(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.