From National League of Postmasters

May 3, 2015
Reporting requirements on the e1260

There has been many divergent field opinions about whether bargaining unit work performed by an APO Postmaster in one of the RMPO’s for which that APO Postmaster is responsible should be recorded for e1260 reporting purposes. The following is guidance that HQ Labor Relations gave to HQ Operations, Labor Relations in the field and other authorities on the morning of April 29th, 2015.

In response to some inquires, here is the reasoning behind our decision that any clerk craft work performed by a level 18 PM in one of their RMPO’s is to be counted toward the allowable 15 hours per service week. The long standing dispute that was resolved in the 1.6B “global settlement” was the issue regarding a PM’s performance of clerk work in small post offices that have clerk staffing.

Beginning with the Garrett national arbitration award back in the 70’s to the Das award in 2005 and the numerous field level awards in between the arbitrators found that the parties negotiated contractual terms set forth in Article 1.6B were clearly intended to limit the amount of clerk work a PM could perform in small offices and that the phrase in a PM’s job description “when necessary” was further evidence of that intent. Also, bear in mind that our circumstances today – decreased mail volume and financial distress – were exactly the same circumstances we claimed in our position before Garrett back in the day and again in front of Das.

The PostPlan arbitration award and the subsequent remedy resolution resulted in the RMPO’s becoming clerk craft bargaining unit offices assigned to the jurisdiction of a level 18 PM. To now start another battle with the union with a claim that RMPO’s were not included in the “global settlement” and therefore the PM may perform clerk work in those offices with no limitations would fall miserably in arbitration for the following reasons.

The “global settlement” was intended to put the issue to bed permanently. The Service cannot change the conditions via PostPlan and then claim the new landscape with RMPO’s was not covered by the parties’ agreement. We do not bargain in bad faith. The RMPO’s are staffed with bargaining unit employees only. An arbitrator could find that any “replacement” work should not be performed by a PM, but rather only by another BU employee. The office level was upgraded to 18 based on the addition of the RMPO’s and they are therefore viewed as part of the level 18 “installation” and thus, the work hour limits in level 18 offices are applicable. Lastly, see the results of the arbitration awards from Das and Goldberg on the disputes the parties have arbitrated over the course of the past four years (as the union opened each case advising the arbitrators of the 4.5 billion dollars in savings the Service got from the union’s agreements in the 2010 contract and the agreements the Service made in return that have still not been fulfilled) to see how the arbitrators have viewed our positions.

via National League of Postmasters

APWU Wins Huge Arbitration For Clerks in Small Offices