In an award dated June 17, 2013, Arbitrator Stephen Goldberg rejected the union’s argument that the USPS was required by Article 12.5.B.2 to cobble together the work hours of PSEs in installations within a 50-mile withholding area in order to create duty assignments to minimize the impact of excessing on career employees. Goldberg concluded, “The sole obligation imposed on the Postal Service by the quoted language of Article 12.5.B.2 is that of identifying and separating those PSEs within the appropriate radius who are holding posted duty assignments, whether they have opted into those duty assignments or have been assigned to them by Postal Service management.”
In reaching that conclusion, the Arbitrator noted:
“The failure of Article 12.5.B.2 to set out the asserted Postal Service obligation to combine PSE hours in the entire area affected by an excessing event when doing so would create duty assignments for career employees stands in stark contrast to Article 37.3.A.1, in which dealing with a similar, albeit unrelated issue, the Agreement provides that:
‘Every effort will be made to crate desirable duty assignments from all available work hours for career employees to bid.’
“This language demonstrates that the negotiators of the 2010 Agreement knew how to impose on the Postal Service the obligation to combine PSE hours when doing so would yield duty assignments for career employees. They did so for bidding purposes in Article 37.3.A.1”
“It is disappointing, to say the least, that the arbitrator failed to recognize the parties’ intent to minimize the impact on excessed career employees,” said Industrial Relations Director Mike Morris. “However, Arbitrator Goldberg’s recognition that Article 37.3.A.1 clearly includes ‘the obligation to combine PSE hours’ should deter some field managers who have been arguing even that point.”
“This means our locals will have to be even more vigilant in enforcing the posting provisions of Article 37.3.A.1 to create desirable landing spots for excessed APWU employees,” Morris said.
REALLY??!!! I am a PSE that was forced into this position. I was a PMR/OIC for the last 22 years. I was told I had to change to a PSE or loose my job. I had to retake the postal exam…be re-interivewed for the office that I had been at for 20 years. Then to top it off I had to take a $7.00 cut in pay to become a PSE….and now I am still the OIC but with a PSE title….also other new PSE’s in higher level offices than me are making more money than me….so what is wrong with this picture??
Let’s just get rid of postal support employees! They are taking work away from career employees! What is this! They have been working for less than a year and become 204B! And act like they’ve been there for 20 years. lets get Real and put them in their place. They should be postal support employees. Schedule when needed only!
Local are decertifying stewards who stand up and fight for Article 37.3.A.1 because pursuant of such grievances exposed and nullifies they back door hand shake agreements with management. How can a Local get more positions when no one is filing the proper grievances.
Yeah..,ahh, the part about the “locals” being more vigilant is the real canard of that national official’s quote. Whenever the National doesn’t make good on an arbitration decision, it’s always back to the locals, as a face-saving measure. Problem is, the National has encouraged more and more local officers to make handshake compromises , instead of force steps to grieve and arbitrate more contract violations between management and the crafts over the past two decades. Now your lucky if one in 50 area locals still have representatives with real contract knowledge and expertise to handle and document such grievances. Where’s my proof. Well let’s say the current Treasurer of the National APWU, one Liz Powell, was once the Eastern Regional coordinator for which our local was under. She was rewarded with being appointed to that position over all other candidates when it was vacated in 2010. Then she ran for the office pretty much unopposed. The reason for such a plum opportunity. Her office negotiated, with then Gary Johnston, Area head U.S.P.S. Labor Relations, more grievance reviews that settled, or wiped out over hundreds of area local backlog of grievances, than any other Regional Coordinator in the APWU. I think that sums up the Grim and Slimy business of the National APWU.