APWU’s dispute with an agreement securing benefits for PSEs.

The  five improved  benefits that will be part of the PSE compensation package are:

A Postal Service contribution of 65% in the first year of employment and 75% thereafter to the insurance premium for family or self-plus one for PSEs enrolled in the USPS Non-career Health Care Plan. Previously the USPS only contributed to only single coverage.

Full uniform allowance for retail clerk PSEs who meet the ELM criteria for eligibility.

Overtime pay after eight hours a day or after forty hours in a week.  Previously overtime was only paid after 40 hours of work.

Penalty double time pay for work over 10 hours a day, or 56 hours in a service week, same as negotiated overtime benefits for PTFs. Previously there was no penalty pay.

 

Major Victory For Expanded Postal Services

WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 
73-2018

07/26/2018 - On Wednesday, July 18, the APWU and our allies won a big victory by defeating an attempt to prohibit the Postal Service from expanding financial services. In a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, an amendment to a government appropriation bill (H.R. 6147) offered by Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) was rejected by a bipartisan vote of 212 to 201. The APWU greatly appreciates the bipartisan support from lawmakers who voted down this proposal.

In the short span of only two business days, APWU President Mark Dimondstein and the Legislative and Political Department launched a strategic campaign in coordination with our sister postal unions and other allies to defeat this stealth attack. “Make no mistake about it, this was an attack on our public Postal Service,” said President Dimondstein. “The defeat of this concerted effort to curtail financial and other innovative services is an important victory for those who believe that the Postal Service exists to serve the people of this country.”

The amendment would have prevented the Postal Service from using its existing legal authority to enhance its offering of basic financial services – including domestic electronic money transfers, bill payment services, expanded check cashing, and expanded international money transfers.

Not stopping there, it also preemptively banned future USPS innovations that have not already been approved by Congress. Earlier versions of the proposal even meddled with APWU collective bargaining, as it attempted to overturn the agreement reached in our last round of contract negotiations with the USPS to pursue expanded postal services.

The banking industry lobbied hard in favor of this amendment, joining with anti-government organizations like Americans for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foundation. These are the very groups that are determined to privatize our public Postal Service.

 

Can We Trust USPS Management?

(This article first appeared in the July-August 2018 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine) 

By Motor Vehicle Service Craft Directors 

Can we ever trust USPS management to live up to their agreements and obligations?

On August 18, 2016, during our last convention in Orlando, the Motor Vehicle Division received one of the most important arbitration decisions relating to Article 32.2.B and the renewal of Highway Contract Routes (HCRs).

In Case No. Q06C-4Q-C 11182451, arbitrator Shyam Das sustained the union’s non-notification of HCR routes dispute and awarded the Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) 110 HCRs for four years, the life of a regular term contract within six months of the award. This was a significant award for the Motor Vehicle Craft, because it gave us momentum in fighting back against the US Postal Service’s attempts to privatize PVS.

The APWU had been complaining for years about the Article 32.2 process, to no avail. On numerous occasions, the union raised legitimate concerns with the Postal Service, but those concerns fell on deaf ears. The Das 110 Arbitration is one of several pending Step 4 disputes in which the union charges the USPS with the same or similar violations.

The primary issue is that the Postal Service violated the National Agreement by notifying the union of HCR contracts after they had been let, or not giving the union notification at all.

The APWU was able to prove to the arbitrator that despite claims these violations were isolated incidents, the Postal Service had breached the Article 32.2.B process in such a broad manner that we were entitled to a meaningful remedy. The Postal Service has been extremely reluctant to comply with the Das award. This is an arbitration award that they would not like to honor.

One of the glaring significances of the award is that a national level arbitrator agreed with the Union’s assessment of the USPS mishandling of the Article 32 process and the obstacles facing the APWU in trying to secure work for the bargaining unit.

In the spirit of good faith cooperation, the APWU entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the USPS on May 17, 2017, extending the deadline for implementing the Das Award.

Major Victory For Expanded Postal Services

WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 
72-2018

07/23/2018 - On Wednesday, July 18, the APWU and our allies won a big victory by defeating an attempt to prohibit the Postal Service from expanding financial services. In a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, an amendment to a government appropriation bill (H.R. 6147) offered by Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) was rejected by a bipartisan vote of 212 to 201. The APWU greatly appreciates the bipartisan support from lawmakers who voted down this proposal.

In the short span of only two business days, APWU President Mark Dimondstein and the Legislative and Political Department launched a strategic campaign in coordination with our sister postal unions and other allies to defeat this stealth attack. “Make no mistake about it, this was an attack on our public Postal Service,” said President Dimondstein. “The defeat of this concerted effort to curtail financial and other innovative services is an important victory for those who believe that the Postal Service exists to serve the people of this country.”

The amendment would have prevented the Postal Service from using its existing legal authority to enhance its offering of basic financial services – including domestic electronic money transfers, bill payment services, expanded check cashing, and expanded international money transfers.

Not stopping there, it also preemptively banned future USPS innovations that have not already been approved by Congress. Earlier versions of the proposal even meddled with APWU collective bargaining, as it attempted to overturn the agreement reached in our last round of contract negotiations with the USPS to pursue expanded postal services.

The banking industry lobbied hard in favor of this amendment, joining with anti-government organizations like Americans for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foundation. These are the very groups that are determined to privatize our public Postal Service.

“This victory is an excellent example of what is possible through bipartisan outreach by the APWU to educate lawmakers of both parties about the importance of a robust public Postal Service,” said APWU Legislative and Political Director Judy Beard. “It also shows the importance of coalition building.”

 

SOLIDARITY Action Alert: Our VA Workers Need Your Help Wed. July 25th Noon @ WPB VAMC

Anti-union forces are trying to take away federal worker’s rights, voice at work, and freedom to join together by using union-busting executive orders.

Please come out in Solidarity with our AFGE Brothers & Sisters who are fighting back with a massive show of Solidarity on Wed. July 25th.

 

cid:image001.jpg@01D42070.00D8C820

 

SOLIDARITY    WALK

An Attack on ONE is an Attack on ALL!

J0IN        AFGE        AT           NOON

 

WHEN:     WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018

TIME:       PROMPTLY 12:00PM- 12:30PM

WHERE:  WEST PALM BEACH VA MEDICAL CENTER

SIDEWALK CORNER OF BLUE HERON & MILITARY TRL

**FOR VA WORKERS IT MUST BE DURING YOUR LUNCH BREAK. NO UNIFORMS OR GOV. ID BADGES.

YOU MUST BE ON BREAK, LUNCH OR REQUEST PRIOR LEAVE APPROVAL**

ALL OTHERS COME AS YOU ARE BUT WEAR RED IF POSSIBLE

WEAR RED!!!!

FREE TSHIRT TO THE FIRST 50 WALKERS!!!!

Take pictures and post with the hashtag #REDforFEDS

I'm Not Crazy, They ARE Out to Get Us

Please read the attached article written by Carl Imboden. 

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