03/11/2016 – Three more days of hearings in the arbitration for a new contract wrapped up on March 10.
In testimony that lasted most of the day on March 8, union economist Kathryn Kobe reviewed a series of graphs and charts illustrating the current state of the workforce and supporting the union’s proposals for wages increases, retaining cost-of-living allowances (COLAs), and other monetary matters.
On March 9, Professor Jeffrey H. Keefe of Rutgers University offered supporting testimony, which compared postal jobs with similar jobs in the private sector.
Later that day, a union attorney dissected the problems caused by multi-tiered workforces. Jennifer Kelly of the United Auto Workers union outlined the detrimental effects multiple pay and benefit structures had on employee morale in the auto industry. They were eliminated from recent contracts, she pointed out.
On March 10, nine Postal Support Employees (PSEs) from the Clerk, Maintenance and Motor Vehicle Service Crafts offered emotional testimony, telling compelling stories about the devastating effect low wages have on every aspect of their lives.
“I salute the PSEs for their willingness to come forward and give honest and forthright testimony,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “They shared their real-life stories in an effort to improve conditions for themselves and all workers. I’m confident that their testimony will have a positive impact on the arbitration panel.
“The most important witnesses throughout the proceedings have been the workers themselves – the PSEs who spoke this week and the career employees who testified in the first round of hearings,” he said. Seventeen career employees testified in six separate panels about their working conditions on Feb. 18 and 19.
The union and management have agreed that the new contract should have a three-year term, which would run from May 21, 2015, when the last contract expired, through May 20, 2018.
Hearings will resume on April 5.
source: APWU
If only we didn’t have to wait a month before resuming talks.
I completely agree, ET Ed. However, at least the voting membership really got it right this time. Mr. Dimondstein has done a fantastic job of keeping all of us in the loop and engaged in the process. He is always the adult in the room and calls shenanigans on the postal powers that be whenever it is appropriate. The best part of all for me is that he doesn’t ever seem be intimidated by them and genuinely works his heart for the membership.
The membership should have read the lowlights of Guffey’s big giveaway that some east coast locals pointed out and the local’s should have pushed hard to defeat it. Yes,Dimondstein is just the opposite of Guffey and only pushes the best interests of the members,not that of the PMG and management,who want to bring down the workers wages and benefits while they draw their big salaries and bonus’s off our backs.
What is also important in this contract negotiation in terms of
the contract being retroactive is providing that change into the
high three where we all need it the most! Management would
like nothing more then to send out a retroactive check to make up
the difference in pay over that time frame without including
it into the high three until the following year that you work under it.
If we could just get Congress to leave the USPS alone…
If they really wanted to help, they would say no thanks to a raise , and give our members a area wage cola. This would give there members a decent raise. They need a living wage. Stop BEGGING for 1%, its embarrassing. Stop stepping up to the plate and never taking the batt off your shoulder. Its embarrassing when you show a profit before the pre-funding ( which expires in 2016), only to have the 1 member of the postal board of goveners lower the postage rates, so they lose more $$$. Amazing all the new programs coming out they have money for like taking images of every piece of mail and sending it to you. The amount of memory needed to do this, big brother now knows who you receive mail from every day.
cell phones, computers, credit cards, ez pass, the mail, the gov’t is completing another chapter in knowing what everyone does every day.
We’re gonna to throw you a t-bone after we’re done with the meat.
It seems that the APWU is doing a nice job, but its a wait and see and especially lets wait until the Service puts their team on.. however, I applaud the APWU for their fight against the Service’s draconian proposals.
If only it was Dimondstein who succeeded Burrus as president in 2010, we wouldn’t be in the mess Donahoe stooge Goofy Guffey put us in.