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BMC Conversion to NDCs
Troubling for MVS Craft
(This article first appeared in the November/December 2009 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)
The Bulk Mail Centers have been converted to Network Distribution Centers (NDCs) and the change is having an adverse impact on APWU bargaining units, particularly the Motor Vehicle Craft. MVS has been especially hard hit by the loss of staff and work hours at the Tier 1 NDCs (San Francisco, Kansas City, Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Washington, DC, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati (originating mail only).
It does not appear that the Tier 2 NDCs (Seattle, Los Angeles, Greensboro, Jacksonville, Dallas, and New Jersey) picked up any work hours or manpower, at least for the Motor Vehicle Craft, which means a net loss of jobs. We are not sure what the impact will be on Tier 3 NDCs (Denver, Des Moines, Pittsburgh, Memphis), but we do not expect to see an increase in manpower. Many of the duties that will be performed as a result of the conversion to Tier 2 and Tier 3 NDCs will be performed by contractors, Mail Handlers, and other non- APWU bargaining unit employees.
Tandems/Triple Trailers
Two things that have come to light must be addressed locally.
The USPS plans to construct tandems/ triple trailers on the lots of the NDCs. This will take up quite a lot of room and we believe that some NDCs simply do not have the physical space for contractors to assemble tandems/triple trailers. Plus, it would require the contractors to store equipment and units on the lots.
It also has come to light that the USPS plans to grant some contract drivers the right to take their trailers directly to the docks. Depending on local circumstances, it is our position that the past practices should continue.
Throughout the 21 BMCs, historically, there have been various practices for receiving and dispatching trailers. In many installations, the HCR drivers were required to go to queues to pick up their trailers; the work performed in between the queues and the docks was done by spotter drivers at the BMCs.
We recommend that you find out how it came to be that your drivers did all the work at the docks and the contractors were required to drop and pick up their loads at the queues. We know that in some places it was the result of arbitration, and that in at least one place the practice is required by the local MOU. But most of the time it is due to a long-standing past practice, or Step 1 or Step 2 grievance settlements. We must determine how the local practice evolved and grieve the new policy under the appropriate articles. This will help preserve Tractor-Trailer Operator (TTO) jobs at the NDCs.
There are also indications that some Vehicle Operation Assistant (VOA) jobs have been identified for reduction. Here again, it is important that we preserve the present practices to protect the VOAs who control the movement of trailers in the yard.
Director Savings? Says Who?
It is very interesting to note that while the USPS claims it is going to save millions of dollars, it fails to count or include the cost of dislocating and moving (excessing) the impacted employees. Management also neglects to count the costs of dismantling equipment that will no longer be used or the cost of installing new equipment that will be needed as a result of the NCD system: Certain equipment will be removed; new equipment (e.g., FSS machines) will be brought in, and none of these costs are being subtracted from the projected savings.
This is just another way the USPS manipulates the books and justifies its pet projects. It is disappointing that management feels that the impact on the employees is irrelevant, but that is the official position.
It seems odd that the USPS now plans to transport mail on the ground virtually three quarters of the way across the country, especially since management representatives said at a briefing for the APWU in August that they did not know how much savings they would realize by pulling mail off the airplanes.
The New Jersey NDC already is supposed to be shipping mail all the way to Arizona, so it would only follow that BMCs in the middle of the county (St. Louis, Kansas City, Detroit, and Chicago) also should have all their mail have mail delivered by ground transportation. Unfortunately, this work is being done by Highway Contract Route (HCR) contractors. Originally, the USPS said it planned to bring in Surface Transportation Centers (formerly HASPs) into the NDCs wherever feasible. But this has not happened, and there are 20 of these sites in existence. The USPS remains unsure how many will be integrated into the NDC system.
Once again we are making a plea to the membership, especially to the drivers, to make certain that everything in your loads is scanned into the system. We are suffering greatly because we are not getting credit for the work we do. With its new scheduling software, the USPS is pulling data directly from the Vitals Program; if it is not there, it is not being counted, which means it is not being put into the schedules.
We are losing work at a fantastic rate and stand to lose more because of this. We know there was a lot of resistance to scanning, but we need to preserve our jobs the best way we can. We must make sure that everything we haul and every stop we make is entered into the system and that we get the credit for this work. This will help protect jobs; otherwise, it will definitely impact us all down the road.
Arbitration Award Asides
We want to make a few comments on what is happening with arbitrations awards. Across the country, the USPS is failing to comply with the decisions of arbitrators. It often seems the USPS spends more time trying to rewrite decisions than implementing them.
These matters are being addressed by your NBAs — but if there is an outright issue of non-compliance, contact the Industrial Relations Department. This is not just an MVS problem: In fact, it is fairly universal among our workplaces.
It is true that some Area managers are much worse than others, but there is no place in the country that we are aware of where this has not been a problem. It seems that whenever the union loses a case, we lose it, but when we win a case we don’t really win anything.
We can only go back and try to enforce these awards through the proper channels. We recognize that it is very frustrating, but this is a frustrating time to work for the USPS. It seems that the amount of movement on agreements and the concept of working together — union and management — is at an all-time low.
