Union members are sure to breathe a sigh of relief following a recent notice from the Postal Service to the APWU.

Excessing related to Area Mail Processing events has been placed on “indefinite hold,” according to a Feb. 14 letter [PDF] from Postal Service to the APWU. As a result, the Postal Service is now releasing “residual vacancies” that were being withheld.  Residual vacancies are duty assignments that remain vacant after completion of a bidding cycle. Rather than filling the residual vacancies, the Postal Service has been keeping them open to serve as landing spots for employees impacted by plant consolidations. The Feb. 14 letter follows a Jan. 24 USPS announcement that management is postponing implementation of Phase 2 of its latest mail processing consolidation plan, which was slated to begin on Feb. 1. The USPS also delayed implementation of changes to service standards that would have slowed mail delivery.

Each Area will review the withheld vacancies, the USPS letter notes. If the jobs are operationally justified, “the appropriate contractual process will be used to fill them,” it says.

“The end of job withholding is good news,” said Director of Industrial Relations Tony D. McKinnon Sr. “We encourage locals to make sure that management reviews all withheld positions and makes a legitimate evaluation of their viability. This process has the potential to create opportunities for the conversion of part-time flexibles to regular and the conversion of Postal Support Employees to career,” he said. Local officers who encounter problems should contact their Regional Coordinators, McKinnon said.