APWU Urges Locals to Get Ready for Battle
The USPS has declared war on custodial staffing — again — reports Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer. Management notified the APWU on Jan. 22 of an attempt to modify the MS-47 Handbook, which establishes guidelines for housekeeping and determines the number of custodians that will be assigned to facilities.
National Maintenance Craft officers are urging locals to prepare to defend proper staffing.
The Jan. 22 notification is the latest in a protracted battle that has raged since 2001, when the USPS sought to make extensive changes to the handbook. In 2006, Arbitrator Shyam Das sustained the union’s grievance and directed the Postal Service to reinstate the previous version of the MS-47 Handbook, which was issued in 1983
The Jan. 22 notice informed the APWU of changes to the handbook based on a pilot program that was initiated a year earlier in three locations — Salt Lake City, UT; Columbus, OH, and Zanesville, OH. The trial program was devised by ManageMen, a USPS consulting group, and has been referred to by various names, including OS-1 or Team Cleaning.
The Postal Service initially advised the APWU that the pilot would test new methods, equipment and supplies, with the expectation that the program would result in a cleaner, healthier work site; improve efficiency due to better supply management, and improve esprit de corps amongst our custodial ranks.
“These all seem to be commendable goals, which do not, on the surface, target staffing levels or employees,” Raymer said. The Postal Service also provided assurances, when asked by the APWU, that where the program required additional work hours to accomplish a task that such additional time would be counted, he said.
The USPS has not provided a schedule for implementation of the program, Raymer said, but it cannot begin until at least 60 days after the union was notified.
“If your local has not yet acquired the current custodial staffing package (Forms 4852, 4869 and 4839) for your installation, we encourage you to obtain them in electronic format only,” he said.
“The job you protect could very well be your own!”
We have not had a custodian for 6 years now.The owner of the building demanded that the post office clean it up as it was getting really gross. They told the post master to buy a vacuum cleaner and do it herself to which she handed it down to CCA’s.
I work in an NDC,which has about 150 fewer employees than 4 years ago,when management began excessing Clerks and more Custodians,with 2 who were excessed ET’s level 10 from PD&C’s placed in newly created positions getting saved pay at $60,000 per year. They could easily cut the custodial staff in half and the building would be just as clean.
I HAVE WORKED IN A AO.FOR 30 YRS …I AM A CUSTODIAN,YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO DO ANYTHING.YOU HAVE 3 custodians one retires and no replacement.you are told to suck it up..there are alot of duties and other various jobs they are doing ….i wish i had time to stand and talk to people…..union not doing a damn thing…instead of the union doing there job.they are to busy taking care of themselves…..
Bring supervisors over from mail processing doesn’t help maintenance any because they don’t have any training to learn what should be done.Also a lot of duties have been cut and it’s not taken care of until someone complains. Not going by MS047.
I asked about work that should be done and it took 2 months before management knew what shift was doing said job,and three days to find a snow blower.NO one person in charge over the three shifts keeps people guessing on what and who should be doing said jobs.
So it’s not that we don’t have to work to do it;s because management doesn’t know what to assign.
And yes we are assigned 10-13 hours on our work sheet and there’s not enough hours to do the work and we are told to mark it off if we did any of it.
The custodians at my facility spend more time in the break rooms and TV room than in the restrooms or the work floor. One time I had to wipe with my hand because there was no tissue, adding insult to injury, there was no soap either.
Jeff, In thirty some years it’s the same all over. The Custodians are regarded as high paid do nothings you’ll ever find. There’s a waiting list to get in this craft where you work un- supervised and do nothing all day but draw a big check for it, all the while mgmt. ignores you and let’s the facilities look like crap…….50K to do what a $7.50 employee will do better with no benefits….hell that is a go place to start saving money.
Damn , imagine that…Custodians coming out of there closets to work.
I go to my PO every day. Every day I see the custodian outside chatting with people, helping customers with their wipers, tires and mirrors. Inside, he sweeps everything out the door and removes the packages from the front counter. I even saw him driving a post office mailman truck a few times. He must work on their trucks now and then. He is a busy fellow indeed.
I have never seen an overworked custodian in 24 years at the post office. In Macon GA where I am, they want to become custodians so they do not have to work.
In many years of mgmt I found nearly every custodian in AOs had a good attitude and sense of pride in their job. I found most in plants and very large offices about worthless.
Well you better send a team to the whole state of Tennessee
Because nobody did nothing last time and management is still going by
The 2001 ms-47 in the whole state of Tennessee
Not one union officer did anything for Nashville tn plant or Tennessee
Blogs are the same sq feet less career custodians and more Pse’s
Wew ,does National care ? Good luck
Better send some help to the Alanta area, those union officers do nothing for associate offices.
The Postal Service has lost these battles time and time again. It has cost the service many millions of dollars in back wages and fines. Maybe the Post Master General needs to be fined for every instance of trying to undo the national agreement.
Since they are not hiring at the Reno plant or allowing OT, they are told they have to sign off each route assignment even if they can only spend 5 minutes in that area. Many times one custodian gets 20+ hours assigned in an 8 hour shift and is forced to sign off all those routes and go home on time. The union is doing nothing to stop this and the plant, plus the surrounding offices, are a mess and it is no fault of the stressed out workers that are policing the areas and trying to do the best they can as management takes advantage of the situation. Many craft workers are out on injuries, workers comp., etc. which just makes it worse for those still forced to work under those conditions. The other crafts are mad the break areas, bathrooms, and workroom are not being kept as clean as is safe and healthy. They take it out on the short staffed custodians that are trying to, at minimum, hit the worst of it. Put in your 8 and look to retire someday is all they can hope for under these dismal conditions and management can wave the signed off routes as proof that they don’t need more craft workers. Just another big lie from falsified documents that they are pushing thru like usual. SOP at USPS!