APWU: Maintenance Craft Wins $8.64 Million Remedy for Improper Subcontracting
According to Steven G. Raymer, National APWU Director, Maintenance Division and :
Short Summary of the 18 year grievance:
National Arbitrator Shyam Das ruled that evidence presented in arbitration supports a finding maintenance bargaining unit employees had the skill and capability to install cabling for the Local Area Network (LAN) services and the Associate Office Infrastructure (AOI) servers set up in the USPS Associate Offices.
If the Postal Service had met with the Union, as requested, before finalizing its decision to contract out (outsourced) all the AOI work, the Union may have been able to persuade management that at least some of the AOI installation and/or maintenance work involving cabling and the AOI servers could be assigned to the maintenance bargaining unit, consistent with Article 32.1.A. of the National Agreement.
The Union was not given that opportunity, to which it was entitled, and an appropriate remedy should be provided.
For the reasons set forth in the above Findings, the Postal Service is directed to make the bargaining unit whole in the total amount of $8.64 million. December 11, 2014
Longer version
Award on Subcontracting Associate 12/14/2014 – Arbitrator Shyam Das has ordered the Postal Service to pay Maintenance Craft employees $8.64 million for improperly subcontracting work that could have been performed by bargaining unit employees, Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer has announced. The decision, issued on Dec. 11, concludes four rounds of hearings on management’s decision to subcontract the wiring of more than 7,800 of the largest Associate Offices with computer cable.
Das first ruled on Feb. 11, 2010, that management violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it decided unilaterally in 1996 to subcontract the work as part the Associate Office Infrastructure program. Das instructed the USPS to assign such work to the bargaining unit in the future, but returned the issue of the remedy for the past violation to the APWU and USPS.
After the 2010 ruling, the Postal Service engaged in its “normal pattern” of “delay and obfuscate,” asserting that no monetary remedy was appropriate and refusing to supply the union with information necessary to determine a monetary remedy, Raymer said.
“Consequently, the APWU had no choice except to go back to the arbitrator,” Raymer said. In two subsequent rulings issued on May 1, 2013, and Oct. 9, 2013, Das rejected USPS arguments that no monetary remedy was appropriate.”
The $8.64 million ruling follows hearings held on March 24 and 25.
To reach a summary of the award, click here.
over 100,000 po mismanagers………300,000 workers. ratio of 3 to 1………anybody see a problem? 99% of postal mismanagers have no college education………anybody see a problem?
They’ll never learn.
Hope my 100K for improper scheduling is next. No third custodian in Peekskill NY since 10/07, grievance submitted 07/08, come on apwu do something.
So… Does the Union get the money, or does it go to the craft employees??
What about custodian getting paid also ?
I have been a postal employee for 34 years and a maintenance parts dept clerk since 1994… We have more than competent BEM’S and ET’S that we used to do all our in house work when out plant was first built in 1986… They did all our electrical work, cabeling, power drop lines, you name it, they did it!!! I had the pleasure to work for and with some of the most dedicated, intelligent maintenance individuals that knew more than the outside contractors did… My job was to order parts, write up work orders and keep the plant and 120 Assoc Offices running… It’s truly Managements fault to not utilize their own in house employees to do the work… Every time a Contractor would come in we had nothing but problems from HVAC to million dollar leaky roofs that continued to leak since 1986… Their bright idea was to hire a different contractor to fix what the first contractor screwed up again costing so much money we could have fed half the State of Calif… Again Management has the right to mismanage and they do it expertly… The money they wasted outsourcing work was in the millions and we had the people right there ready to do what they are paid and more than willing to do in a timely manner… Our dept runs 24-7, with competent indivuals ready to work if given the opportunity… We had qualified and certified painters and welders that had their jobs abolished just so they could contract out which cost more money than utilizing our own dept staff… What we need is competent Management and that just isn’t happening… The PO doesn’t promote competent in craft employees they bring in their sons and daughters off the street with no knowledge or education and make them Managers… It is totally discusting on what goes on and no accountability for their actions… Ask any postal employee if what I stated is going on in their facility and I’ll bet that it is… Thank you APWU for looking out for and taking care of what is left of us dedicated maintenance employees… We would be lost w/o you and your dedicated shop stewards who do such an outstanding job trying to stay on top of Managements continuous efforts to undermine, circumvent and violate our contracts… This is a Nationwide problem all manufactured by USPS Management starting with the PMG on down… After all they take their orders from someone higher up… Congratulations APWU for a job well done!!! It took awhile but you never gave up and I personally want to thank you… I am proud to be a longstanding APWU member!!!
once again “we’re broke”……. but we can pay $8 million in a settlement. yep- the game continues between the unions and management
They (PO management) are not trustworthy accountable honorable people just a bunch of SOB’s that are ahead of the pack like wild dogs.
$8.64 M is a small money for PO to spend.
das right, the arbitrator needs a swift kick in the behind. No matter how it would have been handled from the start , the UNION would have found some technical BS somewhere somehow and filed regardless. Originally the UNION was a good idea, but NOW, no way Jose. These ridiculous awards are killing everyone financially.
If management got out the spy glass and scrutinized every little thing like those union slugs, half the work force would be gone. Management keeps the mail moving.
Yea right, that’s why all over more are starting to bitch about the service.
Managment keeps the mail moving? U funny rabbit.
The slug mail is on you, over 200K of the work force is gone, with thousand more going in 2015 and beyond. Along with PO hours cut an closing plants all over the country, you pea brains just don’t get it, your the problem!
Again, did you actually read the article? Management violated the contract. This work should’ve been done by maintenance employees on the clock and NEVER subcontracted out. Go somewhere else and troll, you EAS Corporate shill.
Fact: contractual bargaining agreements cover 2 things: wages and working conditions. Fact: management has the latitude to higher and fire according to the premises laid out in the contract an the ELM. Fact: an organizations failure is not marked purely by the work of the craft, but the poor leadership’s failure in motivating the workforce. Fact: management is less about the work and more about a sociological and psychological exchange between managers and the craft.
For far too long, too many people misconstrued value of understanding true power. Authoritative power exist because a person is placed into a position of being in charge. This is what managers have. Reverent power, on the other hand, is a psychological influence one has due to he or she being revered. Reverence can be developed and nurtured by wielding authoritative power in the proper manner. Many managers lack this consideration. Old proverb: respect is earned, not given.
You sound like some who seems to bank your investigations on assumption and bias as opposed to due process.
The USPS outsourced the work so it would be done on time and on budget; mission accomplished; even after paying the claims they came out way ahead;
Spoken like a true EAS Corporate shill. Where is the validation to your claim? Next time try actually reading the article so you sound like less of an idiot. Meantime, go be a troll somewhere else…